Guest Speaker – David Pepper, WA6TWA –
Transmitter Hunting in the 60’s (the decade, not your age group)
I was first licensed in 1961 (Novice, then General class) and have maintained the same call ever since. I thank two wonderful people that introduced me to amateur radio as a kid and were my friends and mentors throughout my youth: WA6SZY (Hal) and KH6BMD (Robin).
One of my Ham Radio joys was to participate in 2-meter hidden transmitter hunts (T-Hunts) in Los Angeles, which I did while in Junior and Senior High School. See the July 2002 CVARC Newsletter or the August 2004 W6TRW “Crosstalk” Newsletter for an article I wrote about my T-Hunt experiences in the early ’60s. See, also, the nice article written by Joe Moell, K0OV, in the Fall 2005 issue of CQ-VHF Magazine (“T-Hunting Then and Now,” pp. 44-47), in which Joe writes about the good ‘ol days of T-Hunting, dating back to the 1960s, including some of my experiences.
I used to work AM, SSB, CW, and RTTY back as a kid, from 80 to 15 meters, and AM on 2 meters…long before FM became the mode of choice on the VHF band. I recall fondly searching the HF bands for QSO’s with those in states with small populations, which I finally achieved as I worked all states back in the 1962 to 1965 timeframe. I also recall staying up at all hours of the day and night (and keeping my parents awake with the mantra “CQ Contest, CQ Contest”!!) as I participated in one of the ARRL contests, trying to contact as many people as possible (I ended up in second place in the LA section one year back in the early ’60s).
My formal education is in Physics (BS from UCLA) and Applied Physics (MS and PhD from Caltech). As a kid, I had a great part-time job: I operated 60″ World War 2 Searchlights (aka “Klieglights”) back in the ’60s for Film Ad Corp for grand openings, movie premiers, special events, etc. As for my professional career, I was a Senior Research Scientist at HRL Laboratories in Malibu, CA where I performed research on various aspects of laser technology, including laser communication, adaptive optics — how to take the “twinkle” out from starlight using “Time-Reversed Light” — enabling one to communicate and image objects through the heavens, and nondestructive testing of materials by using lasers to “see” into otherwise opaque objects; see Scientific American, January 1986 (and, “The Amateur Scientist” in the April 1986 issue) as well as October 1990 for several articles I wrote about some of these topics.
I have recently retired from HRL Laboratories (after 31+ years) as a member of the technical staff, and am currently self employed as a technical consultant, inventor, and educator (www.MalibuScientific.com) … as well as a lover of dogs, cats, fresh air, roses, stars, classical music and, of course, my dear wife!! I may even get back into Ham Radio and hidden transmitter hunts…especially after Joe Moell (K0OV) treated my wife and I to a T-Hunt in December 2004 as his guests…what a great evening (thanks, Joe!!). I have recently published an article on laser ultrasound in a popular science magazine, “American Scientist” (a Sigma Xi publication; November/December 2023 issue), entitled, ” ‘Seeing’ into Opaque Materials with Light and Sound.” photo, courtesy K0OV.
This meeting will also be held on GoToMeeting (GoTo) and recorded at the presenters’ request for later viewing
T-Hunting in the 60s – David Pepper WA6TWA
Apr 15, 2024, 7:00 – 9:00 PM (America/Los_Angeles)
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