A Santa Cruz County
Amateur Radio Scrapbook of Memories
Photo by
6OW
In 1921 radio amateurs from
the Monterey Bay region and adjacent areas attend a Hamfest in Santa Cruz.
6DP was Earl Harris. He was the
first ham to return to the air in Santa Cruz County, following WW1, in 1919.
Earl
later taught wireless classes for commercial radio operators at Heald College
in downtown Santa Cruz.
The photo shows 6VX atop a 100-foot tall redwood antenna-supporting pole at the QTH of 6DP. This house was located at 40 Center Street in Santa Cruz, just a short distance from the center of downtown. It was near the old Laurel School, now the Louden Nelson Center.
In 1926, Harris
was operating from the shack shown in the photo above. He was now using tube
equipment and running CW, rather than spark.
Earl and his brother opened
a haberdashery on Pacific Avenue around this time. Harris Brothers men’s
clothing store continued to operate from that location until the 1990s.
Clifford McCormick obtained his first license in 1920,
when was a 15 year old student at Santa Cruz High. This is a copy of his first amateur radio license with the call
6OW (later W6OW).
Melvin Wilder operated a dairy
ranch, north of Santa Cruz along the coast. Melvin’s father originally
established one of several dairy ranches along the north coast, in 1859. Cliff
worked at the ranch, following his graduation from Santa Cruz High School and
before he accepted a job with Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company. His
career with the telephone company lasted more than 40 years.
Wilder had briefly studied
electrical engineering at Stanford. He had to return home to take over
management of the family business when his father became ill. He was interested
in wireless communications and other technologies. He soon talked McCormick
into selling his radio equipment. Wilder became W6CEH. He was an avid ham until
his death in 1948.
The dairy ranch is now known
as Wilder Ranch State Park. This may well be the only state park in the country
with a rich ham radio past.
During the 1990s,
club members operated K6BJ as a special event station at the Wilder Ranch State
Park. Historical displays presented the early history of amateur radio in the
region.
Art
Lee, WF6P demonstrates modern-day operating, while Wayne Thalls, KB6KN expounds
on the history of radio in the region.
Radio High
During the 1920s
and 1930s hundreds of high schools and colleges throughout the country
sponsored radio clubs. Santa Cruz High School had a Radio Department, beginning
in the late twenties. An active amateur station continued into the 1950s. Radio
technology (electronics) shop was part of the elective curriculum. Many local
radio and television technicians were products of these studies. An unknown number of other students pursued
engineering careers. During WW2, many
of them served as communicators in the various branches of military service.
Teacher and advisor for the
classes was Frank Kazmarek, W6EMZ. One of the star pupils was Vernon Berlin,
W6JCZ. In 1930 Vern constructed an amateur station for the local Naval Reserve
unit, which was housed in the Veterans Memorial Building in Santa Cruz. An
active station still exists at this location.
In 1947 Vern became a founding partner for radio station KSCO. He served
as General Manager and Chief Engineer of the station until his retirement in
1986.
A 60-year member of the
SCCARC, Vern became a silent key in 1993.
A Typical Ham
In
1935, Roy Couzin was licensed as W6LZL. He enrolled in radio school after his graduation from
high school in Oakland. Upon completion of his studies and after obtaining his
commercial radiotelegraph operators license, Roy was unable to find a berth as
a radio operator aboard ship. This was during the depths of the Great
Depression. He did what numerous young men were doing at that time. He joined
the US Navy. During WW2 he served as a radio operator/gunner aboard Navy dive
bombers.
Roy,
now SK, moved to Santa Cruz after his retirement. During his travels he had become W6JET. Roy served as President of the
Santa Cruz County Amateur Radio Club.
Early Local Hams Club Founding Early Publications Who was K6BJ?
©
2002 KB6KN