Archives. The Gator Amateur Radio Club has a long and storied history. The W4DFU amateur radio station was established in 1934 and is one of the oldest clubs in the country. Look for a compilation of stories, photos, old logs, etc in these pages. One of our 75th anniversary projects (2009) is preserving and telling about our history...such as our logbooks that date back to 1964. See our minutes sections for happenings of the club in years gone-by.
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UF Student Satellite Tracking Station CIRCA 1964, click for article |
Dr. Marvin Moss, W4UXJ, |
Dr. Marvin Moss, W4UXJ, At W4DFU controls Circa 1957 or so operating W4DFU Collins equipment at that time. "I used to contact my Dad (W4ZEH) a couple of times a week from Gainesville to Melbourne. I think we used either 80 or 40 meters depending on the time of day and noise levels and other factors"
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"One of the more exciting episodes at W4DFU occurred the day after October
4th of 1957,
which was the launch date of Sputnik I. Everyone was very shocked and
dismayed that the USA was not first. We found out that the frequency that it
was transmitting was 20.005 MC (Now MHz)
Several of us went up to the station the next morning knowing nothing about
orbits or timing although we knew one orbit took about 90 minutes. Lo and
behold, we tuned the Collins receiver to 20.000 MC and heard WWV. Then we
heard a 5 KC beatnote and knew that we were listening to Sputnik I. We must
have been really lucky because there were no computers or orbital parameters
back then.......
There was also a Doppler shift on the signal as it went overhead but I
forget how much shift there was. The signal was only there for 5 or 10
minutes before fading out. But it was enough to get everyone real excited
for a few days afterwards!"
"I received my PhD in 1966. I had wonderful work experiences with Dr. Lear
(Vacuum Tube research), Dr. Muga (Nuclear Chemistry research) and the Dept.
of Journalism and Communications TV (closed circuit back then) as TV
engineer. I have now retired after 32 years at Lockheed here in Marietta,
GA. Been retired now for 8 yrs and have lots of fun playing with all my
electronic and ham toys."