History of W2AEE, the Columbia University Amateur Radio Club

Early days. 1906-1920s

Founding Date

In 1963, the founding date was claimed to have been in 1907 in Pulse, the (now defunct) School of Engineering and Applies Sciences student newspaper:

...The first records of an amateur radio station at Columbia indicate that, in 1907, there was a spark-gap transmitter located In the basement of Chandler hall. Later the club moved to the old engineering building, where it remained until its recent move to SWM [Seeley W. Mudd Hall -Ed], There was a hiatus of approximiately one year in the club's operation while the move to SWM was being undertaken, At present, the club has twenty-five members and it is expected that the number will increase since the club is operating again. -- Pulse v2 n11. 12/12/1963

A contemporaneous account documenting a founding date of November 23, 1908 (or earlier) was found by Gintautas Gaidamavicius, LY2YR, in this article in the November 24, 1908 edition of the New York Sun which describes an aerial erected between the smokestacks of Havemeyer and University Halls and a quaint competition for domination of the sky between the radio and aeronautics afficianados.

The new organization is the "Wireless Telegraph Club of Columbia University," capital stock subscribed and fully paid by the students of Columbia. The wireless people burst out over night and took the airship navigators by surprise.

"What in blazes is that?" demanded Grover Cleveland Loening, the father of the Aero Club, as he rounded the corner of the library yesterday morning and saw outlined against the foggy sky between Havemeyer and University Halls the double wires that the wireless club was stringing up....

... It is not the purpose of the Wireless Club to pry into other people's affairs, according to E. J. Simon, '09 and A. B. Cole, '11, the originators of the club. Of course, they say, if they happen to catch a message from Mrs. Jones to Mr. Jones telling him to be sure and look after the poodle dog while she is in Europe, they will decipher it....

Prof. Michael Pupin is very much interested in the new club and so is Prof. Crocker, in whose laboratory the receiving and transmitting apparatus is to be installed. Both said yesterday that the scope of the electrical engineering department in the university would have to be enlarged shortly to admit of a course in wireless telegraphy, which, according to them, is quite as important as instruction in the construction and use of airships, for which some of the other professors on campus are agitating. -- The New York Sun. Nov. 24, 1908

Longest-Running Rivalry Over Title to First College Ham Radio Club?

Not only is there a Yankees - Red Sox rivalry, but those guys on the Charles like to lay claim to having the first college ham radio station when we know that our Alma Mater on the Hudson Shore holds that title. The MIT Radio Society, W1MX has boldly claimed since 1958 that they were founded April 30, 1909 which makes them "America's Oldest College Amateur Station." (QST July 1958, p. 67). This claim has continued to be perpetuated for several decades and was recently reinfored by a 2009 article (QST April 2009, p. 57-58 ). Not so! And disputed more than once, now with two letters to the editor of QST 53 years apart:

Strays

Last July the MIT radio club laid claim to being the oldest in the country. We have heard from K2LWQ, president of the Columbia University Amateur Radio Club (W2AEE), that he has documentary proof that the Columbia University Club was in existence in 1908, and that there is some evidence that it may have been formed in 1906. -- QST Dec. 1958. p. 202 (reprinted with permission)

Strays

The Lion Roars

Are bragging rights for "America's Oldest College Amateur Station" up for grabs? Perhaps the MIT Radio Society, W1MX, should reconsider their claim ["'Rah for Technology: America's Oldest College Amateur Radio Club Turns 100," Apr 2009, pages 57-58], given the predecessor of their modern club was established in 1909; the predecessor of Columbia University's Amateur Radio Club, W2AEE, was founded in November 1908. Gintautas Gaidamavicius, LY2YR, recently found an article in the November 24, 1908 issue of the New York Sun entitled "Wireless Club at Columbia: Disputes with the Aero Club the Monopoly of Morningside Air...."

Alan Crosswell, N2YGK, Station Manager, Columbia University Amateur Radio Club, W2AEE -- QST Apr. 2011. p. 24

Radio Active ...Enthusiasts can be found on quite a few campuses nationally (Columbia has an FCC charter for station W2AEE), and some of them take their hobby very seriously. This year, for instance, the Harvard Wireless Club is preparing to celebrate its centennial for what it claims is the nation's oldest collegiate amateur radio society -- but not without a nervous glance over the shoulder at some other contenders for the title.

While Harvardians had long assumed the veritas of their claim for first-place status, this year MIT's amateurs at W1MX have surfaced a nearly coincident claim, the validity of which may rely on semantics, or else the faith one puts in various faded logbooks and oral traditions. And as if that weren't enough to ebb the Crimson tide, the Harvard hams also have discovered another claim, as yet poorly documented, for a possible first at Columbia.... -- Columbia Magazine. Summer 2009

Provenance of the 2XM Call Sign

...such as experiment stations for the development of radio communications, technical and training school stations, and special amateur stations will be alloted by the Bureau of Navigation.

The call will consist of three items -- the number of the radio district, followed by two letters of the alphabet. The first letter will be: X, for experiment stations; Y, technical and training schools; Z, special amateur stations...." -- p. 8 Radio Stations of the United States, US Department of Commerce. June 1914.

2XM is not listed in the July 1913 edition so it is reasonable to assume that some time in late 1913 the 2XM call sign was issued to Columbia.

X IMP BOTHERS WIRELESS.

"Static" Cuts Columbia's Communication With Ireland.

That indefinable imp of the perverse known as "static" or X prevented the operators of Columbia University's new wireless plant from passing the time with San Francisco, exchanging greetings with Ireland and asking Paris about the weather, for the edification of the students and their friends last night.

Ireland was all right in the trials earlier and San Franciscon was only in the next room so to speak, but when night came and Prof. J. H. Morecrost (sic), Prof. Pupin's assistant, started things, static closed down and the best they coild get was Glace Bay, Washington, Pensacola and a few nearby points.

There were 200 at the lecture last night. Among them were the Naval Academy graduates who are taking a post-graduate course at Columbia. As the receivers were fitted with amplifiers every one could hear the messages come in and most of them could read them.

Wireless telegraphy is young yet, Prof. Morecrost (sic) said. Everybody thinks it wonderful that they got Neuheim, Germany, from Pemberton, N.J., the other day. In a couple of years that will be notghing. They wll get any place on this planet. -- The Sun. 1/30/1914.

During World War I, Congress shut down Amateur Radio, resuming the service on October 1, 1919. Shortly thereafter, in November 1920 QST in Calls Heard on page 55, station 2PP, Newark, reports hearing 2XM. Since 2XM was an experimental, rather than Amateur license, it is not clear if the station was shut down during the war.

An article in June 1927 QST (p. 24ff) entitled "5-Meter Work at 2XM With Crystal Control" by A.H. Turner, 3AUX, describes work done 10 miles from Schenectady, NY. This would seem to contradict 2XM being in New York City, as it was listed in 1914. At the time, call signs may have been issued only annually, so it's possible that, fourteen years later, Columbia no longer held 2XM.

Around 1924, the station moved from the basement of Havemeyer (Chandler?) to the Engineering (now Mathematics) (a/k/a Armstrong) Attic.

1930s-1940s

Provenance of the W2AEE Call Sign

The Armstrong FM System

Radio station W2XMN was built by Armstrong in Alpine, NJ in 1939 and operated for 16 years demonstrating high fidelity FM radio. You can clearly see the Alpine radio tower today sitting atop the Palisades opposite Yonkers, where Armstrong lived as a child and performed his first radio experiments. On a related note, WKCR FM, Columbia University, was one of the earliest FM broadcast radio stations.

The Columbia University Radio Club (CURC, WKCR)

"The Original FM": The Columbia University Radio Club

On July 18, 1939, a 400-foot antenna tower in Alpine, New Jersey broadcast the very first FM transmission. Edwin H. Armstrong, a Columbia University professor, was the first to develop this alternative to traditional AM broadcasts. WKCR shares a history with Armstrong and his groundbreaking work, accounting for the marginally accurate phrase, "The Original FM" occasionally heard on-air. Beginning as the Columbia University Radio Club (CURC) as early as 1936, the organization was not a radio station as we know it, but rather an organization concerned with the technology of radio communications. As membership grew, however, the nascent club turned its efforts to broadcasting. Armstrong helped the students in their early efforts, donating a microphone and turntables when they designed their first makeshift studio in a dorm room (1107 John Jay, to be precise).

I graduated 41E. In 1938 or 9 I was chief op. I hold W2HRT since 1934. The club at that time was more taken with FM promotion and demonstration than ham radio. I spent time at the Alpine tower W2XMN. I recall a specific demo trip the club made to Brooklyn Polytech. W2XMN went on the air for us and we carried our one and only FM receiver in a 6 ft. rack to Brooklyn to demo the advantages of FM. In 1939-40 Bill Hutchins 40E got the club to organize a campus radio station. At the time it was totally illegal. FCC regs permitted 5 (?) microvolts per meter radiation from a carrier wire. We put CURC (call letters used) "on the air" as a carrier current station using the power wires as conductor. We operated at about 620 kc AM . The lower the frequency, the greater distance allowed. The club assembled the console and am transmitter from scratch. I personally remember hand wiring rotary switches to make the operating console. Also remeber technical problem of coupling around power distribution transformers to get the signal to Barnard, which we did.

The 1940s and 50s

Antennae, Ike and Gooney Boxes

Fuat, N2YGN, found an ARRL Charter of Affiliation dated July 10, 1953.... In 1954-5, Vincent O'Keeffe, W1IDL, was involved with the club and sent us this letter in November, 1998 describing rigs of the day including Gonset Communicatiors, and the innauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower as Columbia's thirteenth president. In 1956-57, Yves "Al" Feder, W1EOX (ex-K2CUI), was Vice President of the club and later trustee. Yves has provided a lot of information about that time. On October 4, 1957, Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviet Union, and W2AEE was there (and the FBI too!)

The All-College Net

• April 27, 1953 "Comments from Columbia" (An Open Letter to the All-College Net)
• September 1, 1953 Invitiation to join
• January 1, 1955 "College Net Modulator" newsletter recounting an organizational meeting hosted by Columbia

The 1960s

Move to S.W. Mudd

During this time, the club moved from the old Engineering school building, now Mathematics Hall to the new building, Seeley W. Mudd Hall, where it is currently located. Given that, most files found in the shack date back to the late fifties and early sixties. CU Radio Club Contructs Steel Tower on Mudd Hall By Peter Friedland A twenty-foot, steel communications tower is being built on the roof of Mudd Hall and will be completed in about two weeks. The structure will enable the University amateur radio station, W2AEE, to resume "world wide communication," according to Alex Schapiro, technical director of the station. While the base and safety railingg have been constructed, the tower itself is still in tow ten-foot sections on the top floor of the building. The project was begun earuly in May, with the aid of Professor John H. Bose, advisor to the club. The station's facilities include two beams and several long-wire antennas which will be attached to the tower. Leads from the tower to the station's receivers and transmitters will be run through one of three conduits or pipes which currently contain television channel wires. The major preoccupation of the club at present is the construction of a "high-power, linear amplifier which will increase our power from 140 to 1,000 watts," said Mr. Schapiro. This is being done by converting "an old transmitter that we had around, so it isn't costing us any money," he added. "We'll be glad to have anyone in the University join us," said President Ernest Bergmann." -- The Columbia Daily Spectator. 11/1/1963.

DUNNING CELEBRATES RADIO CLUB EXPANSION Last Thursday, Dean John R. Dunning made the final connecttion between the Radio Club's transmitting and receiving equipment on the fourteenth floor of SWM and its new antennas atop the highest roof of the Mudd Building. The club just recently moved into the Mudd Building from the old engineering building, now the mathematics building. A "shack" was constructed for them in the elevator lobby on the fourteenth floor of SWM, and antennas have been partially completed on the roof. Lead wires of 150 feet have been put in place to connect the antennas and the shack, In the picture adjacent to this article, the antenna nearest the top of the mast Is used for the two meter ham band. The lower antenna is one section of a "tribander" beam which is for use on the 10, 15, and 20 meter bands, These latter bands bands, especially the 15 and 20 meter bands, are of special interest because of their distance capabilities, under good conditions, it is expected that contacts will be made with every continent, The club hopes to install remote control rotating equipment, which would enable them to direct the antenna from their shack, in the near future, New Transmitter Purchased The club has just obtained a new high-powered transmitter capable of one kilowatt input power, This unit, which is almost totally automated, was obtained by the club at a nominal cost, The original cost to the Unites States was somewhere on the order of $50,000, The units are surplus which are being made available to educational institutions for almost no cost. To give an idea of the precision of this instrument, it tunes itself and is capable of a frequency accuracy to the nearest ten cycles per second. Started in 1907 The first records of an amateur radio station at Columbia indicate that, in 1907, there was a spark-gap transmitter located In the basement of Chandler hall. Later the club moved to the old engineering building, where it remained until its recent move to SWM, There was a hiatus of approximiately one year in the club's operation while the move to SWM was being undertaken, At present, the club has twenty-five members and it is expected that the number will increase since the club is operating again. Offers Code and Theory Classes The club is presently conducting code and theory classes at 6 pm every Thursday at the shack, The purpose of these classes is to "teach all those interested in the necessary knowledge to pass the FCC license examinations," according to Ernie Bergmann, the club president. The club's phone extension is 726 and all those interested are invited either to call or to come up to the shack. -- Pulse v2 n11. 12/12/1963

The 1970s

The mystery of the FCC violation notice

Further investigation found the station log book and the page for that period shows a series of contacts with the National Student Information Network [Kristen Haring. Ham Radio's Technical Culture. 2007. MIT Press (retrieved via Google Books, 2/11/2011). p. 30]. These contacts were likely in response to the student strike and killing of 4 students at Kent State University on May 4, 1970.

Excerpts from the station log for May 8, 9, and 11 (the May 10 date of the FCC violation notice is not in the log) show contacts on 40 and 80 meters with (on the same frequencies of 3.930 and 7.269 MHz, likely indicating a scheduled net): W2UC, Union College, Schenectady, NY; W2DSC, New York University; WA2FJM, currently registered to John L. Breese; W1WGM, currently not registered; WB2BMM, currently registered to Ben L. Bason.

There's a log notation that states "Worked W2MJ to pass Senators message." Unfortunately, the log does not indicate who the W2AEE control operator was or more information about the content of the message.

Chess Over the Air

On the Cover of March 1976 QST

reprinted with permission

W2AEE made the cover of March 1976 QST with a stunning photo taken by Bob Spitzer, WB2DZL, looking downtown along our Mosley Classic 36 HF beam from our rooftop tower on the S.W. Mudd building. This cover photo was the inspiration for our 1994 QSL card.

• Here's a publicity flyer from 1976-77.
• And here's an offer to take National Traffic System radiogram traffic, undated, but probably from the same time period.
• Here's a description of the station signed by Fearless Leader Bob Spitzer, WB2DZL, now KB1AP, also undated. Bob reports that he revitalized the club from dormancy to 20 to 30 members, including erecting the HF tower.

In 1977, Columbia University President William J. McGill, through the help of CUARC President Joshua Mermelstein (1976-1977) and the club, obtained his Novice Class license. Here is a press release issued by the Office of Public Information on 4/14/77:

• McGill gets Amateur Radio License, Page 1
• McGill gets Amateur Radio License, Page 2

Josh helped to get the club rejuvinated in the mid-seventies. Joe Schachner WB2FUL was president from 1977-79 and helped freshman Wayne Mueller get licensed in Spring 1977 as WD9EAV. Wayne, now W1QC (ex-AE9B) was president from 1979-80.

Wayne reports, "There was a member in '77 and '78 who was great at building things. He built a great RTTY TU for the old green teletype we had. I wish I could remember his name." Andrew Siegel, N2CN (ex-WA2BDV), reports that the TU was built by Joe Geller, KO2Y. Joe and Andrew, while a high school student in the Science Honors Program, built an Az-El rotator for OSCAR. The club also acquired an ICOM multimode VHF rig [is this perhaps the Kenwood multimode rig? - Ed].

The 1980s

A report and budget request from 1981 lists the club membership at the time (showing undergrads from SEAS and CC, several graduate students, a member of the physical plant staff and two faculty. The report also describes activities including receiving SSTV images from Voyager I.

CUARC also installed radio equipment at Columbia's Arden House in 1982.

In 1984, Adam Epstein, N2DHH was president.

The 1990s

Reactive

• In May 1992, Hank Alvestad helped preserve E.H. Armstrong's legacy by donating a binder of circuit diagrams and notes from Amstrong and his staff.
• In 1993(?) a Volunteer Examiner team started running amateur radio exams on campus.
• An Emergency Operations Team, affiliated with New York City ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) was formed and even activated during the December, 1994 winter storms to provide emergency communications at a Red Cross shelter.
• Several CUARC members participated in the 1993 and 1994 New York City Marathon, along with about 400 other hams.
• In the Spring of 1994, we had a Fox Hunt in Central Park. Mike, KK6SQ, was the fox and turned out to be hiding in the tower of the Castle.
• In September 1994, we ran several special events during Orientation week, including taking over 80 NTS messages at Barnard and on College Walk and we operated an HF station on College Walk.
• In February 1998, while making preparations for an Alumni antenna party spurred on by Wayne Mueller, W1QC, Alan, N2YGK, and Fuat, N2YGN, took these photos of the upper rooftop to document the condition of the current towers and feedlines:
  • HF tower in good shape. Mounted antennas include Mosley CL-36 tribander and 2 M vertical. Rotator needs repair as does rotator cable which has broken insulation. CL-36 appears to be sound.
  • VHF/UHF tower is rusty but otherwise OK. Mounted antennas include azimuth-eleavation rotator holding 2m Yagi and 70cm phased Yagis and 70cm vertical. The azimuth rotator mounting bolts have dissappeared and need to be replaced. Looks like one of the 70cm Yagis is missing two elements.
  • G5RV is broken.
  • Coax/rotator cable work box is in good shape. There are 5 coax feed lines and three rotator cables into the box. Cover came off very easily and it is clean and dry inside. All 5 feeds are connected: Mosley, 2m vertical, 70cm vertical, 2m vertical Yagi, 70cm horizontal Yagi.
  Thanks Rob, KA2FZI, for the loan of the digital camera and "foto rush" services:-)

The 2000s

• In June 2005 the state of the shack is:
  • The Mosley CL-36 HF beam has died. One half of the driven element fell off.
  • The HF rotator that Wayne replaced in 1998 is still working.
  • The 160-80-40 wire antennas that Wayne installed are showing a high VSWR
  • The Kenwood TS-830 donated my Bill McGill in 1977 is still working although it needs some cleaning.
  • The Kenwood TR-751 VHF all-mode rig looks fine.
  • We also have an old ICOM UHF rig on loan from WA2USS.
  • An APRS digipeater has been in continuous operation since the 2001 NYC Marathon.
  • The APRS digi, W2AEE, is using the 2m vertical.
  • State of the VHF tower is poor. Needs to be taken down.
• The VE team is still active doing monthly exams.
• Philosophy Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places for E.H. Armstrong's pioneering research there.
• On June 11, 2005 the 70th Anniversary of FM was recently celebrated with a special broadcast from Alpine Tower on 42.8 Mc.

Sadly, our centennial went by in 2008 and nobody noticed. I suppose we can always go with the 2013 centennial of 2XM!

The 2010s

There's been some renewed interest in history of the club thanks to: The 75th anniverary rebroadcast of the 70th anniversary 42.8 Mc celebration. Gintautas Gaidamavicius, LY2YR, who found a New York Sun article about the founding of the club in 1908. The recent availability of searchable QST archives, which also led to some interesting insights about the club founding -- and a friendly rivalry with MIT that dates back to 1958. Get over it guys. We were first. A project to organize the papers of E.H. Armstrong (in the Columbia Rare Book and Manuscripts Library), championed by Mischa Schwartz, supported by the Armstrong Memorial Research Foundation, the IEEE and others, and staffed by Jen Comins, along with we hams' attempts to claim Armstrong as "one of us" as found in editorial comments accompanying a November 1933 letter from Armstrong to QST announcing his victory over Lee DeForest confirming his invention of the regenerative receiver: ...This is a subject of great interest because Armstrong, at the time of inventing the regenerative feedback circuit, was himself a 23-years-old amateur. His work is frequently pointed to as the outstanding example of the amateur's ability to contribute to the art.... Letter to the Editor of QST published April, 2011, again restating our 1958 claim against the MIT Radio Society's primacy as the first college ham radio station. On June 7, 2011, Jen Comins and Jocelyn Wilk carted off four boxes of old files to add to the Columbia University Archives, helping to preserve the history of the club. W2AEE joined the new College Amateur Radio Club Association in April, 2011. On January 1, 2012, Alan Crosswell, N2YGK and Ed Miller, KG4MZH installed a 2m/440 dual band antenna on the tower, getting us back on the air for VHF/UHF phone.

The VE Team is still active as well.

Acknowledgements