QSO TODAY AMATEUR RADIO PODCAST
  • Podcasts
    • Eric's Favorite Podcasts
    • QSO Today Podcast Archive >
      • Sortable Podcast List
      • Downloadable Episodes CSV File
      • Complete List of Podcasts - Libsyn
      • iTunes List of QSO Today Episodes
      • Download Podcast List as PDF
  • Blog
  • Transcripts
  • Sponsors
    • icom
    • Sotabeams
  • About
    • Contact
    • Apple Reviews
    • Whitelist
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
  • Learn to Podcast

K1HTV

6/15/2019

6 Comments

 

Episode 254 - Rich Zwirko - K1HTV

Picture
Rich Zwirko, K1HTV, was quickly bitten by the DX bug in the late fifties and has gone on to log just about every DX entity on every band. Rich made a career of radio serving as a teenage broadcast engineer in his hometown of New Haven, Connecticut, and later ended his career at the Voice of America in Washington DC.  Getting on the air is Rich’s mantra that he shares with us in this QSO Today.
Show Notes
Fund a Transcript
Listen to Podcast

Picture
Picture
Picture



Hometown: New Haven, CT

First License: Novice, June 1958, KN1HTV

Favorite operating mode:   CW operator

Excited by: Digital modes

Greatest challenge to amateur radio:  poor propagation. Trying to work people on SSB and CW.

Advice to new or returning hams: Get involved with local radio club


First rig:
Knightkit Ocean Hopper Receiver
Heathkit DX20 Transmitter
Hammarlund HQ-110 Receiver
40 meter and 15 meter dipole antenna
 
Current Rig:  
Elecraft K3S HF Transceiver
Icom IC-706 HF Transceiver
220 FM Radio
SDR Receiver
RSP 1 SDR Receiver
RTL Dongle
Red Pitaya test R4LAB - 8 band SDR FT8 receiver 
Elecraft PR6 Pre-amp
 3 element AS-3  tri-band yagi antenna
G5RV Antenna
ZS6BKW antenna
160 meter loop antenna

People:
XYL -Phyllis - K1WSN (SK)
Jack Katz, K1AMO
Jim Monahan, K1BNQ, Rich first time on the air at Jim’s QTH
Barbara Lombardi, K1EIR
Elizabeth Lombardi, K1EIC  first contacts
David Chase purchased WTIC AM/FM
Charlie Finklestein, FCC Examiner, New York
Son, Andy Zwirko, K1RAk1ra.us/
Daughter, Christina, KR1SSZ
Lance Collester, W7GJ - My guest in episode 59
Joe Kasser, G3GCZ, VK5WU
Frank Donovan, W3LPL,  Multiop Contest Station - Frank was my guest in Episode 122 of the QSO Today Podcast

Terms: 
Boy Scout Handbook, Learn the Morse Code

3A2 Tube Regenerative Receiver

Fahnestock Clips

Radio Moscow

AC Gilbert Erector Set

Solar Cycle 19

Notre Dame High School, New Haven, CT

New Haven Register

First Class Radio Telephone

“Transmitting audio through a light beam”  Science Project

WELI Radio Station New Haven CT, 5 KW

WTIC Hartford, CT

Travelers Insurance Company History

Neumann Microphones

Ampex Reel to Reel tape recorders

Phantom fed audio

Balance audio transformer

Gold Building, Hartford, CT

Auschwitz Concentration Camp

United Technology Corporation, Hartford, CT

Voice of America, Washington DC

VOA Greenville, NC transmission site.

Hamden Amateur Radio Association “Hariscope”

Gonset Gooney "Bird" Box VHF 2 Meters

S100 Bus Computer

DXCC

6 meter power module WCBS TV amplifier Empire
State Building


Amateur Radio DX Bulletin boards

DX spotting networks

PSK Reporter

FT8 Mode

Build 8 band FT8 SDR Receiver

​EA6VQ DX Map


ON1KST 6 Meter Propagation Map

AMSAT

TAPR TADD-1 Kit

Goddard Radio Club

Goddard Space Flight Center

Packet Radio Bulletin Boards

NetRom Nodes

Virginia QSO Party

Manassas Hamfest

DXKeeper Log book

WSJT Development Group

FT-8 digital mode

TAPPR and Packet Radio.  

JSCALL (used to be called FT8call)

Digital Mode P25

DMR Hotspot

Echolink

Echolink W4VA repeater

EME or Moon bounce

80 element VHF collinear array

JT65 for EME

​R4LAB receiver software

The RSS Feed for all audio content from QSO today is available from here. 

Please join our QSO Today community by pressing the button below. It is the best way to suggest guests and topics, and provide feedback to Eric, 4Z1UG.
Subscribe
Picture
Hammarlund HQ-110 GC Receiver
Picture
Heathkit DX-20 Novice Transmitter
Picture
Redpitya Stemlab 4 channel SDR receiver
Picture
Elecraft K3S HF Transceiver
6 Comments
David Kaplan link
6/16/2019 08:25:44 am

Rich worked for WTIC before the Travelers sale. This is the website for those like Rich who worked there before 1974.

Reply
Pat Reno
6/19/2019 05:41:31 pm

Wow! Dick John would of loved seeing your Ham accomplishments ! Stay well. Pat

Reply
Pat Reno link
6/19/2019 05:47:32 pm

Wow! As I said, John would of loved seeing all your accomplishments and your equipment! Stay well. Patty

Reply
Michael Shovan, WB2KHE
6/18/2019 12:00:25 pm

Like Rich, I - too - fell early in love with broadcast radio, and was an engineer at two local stations (back in the 70s) before moving to TV until my recent retirement. His story about Telco loop-based remotes ("NEMOs") reminded me about how we got news from the networks (UPI, ABC-RADIO). I also did some local radio-remotes using VHF point-to-point links (161 MHz), and TV on microwave (2 GHz). FCC's "downgrade" of the First Class licence was - in my view - a serious blow to the technical-excellence "magic" that made broadcasting so attractive. Best 73s, Rich! -mjs##

Reply
Steven Herman link
8/2/2019 09:54:50 am

Just one comment regarding VOA becoming "a skeleton." While it is true the shortwave footprint is a mere shadow of its former self, we currently have 47 language services, most do radio (through MW or FM, including affiliates) and/or TV (satellite and affiliates) and all the language services have websites. We certainly don't have as many foreign bureaus as we did but I feel we're still doing an adequate job of fulfilling our mission goals.

Here's the updated fact sheet: https://docs.voanews.eu/en-US-INSIDE/2019/07/30/b2a5f281-2c61-43e2-9ecb-1e8ac26f820a.pdf

Reply
Russ Reiss - K1HOP
9/30/2022 05:32:55 pm

I remember Rich well, starting with our earliest days in ham radio (thus calls close in sequence) and seeing each other at the local Hamden Amateur Radio Club meetings.

We'd also run across each other on the air perhaps once every decade :) And I'd get other info from hams in the family.

A GREAT GUY! Always nice, always reliable, kind and decent. The world could use more Rich Zwirkos!

73 de K1HOP

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Sponsors

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    My Amazon Link
    Picture
    #commission earned

    Listen on: 

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Podcast Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    Categories

    All
    10 GHz
    160 Meters
    3D Printing
    Allstar Link
    AM
    Amateur Radio Testing
    Amateur Television
    Amplifiers
    AMSAT
    Antennas
    Antique Telegraph Keys And Bugs
    Apps
    APRS
    Arduino
    AREDN
    ARES
    ARISS
    ARRL
    Art
    Audio Processing
    Australia
    Aviation
    Ballooning
    Balun
    Beacons
    BITX
    Blind
    Blog
    Boat Anchors
    Boy Scouts
    Broadcast Radio
    CERT
    Collins 74A4
    Collins KWM2
    Contesting
    CQ World Wide
    Crystal Set
    CW
    Dayton Hamvention
    DDS Direct Digital Synthesizer
    Dead Bug Construction Method
    Digital Television
    DMR
    DMR Hot Spot
    DMR Hot-spot
    DMR Marc
    Double Side Band
    Drake TR4
    D-Star
    DX
    DXCC Honor Roll
    DXpedition
    Echolink
    Elecraft
    Elecraft K3
    Elecraft KX3
    Electronic Building Techniques
    Electronic Noise And Interference
    Electronic Tools
    EME Moon Bounce
    Emergency Comm
    Emergency Power
    Enigma
    Ex Military Radio
    Ex-military Radio
    FCC
    Fflghtaware
    FlexRadio
    Flow State
    FM And Repeaters
    FreeDV HF Digital Voice
    FSQ
    FT 8
    FT-8
    G5RV
    Hall Of Fame
    Hamfest
    HamSCI
    Heathkit
    Heathkit Hw8
    Hexbeam Antenna
    HF Digital Modes
    HOA
    Home Brew
    IARU
    Icom
    International Hams
    International Space Station
    Ionosphere
    IOTA Islands On The Air
    IOTA - Islands On The Air
    IRLP
    JOTA
    JS8Call
    JT4
    Kenwood TS 2000
    Kenwood TS-2000
    Kenwood TS440
    Kit Building
    KX2
    Leadership
    LoRaWAN
    M17 Project
    Magnetic Loop Antenna
    Maker Faire
    Manhattan Construction
    Manpack Radio
    Maritime Mobile
    Mesh Networking
    Metal Fabrication
    Meteor Scatter
    MFSK
    Microwave
    Microwave Roving
    Military Cipher Machines
    MMDVM
    Museum
    Music
    NASA
    Nets
    New Hams
    NTS - National Traffic System
    Operating Practice
    Packet Radio
    PACTOR
    Parks On The Air
    Portable Operation
    POTA
    Propagation
    Public Safety
    QCWA
    QRO
    QRP
    QRPP
    R-390
    Races
    Radar
    Radio Astronomy
    Raspberry Pi
    Remote Control
    Remote Hams
    Repeaters And Remote Base Stations
    RTTY
    Russ Farnsworth Morse Code Method
    Satellites
    SDR
    Short Wave Listening
    Single Operator Two Radio
    Single Side Band
    Slow Scan Television
    SO2R
    Software Defined Radio
    Solar Power
    SOTA
    Space Shuttle
    Special Event Station
    Spectrum Monitor
    Spy Radios
    SSB
    System Fusion
    TAPR Tucson Amateur Packet Radio
    TAPR - Tucson Amateur Packet Radio
    Technology Development
    Test Equipment
    Top Band
    UBITX
    Ugly Construction Method
    UHF
    Unique Contributions
    US Army MARS
    Vacuum Tube Radio
    VHF
    Video
    Vintage Gear
    WinLink
    WSPRnet
    WWFF
    Yaesu FT-840
    Youth
    YouTube
    You Tube

Proudly powered by Weebly