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transmissions without modulation。 Ankara was one of the first
broadcasting stations in that part of the world。〃
Norman： 〃Regeneration should have produced a whistle。〃
Takis： 〃Yes； indeed。 And in a peculiar way。 When I approached the
receiver my hand produced the whistle。〃
Norman： 〃Hand capacity effect。〃
Takis： 〃And foot capacity effect as well！ When I approached my knee
to the metal leg of the work…bench I would lose the station I had been
listening to。〃 He said the tuning capacitor he had made was obviously too
small and he had to alter the taps on the coil continuously。 About three
o'clock in the morning during a cold winter night he heard a new sound …
the breathing （carrier） noise and a sort of regular ticking。 He later found
out that it was the new broadcasting station in Vienna； Austria； which
transmitted the sound of a metronome throughout the night。 This would
have been about 1926。
I asked Takis about school。 〃In spite of the late nights listening I
never missed a day at school。 My father was the Chairman of the School
Committee and I couldn't let him down。 But I had to earn some pocket
money to pay for the bits a pieces I needed。 Particularly a decent pair of
headphones； I had to hold the army headphone to me ear with one hand
which gave me pins and needles。 For some years I had kept goldfish and
pigeons； so I sold them。 A friend of mine had gone to sea as a cadet and
his ship went abroad； so I asked him to get me a pair of headphones。
〃I must explain to you that it was no easy matter for a Russian
seaman to serve on a vessel which visited foreign ports。 First one had to
go through the Communist Party sieve and then he was told that if he
jumped ship his family would suffer for it。
〃Anyway； he bought me a lovely pair of Telefunken headphones
when the ship berthed at Constantinople （Istanbul） which I have to this
day。 But not on his first trip； when he was not allowed to go ashore。 And it
was not the captain who decided who could go ashore。 A trusted member
of the Party would pick out a group of seamen who could land but they
had to stay together the whole time。
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
〃I never managed to go abroad。 At the Club I had obtained a morse
test certificate for 40 letters a minute （8 wpm） in Latin characters and 90
letters （18 wpm） in the Cyrillic alphabet （Russian）。 To go abroad one had
to up…grade to 80 Latin and 120 Cyrillic letters。 （16 & 24 wpm）。 I was put
on a small coastal ice…breaker which cleared the river estuaries in the
Black Sea。
〃The Black Sea is one of the most treacherous inland seas in the
world。 During the winter its northern shores are frozen whereas the coast
of Asia Minor keeps the southern shores relatively warm by comparison。
This results in gale force winds and rough seas。 Waves follow each other
very closely as opposed to the long swell one gets in the Pacific。 Ships
have to leave port to avoid crashing into each other。
〃I was about 18 when I first went to sea as a cadet W/T operator。 One
day when we came out of an estuary the sea was so rough that the captain
decided to turn back。 As we turned to starboard we noticed an American
freighter behind us heavily laden with wheat and very low down in the
water。 To our horror it was caught between the crests of two enormous
waves and broke in two roughly amidships。 Although we were only about
half a mile away the freighter sank before we could get to it。 We saw a few
survivors in the water； but it would have been impossible to put a boat into
that treacherous sea。 Apart from which a man cannot survive many
minutes in a water temperature just above freezing。 It was all over in a
flash and we returned to Odessa in deep shock。
〃Odessa used to have four harbours。 The callsign of the W/T station
was EU5KAO。 I remember it very well because it was my job to take the
weather forecasts for shipping which it transmitted regularly。〃
Takis spoke about some amusing misconceptions of that period。
When he first completed his receiver and was getting poor results with it
he asked a more experienced amateur to look at it。 The 'expert'
immediately found the first fault： the downlead from the antenna had a
bend in it of more than 45 degrees which was quite unacceptable。
Secondly； the ground connection to the central heating radiator was no
good because it was winter and the radiator was hot so it presented a very
high resistance！ It must be soldered； he said； to a cold water tap。
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
〃I tried everything I could think of to solder the wire to the tap； but to
no avail。 Then one day I had a brain…wave and I made a stupendous
invention！ I wrapped a copper strip round the tap and bolted it tightly；
together with the ground wire。 I was really very proud of myself and
wondered if anybody else had ever thought of doing it that way。〃
I asked Takis if he had done any transmitting from home。 〃We
amateurs of foreign origin were not allowed to own transmitters but we
could operate the club station under close supervision by the Party
member who was always present。 My own SWL callsign was RK…1136 as
you can see from the QSL card I received from EU5DN in 1929。
〃I remember our excitement when we first contacted a station outside
Russia。 It was a station in Saarbrueken and we were on a wavelength of 42
metres。 All the members of the Club sent him our SWL reports and he sent
us back his cards and a photograph of his equipment which was published
in the Moscow amateur journal and so Odessa became famous。 On 42
metres most of our QSOs were with German stations。 As a result of this
success many young lads joined our club and we 'experts' would explain to
them about bends in the aerial down…lead and the high resistance of a
ground connection to a central heating radiator when the water in