In the early days of Radio, the radio spectrum had become a playground for experimenters who were operating all manner of spark transmitters and other unregulated radio devices that often impeded critical communications between ships at sea and other public safety and broadcast efforts. The FCC imposes stiff fines on wayward members of the amateur radio service, just as it does for those licensees in the commercial broadcast industry. In the case of those rare operators and hacks who do not adhere to the standards, they are usually called down by their licensed peers even before they come to the attention of the Federal regulators. Conscientious amateur radio operators pride themselves on operating stations that are clean, safe, well regulated, and which adhere to the law. It was recently acquired by The Museum Of Yesterday.Īmateur radio, while under the control of the Federal Communications Commission today, has always been to some extent a "self policed" hobby. This example was an award bestowed at the 1938 ARRL convention. The device shown above is the dreaded "Wouff-Hong." It was taken during the 2014 celebration of the 55th anniversary of the issuance of Mr.
The photo below shows our founder and chairman, who now holds the highest classification ham radio license (Extra Class), and certifications as an ARRL license instructor and volunteer license examiner, at the controls of the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Radio Station "W1AW" at ARRL headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. DeMajo, as a young teenager, joined the League upon receiving his first FCC radio operator's license. John DeMajo and The Museum of Yesterday are proud of our ARRL Life Member status which dates back to 1960 when our founder Mr. The League's magazines and educational publications have documented the development of radio over the course of more than a Century, and it has managed to work with the FCC over the years to protect the rights of Ham Radio Operators and the frequencies allocated for the hobby. A century later, the League has grown to membership approaching three-hundred-thousand members, and it remains a strong and viable organization for the protection and advancement of Ham Radio training, legal intervention, and support of licensed amateur radio "ham" operators.
The American Radio Relay League was established, under the early leadership of Hiram Percy Maxim and Clarence Tuska, as a fraternity of amateur radio operators who would adhere to common sense standards of operation in the early days of 20th Century experimental radio.