MY STORY

If you like to know more about me, you are welcomed to go through this “novel”, contrary, you can avoid it and go directly to the information pages you maybe interested in.

My father Giuseppe (Joe), when he was fifteen years old, walked 20 Km (13 miles) to see and listen to one of the first radio receivers. When I was born, he had a shop with a small laboratory where he was selling and repairing “Radios”.

My father was the first amateur radio of our family, with the callsign “I1SWX”, issued just after World War II, at that time was a temporary licensing. He was known as “Beppone” (Big Joe) and he was quite famous to wind transformers for power supplies, high voltage and modulation for the homebrewed tube transmitters. He was also re-winding the “normal” radio transformers burnt, as it was cheaper than buying new ones.

We can say “I have the radio in my blood”; some “dodgy people” say that my mother was feeding me milk using tubes, like the 813, and not the bottle  [see Photo]... hi.

My father’s hobby has certainly been the primary stimulus to push me to become an amateur radio and also the one that influenced my studies, electronics ... my father wanted I become an “accountant”…

In the 50s: my father Giuseppe Moda, I1SWX

At the age of 10-11, when I was still attending the primary school, I built my first radio receiver. It was a reaction type of receiver using two tubes. I took the circuit from an Italian radio magazine, of that time (end of 40s). This receiver was using two miniature tubes [see Photo] with 1.5V heather and anodic voltage of +90V. Everything was packed into a small wooden box. It was power by a 1.5V battery, for the heaters, installed internally and by a battery pack of +90V for the anodic volta, external. Well, I did not make smoke, but this radio did not work !!! When my father sow me quite upset, he bought me a crystal set kit (galena radio) so I could assemble something working. Everything was in the kit, including two coils, for medium and short waves, but with the exception of the galena crystal (PbS) [see Photo], as it was too expensive. An engineer, working at a nearby mine, gave me, as a gift, a small crystal stone of white pyrite (marcasite FeS2) [see Photo], something that was supposed to be similar to the “classic galena crystal”. This receiver did work … let’s say I was in the condition to receive my father’s station quite strong (I was few meters (yards) away from the antenna) and the so called “local AM station” on Medium Wave, located in Florence (150 km) was “copied” not too bad, particularly during the night, using headphones.

My father was operating on the 40 meters band, in line with his license. He had a homebrew AM transmitter, a “de Luxe” Italian home receiver, with short wave bands, IMCA Pangamma, and a Zeppelin wire antenna (see the I1SWX station picture), 42 meters long (140 feet).

I was often next to my father to listen to QSOs. I knew how to tune-up the transmitter. My father was using a pencil to be sure he had the best antenna coupling (parallel tuned with balanced output), as a “rf detector”, adjusting the variable capacitors and moving coil as to obtain the biggest electric discharge, between the pencil and the power coil. The pencil was kept in one hand !!! More or less, like the automatic tuners of our equipments today … hi!  

In the 60s: myself

I did learn everything: how a CQ call was placed, how to respond to a call, how to give reports (by ear), the information about the operator, the station, the WX, the QTH. When I was in the street or playing alone, I was exercising the radio call ... “Ci Qu, Ci Qu chiama I Uno Esse Vu-doppia Ichs, Italia Uno Santiago Washington Xantippe “ (CQ, CQ I One S W X is calling, Italy One Santiago Washington Xantippe ... today’s spelling would be “Italy One Sugar Wiskey X-ray”) ... “Ci Qu, Ci Qu chiama I Uno Esse Vu-doppia Ichs, Italia Uno Santiago Washington Xantippe” I was feeling “mature and ready”. One day, towards the end of 1952, while my father was away from the house, to repair some radio receivers, I took courage and tried … The tuning was “marvellous”; the flash, between the pencil and the coil, was beautiful and it was working even with me! I was not burnt down … I sent my first CQ … my voice was a little “shaky”, at the beginning, and then quite natural. A station from near the bottom of Italy, Apulia Region, today I7 land, answered my call … I do not remember anymore his callsign, but the operator’s name yes, it is still in my memory: Vito Aprile (+) from Tricase, in the province of Lecce in the region of Apulia, to make it easy … in the” heel” of the Italian boot. I cannot explain to you how happy I was and the satisfaction I felt … I was super excited … I still remember his QSL card I received, after long time, addressed to me. The card background was white, his callsign red and the Italian “boot” green. These are the colours of the Italian Flag. I did other two or three QSOs before my father was back at home. After some time, I received Vito’s QSL addressed to me. My first QSL! It had a white background, the callsign was in red and the Italian “boot” was in green, the colours of the Italian flag; a dot was marking where his QTH was located.

Every time I had the occasion to be home and my father was out of the shop, I was on the radio … I could not care less about anything, even the school … hi! I was taking part in Ham meetings too[see Photo].

One morning, my father went hunting and would be back around lunch time. I was at home, some how ill … What a better occasion than that one to “jump” into radio operating … During one of these contacts, one ham of the QSO told me  “…from your voice you sound very young”.  Another participant, I1TEI, told me “ I do not understand how your father, my friend Beppone, leaves you the shack (in the sense of station)”. My reply was not intelligent enough: “I am not very good to operate, please excuse me for the reports I give you; my father is gone hunting with a friend and I do not believe they will bring anything unless they shoot at some chickens!”. This is another “vivid” remembrance, of that time, in my memory.

My father did not discover my operating habits till one morning, when the postman delivered a registered letter mailed in Rome. It was a letter coming from the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication was carrying the “Listening Report” from the Center for Radio Communications Control (at that time it was really working!) [see Document]. The document had recorded part of the QSO, reporting the “incriminating” phrases. It was not only a “communication” document. It was, also, a fine. Yes, it was a big fine. My father had to pay 6,000 liras !!! A lot of money for that time, it was like a wage of a worker. You can imagine his reaction … not only “acoustics QRM” … hi! I was imposed not to operate anymore the radio station. For same time I was a very good boy … then, I restarted. I became more “clever”. I had the “answer” ready, in case of questions: “… my father was called in the shop and I continued his operation”. Not only, I increased my age … of a couple of years. This nice operating ended when the provisional licenses were discontinued. Who wished to operate an amateur radio station had to pass the theory and CW tests. The Italian radio amateurs were “decimated”. The Television was starting in Italy. My father was involved in such business; with sales of TV sets, installations of antennas his ham hobby became more fable and the station “vanished”, it was sold.

My radio amateur “passion” did not die. I enrolled with A.R.I. and during my studies in Rome I began visiting the local radio club. I met Vincenzo Mundola, I1MV, who was living near the house where I was staying. I started visiting him. I met with other OMs and “my life changed”. I applied for a Short Wave Listener callsign, I1-10089. In reality I was I1-11089; there was a typing mistake on my call, the “11” became “10”.  There was a “little” problem. As I received the callsign, I was at the typography to print my SWL QSLs … a lot of money. When I received the un-expected callsign correction it was too late, I had printed 2,000 QSL! [see photo] I presented a complaint and the owner of the I1-10089 call freed it (thanks a lot) and I became I1-10089. I1MV became my CW teacher. In 1963 I decided to try the Ham Radio License tests … I went through these 100%, even CW ! When I received the Operator License, I applied for the Station License. At that time we had to present the description and technical characteristics of the equipment used, plus the station’s site planning. Regarding my callsign I could have applied for a two letter suffix, but at my “radio baptize”, in the 50s, it was I1SWX; not forgetting this was the “family callsign”, how could I apply for something different? I requested my father’s call and this was issued to me. Finally, after 10 years of silence, the voice of the ”second operator” of the I1SWX station was again on air, now authorized as first operator, and without too many limits !!! [see Document].  

My Family....

73s de I7SWX
Giancarlo Moda