down load a text version of this file:  arrl.txt What is the A.R.R.L. ?  The first Radio Amateur, or "HAM" as we came to be known, was Guglielmo Marconi, the father of Amateur (and Commercial) Radio.  In 1899 Marconi was able to send radio signals across the English Channel, a distance of 32 miles. Then on December 12, 1901 Marconi transmitted the letter S in Morse code, a trio of buzzes, across the Atlantic Ocean...a distance of 2,000 miles.  Amateur (and commercial) radio we know to this day, was born. Marconi was the first "Ham" radio operator. (OVER 93 years ago) Virtually every advance in technology since that first trans-Atlantic contact has come from or with the help of Amateur Radio Experimenters.  Is any of this news to you? Are you a member of the A.R.R.L. ? What is the A.R.R.L. ?  Where did the A.R.R.L. come from and what does it mean, what does it do?  (besides publish the magazine "QST" & the "HANDBOOK") The answers to all of these questions will be found in these two books.  TWO HUNDRED METERS AND DOWN by Clinton B. DeSoto and "50 YEARS OF A.R.R.L." (loaded with pictures) I think every "HAM" should read & keep on hand to lend out, these two books! Every "HAM" needs to learn "HAM RADIO's" history and how the A.R.R.L. pulled "HAM RADIO's" fat out of the fire, to coin a phrase. (over and over) Lending these two books to new and prospective HAMS in the hope of giving new HAMS the foundations of "HAM RADIO".  The "Old Man" taught so much to get HAM RADIO started off in the right direction and his teaching is still the best way to start someone in "HAM RADIO."  If you don't know who the "Old Man" was, YOU MUST read these books!  If you wish to learn even more about the beginnings of ham radio and the A.R.R.L you should also read "The biography of Hiram Percy Maxim" Ron KA4INM [email protected]