Posted: 2/26/2026 11:37:01 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Jupiter7200][Edited]
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For one of the nets for which I net control one night each week (I end up doing a few more) as we release each station at the end of the net we ask if they can answer the evening's trivia question. Some NC's ask general trivia, "What President...", or "When was..." type stuff. I make it a habit to ask ham, or at least radio related trivia, making it edumacational. Previous questions included such things as, "How did Amateur Radio Operators become known as 'hams'?" Or, "How many tubes were in most table radios?" Tonight's question was, OK, get the dirty thoughts out of your mind, "What is a 'vibrator' in a tube radio or amplifier?" So, I'm running out of good trivia... any you guys can offer? |
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What is amateur radio's most sacred symbol which stands for the enforcement of law and order in amateur operation? The Wouff-Hong https://amfone.net/WouffHong/wouff.htm |
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What is the maximum power allowed for an Extra Class operator at 14.350 MHz, USB? Answer: Click To View Spoiler eta The reason it's a 'tricky' question is that the questionee is expecting the answer to be about the power limits for ham radio on HF, not about band edges. |
87% of the time, any question starting with "Why..." is answered with "Money."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
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"How many tubes were in most table radios?" Five tubes. The general design was known as the "All American Five". The five tubes had their filaments wired in series, negating the need for a power transformer. This layout was in nearly every table radio. Vibrator - aka "buzzer". In a car radio a relay inside was wired such that when the points began to close, it interrupted the circuit to release. The points vibrated or buzzed, and produced a faux A/C that would go through a transformer to produce the much higher voltage required to power the rest of the radio. Looked like a metal can about the size of a tube, and had prongs on one end that plugged into a socket like a tube socket. Bring on more good questions, guys! Thanks! |
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Originally Posted By cjk: Why are the ham bands metric? If we switched to yards would we talk on the 44 yard band or change the frequency? I dont have the answers, just always wanted to know.  "What's the propagation velocity of RG58" "Difference between SWR and RL" "How many S units is 3dB" "What's the voltage change in 3dB" "What does a Bird 43 measure" "What's the Shannon Nyquist Theorem" "Name the IEEE standard for wifi" |
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There is a word that describes the point at which maximum power is transmitted. Interestingly, the world has a similar meaning in physics as in metaphysics. Click To View Spoiler |
87% of the time, any question starting with "Why..." is answered with "Money."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
Veteran of the Third Battle of Tannhauser Gate.
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Here's one just for fun. There is a condition that is shared by all hams which limits their ability to participate in their hobby. It affects some hams more than others, but all of us have it. Click To View Spoiler |
87% of the time, any question starting with "Why..." is answered with "Money."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
Veteran of the Third Battle of Tannhauser Gate.
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What is a mechanism by which an FM signal may be heard on an AM radio? Click To View Spoiler |
87% of the time, any question starting with "Why..." is answered with "Money."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
Veteran of the Third Battle of Tannhauser Gate.
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When a VHF signal is heard in a place where it should be blocked by an obstacle such as a mountain, what's the radio principle? Click To View Spoiler |
87% of the time, any question starting with "Why..." is answered with "Money."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
|
On the net for which I net control, soon after we begin the net we recite the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a prayer/blessing. I've heard other nets do the same. In the past it was usually the Net Control that did the prayer, though he would first ask if anyone else would like to lead the prayer. So, why not? One day I popped up and said, "I'll do that." I was doing it every night until another net member asked if he could alternate with me doing the prayers. Now he does Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, my Net Control night. I do Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. He's got a regular Saturday night obligation so that frees him up, and takes some of the load off me. My wife, who happens to be our church's secretary gave me a link to daily prayers at a church site. These are part of our services as the Collect for Sunday. Perfect, one or two lines. Quick, short, easy. Perfect for this. I'd be glad to send a link to anyone wanting it. I have them copy/pasted 7 to a page, and four pages. I just go down the list, put a tiny check mark each time I use one, and know where I am in the list. When I get to the last one on the fourth page, next time I start again on page 1. I also have a few pages of special prayers, some about storms, hurricanes, etc. Prayers for natural disasters, or the military, or things such as Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, etc. Contact me via private message if you would like this. Altogether it is about 7 pages of plain text. |
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Okay since you have a following of Christians, here's a biblical trivia item: Where in the Bible does it say "Money is the root of all evil?" Answer: Nowhere. It's a misquote from Timothy 6:10: 1 Timothy 6:10 King James Version 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. |
87% of the time, any question starting with "Why..." is answered with "Money."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
Veteran of the Third Battle of Tannhauser Gate.
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Okay since you have a following of Christians, here's a biblical trivia item: Where in the Bible does it say "Money is the root of all evil?" Answer: Click To View Spoiler |
87% of the time, any question starting with "Why..." is answered with "Money."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
|
Originally Posted By FrankSymptoms: What is the maximum power allowed for an Extra Class operator at 14.350 MHz, USB? Answer: Click To View Spoiler eta The reason it's a 'tricky' question is that the questionee is expecting the answer to be about the power limits for ham radio on HF, not about band edges. This will be tonight's trivia question. Thanks, Frank! |
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Originally Posted By N6ATF: What is amateur radio's most sacred symbol which stands for the enforcement of law and order in amateur operation? The Wouff-Hong https://amfone.net/WouffHong/wouff.htm Question: "What does a Bird 43 measure" Answer: "Anything it wants." Hah! Last night I used N6ATF's about ham radio's most sacred symbol, etc., the Wouff-Hong. Nobody got it, but after the net I sent out the link via email to everyone, and they got a blast out of it.... Thanks! |
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Originally Posted By N6ATF: What is amateur radio's most sacred symbol which stands for the enforcement of law and order in amateur operation? The Wouff-Hong https://amfone.net/WouffHong/wouff.htm Previous week used this one. Not a single one knew it. I did, but didn't remember the name of it until I saw it. |
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Originally Posted By FrankSymptoms: What is the maximum power allowed for an Extra Class operator at 14.350 MHz, USB? Answer: Click To View Spoiler eta The reason it's a 'tricky' question is that the questionee is expecting the answer to be about the power limits for ham radio on HF, not about band edges. This was this weeks question. Some replied, "I have no idea" or "I don't know." But at least half answered correctly. |
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For a little humor: What is the water shed? Click To View Spoiler It's funny because in a big way it's true! |
87% of the time, any question starting with "Why..." is answered with "Money."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
"...and if you can't wait for dawn you can always light a fire."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
"...and if you can't wait for dawn you can always light a fire."
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Thursday night's trivia question: Inside the glass envelope of a tube you can see a silvery coating. As a kid first getting into electronics I would see this coating and think the tube was burning up, or damaged. But then I notices all tubes had this discoloration, some more, some less. Question (a) What is that coating called and (b) what is its purpose? Answers: (a) It is called "Getter". (b) It is a material flashed inside the glass envelope when evacuated to maintain a high vacuum by trapping and holding gases that may evolve, commonly made from elements such as zirconium, cerium, barium, and titanium. |
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Q: What ionospheric layer is responsible for most DX propagation? How high up is it? How is it affected by sunlight? A: The F layer, between about 100 and 500 miles. The F layer splits into two layers, the F1 and F2, during the daylight hours. At night they merged into one layer. This is for the old timers: Q: A beer is/was often referred to by a vacuum tube number. What was it? A: The 807. Q: By how much does one's transmitted power have to be changed to raise or lower the received signal by one S-unit? A: By a factor of four, or 6 dB. |
"...Capitalism...shares its blessings unequally; ...Socialism...shares its miseries equally."
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
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Originally Posted By N6ATF: What is amateur radio's most sacred symbol which stands for the enforcement of law and order in amateur operation? The Wouff-Hong https://amfone.net/WouffHong/wouff.htm There's also the Rettysnitch. |
"...Capitalism...shares its blessings unequally; ...Socialism...shares its miseries equally."
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
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Thursday night's (my net control night) trivia question had to do with what are those little square silver cans (about 1/2" on a side) with a hole on top called? Answer: "IF Cans" or "IF Transformers" and bonus question "What is the thing that is inside, turned to adjust, called?" Answer: "Slug" And several pointed out that to adjust you had to use a non-metallic tool. Those IF devices have been replaced by ceramic filters, which look like a little capacitor with three legs. I just replaced some 230 khz wide filters in an FM tuner with 180 khz GDT filters (flat group delay), and the narrow band 180 khz filters replaced with 150 khz. These were all for the 10.7 mhz IF. |
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Originally Posted By Frank_B: Q: What ionospheric layer is responsible for most DX propagation? How high up is it? How is it affected by sunlight? A: The F layer, between about 100 and 500 miles. The F layer splits into two layers, the F1 and F2, during the daylight hours. At night they merged into one layer. This is for the old timers: Q: A beer is/was often referred to by a vacuum tube number. What was it? A: The 807. Q: By how much does one's transmitted power have to be changed to raise or lower the received signal by one S-unit? A: By a factor of four, or 6 dB. Three good ones! Thanks, Frank!!! |
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Q: In the early days of radio, what was used to stabilize a radio frequency, for transmission? A: Crystals. From an AI synopsis: "In the early days of radio, crystals were used in transmitters to stabilize the frequency of the radio signal. These crystals, often made from quartz, were essential for ensuring that the transmitted signal remained on the correct frequency, which was crucial for clear communication. The piezoelectric effect of quartz crystals allowed them to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, making them ideal for oscillators in radio transmitters." These crystals were encased in a variety of enclosures. My first transmitter was an ARC-5 from a WWII bomber; I had one frequency I could use in the 40m band, in the Novice section. Bonus question: "There was a technique with which one could slightly change the resonant frequency of a crystal. What was this technique? Bonus answer: Mark the crystal with a lead pencil. This would lower the frequency. To raise the frequency you would disassemble the crystal and grind the surfaces with some kind of polishing agent; Comet cleanser was frequently used. Q: What is the act of extracting data from a radio signal? A: Demodulation. |
87% of the time, any question starting with "Why..." is answered with "Money."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
"...and if you can't wait for dawn you can always light a fire."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
"...and if you can't wait for dawn you can always light a fire."
|
Originally Posted By FrankSymptoms: Bonus question: "There was a technique with which one could slightly change the resonant frequency of a crystal. What was this technique? Bonus answer: Mark the crystal with a lead pencil. This would lower the frequency. To raise the frequency you would disassemble the crystal and grind the surfaces with some kind of polishing agent; Comet cleanser was frequently used. Great question, Frank! Thanks! You could also lower the frequency of a crystal by rubbing a piece of solder on the crystal element. Later crystals were sealed in a flat can, but early crystals were a small molded box... phenolic resin?... with a metal side that came off with tiny screws. So they could be opened, the crystal... a wafer thin piece of quartz... could be doped with the pencil or piece of solder (adding mass, lowering the frequency), and reassembled. |
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Oscar (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio) Q: How did OSCAR-1 return data? A: It transmitted HI in Morse code ( .... .. ). The speed of the HI rate increased and decreased with temperature! |
87% of the time, any question starting with "Why..." is answered with "Money."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
"...and if you can't wait for dawn you can always light a fire."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
"...and if you can't wait for dawn you can always light a fire."
|
Originally Posted By Jupiter7200: Great question, Frank! Thanks! You could also lower the frequency of a crystal by rubbing a piece of solder on the crystal element. Later crystals were sealed in a flat can, but early crystals were a small molded box... phenolic resin?... with a metal side that came off with tiny screws. So they could be opened, the crystal... a wafer thin piece of quartz... could be doped with the pencil or piece of solder (adding mass, lowering the frequency), and reassembled. I got a chirp notice from an OO once, for trying to lower the frequency of a rock into the 80M novice band. 
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Sic semper tyrannis!
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Here's one that everyone should know: What 's it called when the inductive reactance and capacitive reactance in the circuit cancel each other out? the answer is RESONANCE. Another: Admittance and reactance are reciprocal concepts in AC circuit analysis that describe opposite aspects of current flow. Reactance ($X$) measures the opposition to current flow caused by inductors and capacitors, measured in ohms ($\Omega$). Admittance ($Y$) is the reciprocal of total impedance ($Z$), measuring the total ease with which current flows through a circuit, including both resistive and reactive components, and is measured in siemens (S). (I always thought a neat sticker would be a sign that said "NO ADMITTANCE! INFINITE REACTANCE!" I dreamed of putting one such sticker on a door somewhere in the VLA installation; I used to visit it as I lived in NM.) |
87% of the time, any question starting with "Why..." is answered with "Money."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
"...and if you can't wait for dawn you can always light a fire."
I am so tempted to lay down the melancholy burden of sanity...
"...and if you can't wait for dawn you can always light a fire."