How a mail-order kit and a generous ham helped usher a teenager into the fellowship of Amateur Radio.

In his article "The Age of the Autodyne" (QST, Jan 2002, pp 43-45), Al Klase, N3FRQ, made reference to the "lowly" Knight-Kit Ocean Hopper regenerative receiver. I thought it might be of interest to many hams who might never have heard of the venerable kit receiver to know what it was.

With a spiffy cane metal enclosure, the author's Ocean Hopper regenerative receiver is a unique piece.

The 1940 issue of Allied Radio's Radio Builder's Handbook listed a number of entry-level kits, along with a few pages of basic theory and a brief description of Amateur Radio. Two pages were devoted to our Ocean Hopper. The section on the Ocean Hopper gave you both schematic and pictorial diagrams, along with a few construction and operating tips. Of interest, also, was the parts price list: Complete Kit, $5.95; Four Coils, 16 to 195 meters, $1.25; Tube Kit (12SJ7GT and 7OL7GT), $1.40. So, for the grand total of $8.60 you were ready to get started.

I was 15 years old at the time, and with some moral and financial support from my father, I was able to send away to Allied Radio (later Radio Shack) in Chicago and get the works. By using the pictorial and very carefully checking every solder joint, my dad and I were able to have it fire up and work when first plugged in. No words can describe the thrill of that first clear signal which happened to be the BBC with their signature "London Calling" intro, complete with the booming sound of Big Ben on the hour. After that the radio was given a place of honor in the living room, close to the big Sparton broadcast receiver where it could be connected to the long wire antenna. These were also times of great international turmoil and many hours were spent searching for overseas broadcasts. It being the days prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, US hams were still on the air, so we also enjoyed listening to some 40 meter AM amateur transmissions, too.

With this introduction to short wave, it was little problem convincing my parents to get me an Echophone commercial receiver for my 17th birthday. The Ocean Hopper was put into a box and forgotten until my interest in radio was rekindled years later after military service, college and starting a family. For some reason, I decided to put it into metal cabinet, as seen in one of the photos. It does give it a more modem appearance, but makes changing the coils more of a pain. With the original tubes and a modest wire antenna, it still brings in signals.

Excellent fidelity came with a weight trade-off in 1915. A friend's uncle, the first ham Lehman had ever met, gave him these Baldwin headphones. [WA8MHO Photos]

Prior to building the Knight-Kit, I made a series of crystal sets and other gadgets using a telephone receiver to capture any audio. One day a friend invited me to visit his uncle, who was in town for a while. He was a ham and, for a shack, took over part of a shed attached to my friend's garage. He made a couple of Morse contacts, which I couldn't read, but I got a real kick out of the idea of sending a signal as well as receiving one. He said I ought to have a good set of headphones and gave me a set. They are from Nathaniel Baldwin, made in Salt Lake City and patented in1915. As you can see in the photo, they are unusual in that the sound diaphragms are mica discs attached to a driver between the poles of a coiled horseshoe magnet. It's a very good headset, but very heavy!

This was my first introduction to a real ham and it illustrates the spirit that so many amateurs have had over the years. It's this spirit that has made ham radio the vital fraternity that it is. I remember that he also gave me a 1939 license manual, which I can no longer find. Unfortunately, my friend's uncle moved away a couple months later and I never got to have any more visits or show him the Ocean Hopper. World War II put a stop to my pursuing a ham ticket and I didn't start my pursuit of an Amateur Radio license again until many years later. Still, I will always remember my first successful radio building projects and the wonderful, kind gentleman who first made me want to be a ham.

John H. Lehman, WA8MHO, was first licensed in 1964 and passed his Extra Class exams in 1977. He has held several section-level posts in Ohio and is an active in several radio clubs. Lehman worked as a tribologist for Sohio Oil Company for over 35 years and continues work as a consultant in lubrication engineering, primarily to the steel industry. He lives with his wife of 50 years, Mary, WB8ZQL, in Lexington, Ohio.

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