William G. Broughton:
One Radio Ham

Joseph 'Jofish' Kaye
Cornell University
jofish@cornell.edu

26 August 2004
4S/EASST, Paris, France

1. 'Traditional' STS: Big Science
Physics laboratories

1. 'Traditional' STS: Big Science
Physics laboratories
Biology laboratories
...

0. 'Traditional' History of Science
The Great Man (And How He Singlehandledly Changed the World)
1. 'Traditional' STS: Big Science
Physics laboratories
Biology laboratories
...

0. 'Traditional' History of Science
The Great Man (And How He Singlehandledly Changed the World)
1. 'Traditional' STS: Big Science (And How It's All About Societies and Institutions, Not Individuals)
Physics laboratories
Biology laboratories
...

0. 'Traditional' History of Science
The Great Man (And How He Singlehandledly Changed the World)
1. 'Traditional' STS: Big Science (And How It's All About Societies and Institutions, Not Individuals)
Physics laboratories
Biology laboratories
...
2. Hacking & Tinkering
And How the Day-to-Day Practice Ultimately Comes Down to One Guy In His Basement, Somewhere.

Hacking and Tinkering

  • Ron Kline - Consumers in the Country
  • Kirsten Haring - Technical Identity in the age of Electronics
  • Cristina Dunbar-Hester - Geeks, Meta-Geeks, and Gender Trouble: Activism, Identity, and FM Radio.

  • Us
  • Design for Hackability Panel, DIS (Designing Interactive Systems) '04, Cambridge MA
  • AOIR
    • What I hope to contribute to the literature on amateurs in technology is the view of a single ham.

    Susan Douglas's and Kristen Haring's work both look at amateur contributions by exploring the field of radio as a whole.

    I hope that by looking at the field from the viewpoint of one solid, reliable, dedicated but essentially ordinary ham, I can provide a bottom-up contribution that brings individual agency to the study of what is fundamentally an area of individual and amateur effort and application.

    William G. Broughton

  • Born 1902
  • Radio Ham, 1915-197x
  • District Sales Manager for General Electric in Schenectady NY
  • B.S. Electrical Engineering, Cornell '24
  • Unmarried
  • Donated his archive (~100 linear ft.) to Cornell in 1964.

    • Henry P. Broughton

    Logbooks

  • Format standardized in 1920s by AARL (American Amateur Relay League)
  • Contains details of all ham contacts
  • Part of ham regulations (FCC, etc)
  • Part of ham identity
  • Broughton Archive: Box 21. 60+ logbooks, 1915-1964, consecutively numbered.

    • DATE

    TIME

    STATION

    CALLED

    CALLED

    BY

    HIS

    FREQ

    OR

    DIAL

    HIS

    SIGNALS

    RST

    MY SIGNALS RCT

    FREQ.

    MC.

    EMIS-

    SION

    TYPE

    POWER

    INPUT

    WATTS

    TIME OF ENDING

    QSO

    OTHER DATA

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    200

     

     

     

     

     

    3950

     

    213

    ND

     

    210

    2WNIV

    x

     

     

     

    √

     

     

    240

    Lambert

    √

    W2URP

    x

    net

    cont

     

    √

     

     

     

    Chuck

    √

    K2HON

    x

     

     

     

    √

     

     

     

    Twinkle Toes!

    √

    K2UKA

    x

     

     

     

    √

     

     

     

    Phil

    √

    K2EKS

    x

     

     

     

    √

     

     

     

    Chuck (little item from W2NIV)

    215

    W2JJE

    x

     

     

     

    √

     

     

     

    Don Jack K4PEA/2 visitor

    220

    W2GTB

    x

     

     

     

    √

     

     

     

    Warren

    225

    WA2DYS

    x

     

     

     

    √

     

     

     

    Geo old time ship op. 1924

    227

    K22KI

    x

     

     

     

    √

     

     

     

    Art

    Logbook entries: weather

    …[several skipped]…
    A 700 JUN 14 1960 61 29.82?clear;calm
    A 700 JUN 18 1960 66 29.78? cldy; calm; wet
    1200 66 29.83? Sunny; lt breeze
    P 200 69 29.84?cavu [clear air, visibility unlimited]; windy; dry

    Logbook entries: household maintainance

    JUN -1 1960
    P 1100 oiled all 6 clock rotors with 2 cc Telechron Clock oil: - (Illuminated alarm; kitchen; Thermostat; Easel; Furnace; Penn Heat Control) ?Too much oil in this one; had to incline clock forward to drain some oil, out of the 5/8"OD high-speed rotor housing, into the main housing gear chamber, - in order to reduce the internal hydraulic friction to a degree permitting the mechanism to atta

    Logbook entries: purchases

    P 7:00 New Adjustable Remington Roll-a-Matic Electric Shaver, Serial No. 164326

    Logbook entries: medical

    M.R.(3) SEP -2 1950
    A 730 Dressed; sitting in easy chair: P 50, strong + stead but thumping; chills, hands + feet cool, heavy overcoat on. Urine vry[?] alkaline (pH 7.5) despite 2oz vinegar [in glass of cranberry juice at dinner.
    915 Cup of hot beef broth + gelatin.
    1100 Overcoat still on but chills gone; nap; p 64, weak + steady. Tired.
    P1215 *Poached eggs, milk-toast, custard, fruit lunch, 72° 29.91? cavu; lt breeze.
    P130 Back to normal now, including urine pH 5.0, - after "Nectar of the Gods" for *lunch (1/8 cup Vinegar, ¼ cup Honey, ¾ cup Cranberry Juice, ¾ cup Grape Juice)

    So what do we know about forms?

    JoAnne Yates, Control through Communication (1993)
  • Iterative development of forms in factories, early 1900s
  • Emphasis on top-down beaurocracy; no evidence regarding if forms were used in ways other than they were designed for.

    • Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish (1977)

  • Mortification of the body by public execution and mortification of the soul by the time-table
  • Recognizes transgressive behavior as a tool of dissent

    • Broughton's use of the logbook

    I suggest Broughton's use of the logbook for more than FCC-sanctioned (and column-heading sanctioned) use is a continual restatement of his ham identity. He is not just a ham when he is using the radio but a ham twenty-four hours a day.

    One Story In a Logbook

    Dramatis Personae
    W2IR: William G. Broughton, a Radio Ham

    K2AE: Henry P. Broughton, his father

    April 1959. Schenectady, NY.

    7 April: Admitted to hospital

    P 9:30 K2AE APR-7 Admitted to Ellis Hospital D4SP,per orders Dr. Wm. V. Bartlett*
    1120 George A. Gillwater 1414 Union St. -- Inspected Shack, etc.
    P 8:30*Examined K2AE in Shack

    14 April: Surgery

    Dr. Gilbert + Dr. Barlett report to me K2AE did fb** during
    A 500APR 14 1959 32° 29.27? CAVU* ; calm.
    530K2AEW2IRThe Mighty Purple Pajama No. 3 scheduled for surgery 7:45A.
    100
    4-hour major surgery. He will remain in Recovery Room for several hours before returning to his room B544.
    *: CAVU: clear and visibility unlimited
    **: fb = "fine business"

    23 May: Breakfast at the table

    A 800 K2AE May 23 1959 First post-op bkfast at his usual place at kitchen table

    24 May: Back on the air!

    <
    P 200May 24 1959Schenectady County Emergency Net, weekly drill
    K2VCZ3950 Dick 52° 30,03 ? Cloudy
    W2URPChuck, Nat Control
    217W2FWJack [several lines skipped]
    200K2AE on the air for first time post-op! Says "more fun than a barrel of monkeys"

    25 May: New Wheelchair

    P 400May 25 1959New 1959 Gendron Wheel Chair with adjustable leg rests;- so K2AE can more easily keep his skeds!

    26 May, 11am : Chayne-Stokes respiration

    A 1100 K2AE MAY 26 1959 Cheyne-Stokes respiration 12-second apnea. Sleeping.

    1200 W2IR suggested to Dr. Bartlett a medical consultation on K2AE.

    26 May, 3pm : Nurse administers aminophylline

    P 300- 1100 Mrs. Bernice Greene - 508 Charles St. Scotia Ri-6-1424
    Aminophylline Suppository 0.5gms elmininated Cheyne-Stokes within 1hr!

    26 May, 8:30pm : K2AE becomes a Silent Key

    830 Harry E. Reynolds MD. 1346 Union St, Schenectday N.Y.
    " William V Bartlett MD. 1346 Union St, Schenectadt N.Y.
    820 K2AE became Silent Key during diagnostic examination by Drs. Reynolds & Bartlett

    26 May, 10:45pm: K2AE assigned to SARA in perpetuity

    K2HON W2IR (land line) As requested by W2IR, K2HON cleared with SARA officials the acceptance by SARA of:
    1. The call K2AE as the new permanent call for SARA
    2. SARA K2AE Harry Primm Broughton Memorial The request is being made by W2IR that, instead of flowers, remembrances be sent to this new K2AE Memorial. [...]
    I feel sure that these arrangements are as father would wish it

    19 June: Fathers' Day

    On Fathers' Day, three weeks after his father's death, Broughton addresses a father's day card. The envelope reads "K2AE de W2IR" and is date-stamped.
    He writes nothing else on the card.

    Discussion

  • Ham identity as distinct from technical identity or geek identity -- issues of public service, etc.
  • Personal identity: the case of K2AE and W2IR
  • The amateur: what can one case study bring?
  • Hacking and Tinkering: the future. Biotech?
  • Definitions...