W6PO

Rememberance

I decided to create a web log about my father to record the interests he had and the contributions he made in the Amatuer Radio world. When my father died on January 11, 2004, the amateur radio community responded very quickly in sending letters of condolence and personal rememberances of how my father helped others personally in their HAM endeavors and how they respected him as a person. The letters to our family helped lift a bit of the sorrow we felt. For me, the letters made me proud and made me smile with happiness that people cared so much about my father. Thank you very much everyone.!!

Janice

SK from ARRL Web Site

Moonbounce Pioneer Bob Sutherland, W6PO, SK

NEWINGTON, CT, Mar 11, 2004--Robert I. "Bob" Sutherland, W6PO (ex-W6UOV), of San Mateo, California, died January 11. He was 78. An active VHF-UHF operator in the 1960s through the 1980s, Sutherland was on the West Coast end of the first Amateur Radio moonbounce (EME) contact in 1960 when the Eimac Radio Club's W6HB and W1BU worked each other on 1296 MHz EME. An employee of tube manufacturer Eimac for nearly 50 years, Sutherland, who directed the Advanced Products Lab, developed some of the more famous Eimac tube-based amps. His Eimac 8877 VHF amplifier design still is referred to as "the W6PO amp."

"His contributions to the Amateur Radio field are legendary," said well-known VHF-UHF and EME operator Dave Olean, K1WHS, when told of Sutherland's passing. Olean says that while most amateurs know Sutherland for his EME work and his accomplishments at Eimac, "most of his great deeds went unnoticed by many except for the legion of moonbounce operators whom he helped along the way." Olean says he was one of them. "Bob had his connections and would bend over backward to help people in any way he could," he said, describing how Sutherland helped him set up an EME station for 432 MHz.

Between the 1960s and the 1980s, Sutherland, an ARRL member, authored eight articles for Ham Radio magazine describing various VHF and UHF projects, including "Design Data for a Two-Kilowatt VHF Linear" in 1969 and "High-Performance 144-MHz Power Amplifier" in 1971. He also wrote "A High-Power Cavity Amplifier For The New 900-MHz Band" for QST in 1982. Sutherland was the recipient of the John T. Chambers Award in 1977 for "his dedicated efforts in bringing EME technical information to amateurs worldwide through distribution of the famous Eimac EME Notes," which remain in circulation within the EME community along with his amplifier designs.

In a posting on the Stanford VHF Reflector, EME operator Peter Shilton, VE3AX, praised Sutherland as "truly one of the greats." He said he's still using Sutherland-designed 144-MHz and 222-MHz amplifiers. Noted VHF-UHF-EME op Al Ward, W5LUA, related a similar experience. Ward says he could not have gotten his 144 MHz and 222 MHz 8877 amplifiers going without Sutherland's help. "These two amplifiers have been working flawlessly at W5LUA for 25 years," he added. "That says something about Bob's designs and the tubes! He will be missed by all."

Former QST "The World Above 50 MHz" Editor Bill Smith, W5USM, said he was saddened to learn of Sutherland's death. "I was privileged to work with Bob through the 'World Above' column during the early EME days," he recalled. "Bob was a modest, kind man of considerable intelligence with passion for his professional and Amateur Radio work." Smith credited Sutherland with much of the success moonbounce enjoys today. "He was accessible and willing to help," Smith said, adding, "I suggest looking toward the moon and saying, 'Thank you, Bob. Well done.'"

HAM TV

My dad went to school at UC Berkeley with Bob Melvin. Bob Melvin built a black & white TV camera at the end of 1948 and put it on 420/450 MHz ham band in early 1949. My dad built a receiver and received TV pictures from Berkeley at his home in Oakland, CA. Dad later build a camera and had it on the air for a short time.
( See June 1950 QST)

Here are a couple pictures of the TV endeavor.

HAM TV 1949

Remnants of 1949 TV

My sister and I along with Mike Bach (WB6FFC), a very good friend of my fathers, went to clean some of the accumulation of radio equipment and parts out of the ham shack this past weekend. Up in the loft, pushed back under the eaves was part of the TV Camera equipment used in 1949. (See above picture) A lable down in the lower right corner was really all that was left to indicate what the piece of equipment was used for. I'll have to get a picture to post here in the future.

Garage Shack in San Mateo

My parents bought there first house circa 1953. This picture if of my dad and the first location of his ham shack. In the garage. The year 1954. He wouldn't be in the garage for long, since he built a two room shack in the back yard fairly soon after.

Click on the pictures to get a larger view.

Antenna Measuring Party

These are a couple pictures from 1960. The occasion is an antenna measuring party at Beresford Park in San Mateo. I dont really know the purpose of an antenna measuring party, but dad was at a few. My brother Bob is standing next to my dad in the first picture. I do have a picture of them both many years later at another measuring party.

The second photo is also at Beresford and shows most of the hams that were there that day. Standing, left to right W6VSV Bob Melvin, W6AJF Frank C. Jones, K6ONM Glen Hatley, K6AXN Mike Krivohlovek, W6HCP, W6UOV Bob Sutherland, Nick ?. Crouching left to right: W6BHR John Ludeman, W6PBC Everett Emerson, W6EDC John Cunningham, W6GQK Harold Barber, K6BAT Lloyd Summers, and W6FZJ Joe Reisert (W1JR). Bob Melvin brought the 16 foot (half) dish. W6UOV made the big aluminum foil-lined plywood horn. Bob Melvin made the 6 El Zig-Zag array. Thank you very much to Bob Melvin for identifying the people in the photo.

This is a picture of Robert Alan Sutherland (ex-WA6QCD) and Robert Ivor Sutherland (W6PO) at an antenna measuring party in 1975.

EIMAC and EME

I have been receiving many notes from friends of my dads, and people who worked with him at EIMAC or on radio projects. Recently, Mike Bach was able to track down an old video from the 1950s that was done by a local television station, channel 7. They did a series of 'Success Stories' about companies in the area. This one was about EIMAC. We showed it to my mom and even though she wasnt working at EIMAC anymore by 1955, she remembered some of the people and the processes that were shown. She was happy to see it. Then of course there were the spoofs of the 'Success Story' show created by Ed Sena, the company photographer. Here is a snipet of what Jack Quinn remembers about the GLIPTRON movies made in San Bruno and then another in San Carlos when the company moved there.

"Well, I don't remember it all, but here is what I do: It was a fun movie made by Ed Sena our company photographer. Gliptol was a trade name for a vacuum leak sealer. If you had a leaker you painted on Gliptron and it sucked into the crack. So the movie was a satire on our constant striving for excellent high quality vacuum tubes. "

Another recent addition to the collection of old trivia and memories is a copy of the video that was made during the November 1975 EME tests that were conducted at the Stanford Research Insitute in Palo Alto. Brian Westfall and Arne Gjerning(N7KA) were good enough to make a DVD and send a copy to me. I have photographs of the event that my brother Robert Sutherland ex- WA6QCD made, but I didn't know of the video. I will be posting the photos I have. The participants at this particular EME test were Loren Hodap (WA6BMR), Brian Westfall (K6OJM), Arne Gjerning (ex K7CAD), Bob Sutherland (ex WA6QCD), Bruce Clark (K6JYO), Ed Tescher (QA6LCZ), Victor Frank (WB6KAP), Bob Melvin (W6VSV), and Bob Sutherland (W6PO). The stats from the test were: 102 contacts, 80-82 stations, 11 countries including the US, 20 States all areas, Luxembourg, Japan, and other countries in Europe.

I remember my dad making trips to the Stanford dish, but I didn't really know or comprehend the excitement of the activities they were involved in. Ham Radio was ham radio...... Looking back from a 30 year perspective, it was a little more. My brother actually participated in this particular test. He was about 20 at the time. He looks pretty much the same as he did then.
Of course my father was there, but he did his best to stay out of the camera's view.

Bruce Clark, Brian Westfall, Bob Sutherland, Arne Gjerning

Arne Gjerning, Bob Sutherland, Brian Westfall, Bruce Clark

The First Amateur Two-way EME Contact

The following pictures are from the Varian Associates Magazine dated April 1977. On the cover is the cartoon of my father which was taken from the photograph of him sitting at the radio in the next picture.
On July 17, 1960, Eimac (San Carlos) radio station (W6AY) made the first-ever amateur two-way 'moon-bounce' contact with the Rhododendron Swamp Radio Club (W1BU) in Massachusetts. Dad directed the connection from San Carlos, California.

This is the crew involved in this EME endeavor.

Standing: Robert Sutherland W6UOV (now W6PO), Hank Brown W6HB, Bill Eitel W6UF, George M W Badger W6RXW (now W6TC), Al Clark  W6MUC and Bob Morwood K6GLF.

Sitting: Ray Rinaudo W6KEV (was W6ZO then back to KEV), Charlie Anderson W6IVZ (now W6VW),  Allan Beer K6GSO.

Perseids Shower

The Perseids meteor shower is here again. As kids we used to lay outside on the grass watching for meteors while dad was in the ham shack working the radio. Even when we got older my sister and I used to get the cots and sleeping bags out every August to watch the shooting stars. This year's show is supposed to be a great one!
My dad had a big map on the wall by the radios. He tracked contacts made by meteor scatter, by tropo and by EME. I made the little flags he pinned into the map that showed the origins of his contacts.

History of the Perseids

Tube Collector Magazine

The April 2004 Tube Collector Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 2 has a SK article about Dad. Page 11 and 13 have the Ham TV photos that I posted earlier in the blog. There's a nice description about my dad's radio and Eimac history. The information was provided by Mike Bach, WB6FFC.

FCC Requirements for EME Tests Conducted by W6PO

Federal Communications Commission

Washington DC June 24, 1975

Mr.  Bob Sutherland

EIMAC

301 Industrial Way

San Carlos, CA 94070

Dear Mr. Sutherland:

We have determined your request to operate your Amateur station with a peak power output of up to 2500 watts for the purposes of experimentation with earth-moon-earth (EME) communications to be within the basis and purpose of the Amateur Radio Service. We also agree that a waiver of the power rule is justified for your EME experiments, since the signal loss to the moon is great and it is difficult to construct an antenna with enough gain to adequately overcome these losses. For these reasons we hereby waive Section 97.67(a) of the Commission's Rules to permit operation of station W6PO subject to the following conditions:

(1) An accurate log of station operation must be generated and maintained with your station records. The log must include the dates and times of each transmission, call signs of contacts, types of emission used, and frequency of operation.

(2) Reports detailing the operation, an analysis of the results, and a sampling of the station logs must be submitted to the Amateur and Citizens Division every 90 days during the term of this authorization.

(3) This waiver applies only to EME experiments and communications, and is not applicable to non-EME transmissions.

(4) The maximum peak output power authorized by this waiver is 2500 watts in CW and SSB modes.

(5) This waiver expires January 1, 1976 and may be revoked by the Commission at any time.

Sincerely yours,

Charles A. Higginbotham

Chief, Safety and Special Radio Services Bureau

Permission to operate at 2500 watts for EME experiments

This request is for temporary permission to operate a 144 MHz amateur transmitter with a peak power output up to 2500 watts on CW and SSB modes. Transmissions will be confined to the EME (earth-moon-earth, or moonbounce) mode.

A summary is enclosed of my equipment and experiments over the past few years using this mode of communication at the 1000 watt average power input level. Also enclosed is a series of EME notes I have compiled and mailed to over 300 VHF enthusiasts to help them learn about this fascinating method of amateur radio communication. A photograph of my present 144 MHz moonbounce antenna installation is also enclosed.

The moon is approximately 2160 miles in diameter and orbits the earth at a distance that varies from 221,463 to 252,710 miles. The reflection coefficient of the moon is 7%, 93% of the energy that strikes the moon being absorbed. The re-radiated signal is mainly diffused through space as the earth, as viewed from the moon, subtends an angle of only 2 degrees.

The VHF signal that returns to earth is spread over a surface area of about 98,470,000 square miles. Of this area, only a very small portion is taken up by the receiving antenna. Thus, only a small fraction of the transmitted signal in an EME circuit is picked up by the receiving antenna. This problem has challenged the ability of many of the world's most skilled VHF amateurs.

Under the best of conditions, using the maximum legal power, the most sensitive receiver and the largest possible antenna array, two-way EME communication is a marginal operation. A boost in the EME circuit by 3 t0 6 decibels would improve chances of communication immensely and raise the level of interest among amateurs who do not have the time, space and money to erect the large antenna array necessary for effective EME communication. ... continue..

Second 90 Day Report of High-Power 144MHz Moonbounce Tests

January 21, 1976

W6PO - Robert I. Sutherland, San Mateo, CA

The second three months of operation with up to 2500 watts of output power on 144MHz moonbounce have been just as rewarding as the first three months even though my fellow experimenter Lester Whitaker, W7CNK, lost his antenna.

The W7CNK antenna array consisted of eight-sixteen element log periodic yagis. The antenna was well constructed and braced for everything except a swirling wind coming up from the ground. The wind lifted both ends of the main boom and then very abruptly dropped them. The result was a fracture in the center of the boom. The loss of the antenna aborted my plans for tests with half of W7CNK's antenna. He plans on having the array operational again in March 1976.

The loss of W7CNK's antenna is indicative of the problems a moonbounce operator has with large VHF antennas. WA7BJU, a moonbouncer in Oregon, lost his antenna in the same storm. A smaller array with a higher power transmitter can provide the same effective radiated power with considerably less trouble.

The four-fourteen elements antennas which were ordered for W6PO during the first 90 day test period, have arrived. I have enlisted the aid of Brian Palumbo, WB6LAM, to help modify a U.S. Navy surplus large TV Camera "pan mount" to use with the small 144 MHz EME (earth-moon-earth) array mentioned in my first 90 day report to the FCC. In addition to the azimuth and elevation drive provided by the camera mount, a system is being devised to change polarity of the antenna array. It is hoped that a smaller array with variable polarity can be adjusted for optimum signal strength. A larger array having only azimuth and elevation adjustments is very seldom operating optimumly.

While using the 2500 watts power output, there have been no complaints from neighbors concerning TVI, BCI or interference to high-fidelity systems. I have had past troubles in one azimuth direction when I use my 40 element collinear and on kilowatt input. Normally during prime TV time I do not point the large antenna in that direction. If I must, I drop the power down to 200 watts which seems to stop the problem. My 160 element collinear antenna will not go below 25 degrees above the horizon, so at no time does the main lobe ever point at a neighbor. This is probably why the 2500 watts does not cause a problem.

I am almost certain a quarter-wave open stub on the neighbor's TV set would allow me to run a kilowatt input when using my horizon antenna. However, the only time I need the kilowatt input is when I am running meteorscatter schedules early in the morning. The neighbor isn't watching TV at this time so no problem exists.

An unexpected problem did arise with the 2500 watt output power permit. When the transmitter is keyed, the power line voltage at the service drop fluctuates three volts. I contacted the local power company and found that the California Public Utilities Commission allows a six volt fluctuation. That is to say, the power company will do nothing to reduce the voltage drop if it is under six volts. It is surprising but three volts of flicker can be seen in an incandescent lamp and can be annoying to someone reading. To solve this problem, I designed and constructed a special power supply ballast system. I have two ballast tubes in parralel across the power supply that dissipate the same power on the key-up that the transmitter draws key-down. This is a rather expensive and inefficient way to do things, but does eliminate power line fluctuation.

A review of the station log for the second 90 day period reveals a number of "almost" contacts. I could hear a moonbounce station calling me, but I could not copy it adequately for a contact. The increased power at my end probably accounted for most of this problem.  They could hear me, but I could not hear them. However, even when stations have identical power the EME path is not always reciprocal.

I have received many requests during this second 90 day period for schedules from potential moonbouncers. Most of them felt that my increased power would allow them to test their antenna and receiving capability even though they did not have sufficient power, or antenna, to make a two way contact. Several well equipped European meteoscatter stations have been attempting moonbounce using the setting moon at their end. HB9QQ (Switzerland) and OZ6OL (Denmark) are two of the successful stations.

There has been much discussion among the moonbounce amateurs as to the reason for the non-reciprocity of the EME path. My personal conversations with Dr. Taylor Howard, of the Stanford University Radio Propagation Department, indicate the path should be reciprocal. Amateurs are attempting to correlate this non-reciprocity with the relationship of the amateurs longitude and latitude with the magnetic north pole. It has been observed, for example, that a station in Tacoma, Washington, will hear a different group of EME stations than a station in San Mateo, California, in the same time period.

Amateurs also have noted a complete inability to work moonbounce during the auroral display. Don Falle, VE2DFO, in Montreal, Canada, reports all EME echoes stopped as if a switch had been thrown at the start of an Aurora. At the very same time, I was able to successfully complete a two-way contact with a station in Missouri. Apparently the Aurora attenuates the signal sufficiently to remove any excess gain in the path loss resulting in a loss of echoes.

The W6PO station log pages showing the EME operation during the period November 16, 1975 - December 21, 1975, are included in the Appendix.

The first EME Antenna

Here are some pictures of the EME Antenna going up in San Mateo, CA. These pictures were taken by my brother and developed in our darkroom at home. They may be a little dark.

WA6LET QSL Card

This QSL card was sent by Brian Westfall (K6OJM). WA6LET belonged to the club at the Stanford Research Institute. The Stanford dish was used for EME experiments in 1975.

Ham Radio Articles

The following is a description of the radios in the racks and the magazine articles associated with them. WB6FFC is currently the proud owner of these radios. (Not for sale)

In the Tall Rack on the left, top to bottom

8877 Amp for 220 MHz (June 1980 Ham Radio article)
8877 Amp for 144 MHz (The most talked about amp article, August 1971 Ham Radio)
8877 Amp for 50 MHz

Next panel was used for selecting  high voltage, filament and blowers.
Bottom panel is a 2000 volt plate supply and grid and screen supplies for a
bunch of 4CX-250 driver amplifiers your dad (W6PO) had built for 6m, 2m, 220 MHz
and 432 MHz.

Next short rack to the right , the black power supply and amplifier were built
from an article by Ray Rinaudo. This is a 4CX-1000 amp for 80 to 10
meters.

Next rack to the right, all silver panels and amplifiers I built. Top is a water cooled
2C39 on 1296 MHz. 120 watts out.
Bottom Amplifier is a 3CPX-800 tube in a modified Eimac CV-2401 cavity,
600 wattsout on 432 MHz.
Very bottom panel, with the big meters is a variable 4000 volt power
supply I built about 13 years ago.  I use it to power all the W6PO amplifiers and the 3CPX-800
amp for 432 MHz.

Bracewell Observatory

Too bad I found this link a bit late. I wish the dishes at Stanford could have been saved.

EIMAC Sign

Here is a photo of the EIMAC building in San Carlos.  CPI has sold the building and property as of  September 7, 2006.  EIMAC operations were moved to Palo Alto, CA.

Dave Olean link

Dave was kind enough to re-write the page about my dad.  The site that was hosting the previous link became unavailable.  Dave's re-write is very nice and even better than the original. Thanks again Dave for your kind words.

I"ll put the link here as well as on the sidebar.   I remember Bob Sutherland.

Also see http://www.directivesystems.com/432KW.htm