Let's go back to the very beginning when Cliff was young. The story of Marconi sending the letter "S" across the Atlantic, Dec.12, 1901, was written up in Collier's Magazine. Perhaps this was the beginning. This was enough to start those of us with electricity in our veins into a career in wireless, it did for Cliff.
Along about this time publicity was given to a radio circuit which, in 1902, sent messages to Catalina Island from San Pedro and carried the Jeffries-Fitzsimmons fight long before the boat arrived with the news. This was the first time that wireless was used in police work. It seems two gents absconded with some money and wine from the hotel in Avalon just before the boat sailed. The manager had a message sent to the San Pedro police who were waiting at the dock - to the amazement of the thieves. This circuit was the main source of communication to the mainland for 21 years.
With all this publicity about wireless, it was not long before a wireless club was started in the public library in Portland. Here Cliff got enough information to build a coherer detector and pick up his spark rig across the room. Other amateurs in Portland in those days were Charley Austin who signed SN and soon had a 1kw spark on the air. Also Billy Anderson, "CK", and Joe Hallack "FU". Joe and Cliff became life-long friends. The club was about the only source of information as there was no contact with the out- side world except through magazines.
The 1st chance the boys had to see real equipment was when Admiral Fullam brought a portion of the "Great White Fleet" into Portland for the 1901 Rose Festival. On the USS Charleston, Cliff saw a Slaby-Arco 2 kw spark made in Europe. Using this information, Cliff built a one inch Connecticut spark and by 1906 had contacted "PE" the United Wireless station at Counsel Crest about 5 miles from Portland. Land line Morse code was in use. Cliff had helped Tommy Thompson install the equipment at "PE" and had a chance to make his first contact signing "W". Through the remainder of 1907 contacts were limited to an occasional ship which would come up the river and gladden expectant ears.
In 1908, Cliff went up to the Dewey Mine near Grangeville, Idaho and constructed a receiver for the mine from the old Modern Electric magazine, using a mercury drop detector. A wire was strung 1,000 feet across the river and deadhead traffic for the mine was copied from "PE" in Portland.
When Cliff his high voltage transformer with Cliff for some "real power". Late in 1910 Cliff and Joe both went to Oregon Agricultural College in Corvallis. Naturally they had to have the ham rig, so they shipped it to the Fraternity house; later installing the antenna between the roof of the administration building and the stack of the heating plant.
A memorable event at OAC was the night of June 28th, 1911. Cliff picked up the SS Spokane which was sinking in the Gulf of Alaska. He was able to handle the distress traffic. Mr. Hammill was the spark operator on the SS Spokane and many years later your writer got them together on the telephone for their 1st contact since that night.
Cliff and Joe's station was powerful enough to work "PH", San Francisco, "NPL", Port Loma,and "PA", Seattle, but the only one powerful enough for them to hear was Charley Austin in Portland.
After college Cliff drifted into commercial operating on the
Alaska boats and at the Montana Company's stations. He did not get back
into amateur radio until late in the twenties when he had "W7ANO".