Ionospheric Amplification

CQ’s tradition of publishing annual April Fool articles stretches back more than a half century, starting with this April 1964 article by Professor Jerzy Ostermond-Tor, ex-YM4XR. It set a standard that has been followed ever since of starting out with sound scientific or technical data, and then stretching it slightly beyond the edge of credulity. An interesting side-effect has been that while these articles reflect science-fiction, they sometimes accurately predict future developments … or help bring them about. This article, for example, helped rekindle interest in QRP (low-power) DXing on the HF bands.

Who was Professor Ostermond-Tor? His true identity was a closely-guarded secret until 1995 when then-Propagation Editor George Jacobs, W3ASK, revealed in our 50th anniversary issue that it was his fingers behind the keyboard of these articles, which ran each April between 1964 and 1970. Ostermond-Tor’s tradition has been carried on to this day by fellow Professor Emil Heisseluft. –W2VU

George Jacobs, W3ASK, seen here as he celebrated his 50th anniversary as CQ’s Propagation Editor in 2001, revealed in 1995 that he was also Professor Jerzy Ostermond-Tor, ex-YM4XR, whose April Fool articles appeared in the April issues of CQ between 1964 and 1970

Old-timers will certainly remember “Tor,” who operated as YM4XR from Danzig for many years before World War II. Besides being an enthusiastic radio amateur. Tor was also a noted Professor in the field of Upper Atmospheric Physics, In this exclusive article for CQ, Professor Ostermond-Tor discusses a unique characteristic of the ionosphere which he first detected more than 25 years ago, and which has now been confirmed by scientific satellites. This characteristic, known as the “Ostermond Effect,” makes it possible for the ionosphere