10 and 20 Minute Blocks for Radio? 1945

1945Jan16BCEighty years ago, the January 16, 1945, issue of Broadcasting put forth this idea that apparently never went anywhere.  Suggested by one Joseph R. Spadea, the idea was that instead of carving up radio time into blocks of 15 or 30 minutes, blocks of 10 and 20 minutes could instead be used.  The author noted that some 30 minute programs seemed to drag on a bit too much, and this could tighten things up.



Clearing Snow by Burning It: 1925

1925JanSciInvWhen I was a kid, my family received a mail order catalog from an outfit called Sunset House. You can see an example at this eBay listing.  The catalog was full of useful products you couldn’t find anywhere else, and one of them was a little blowtorch. The blowtorch had many uses, but the most practical, it seemed to me, was shown in the accompanying illustration, and that was for melting snow off the sidewalk. It seemed a lot simpler than shoveling, and I begged my parents to buy a blowtorch. They didn’t, and they pointed out one objection that I couldn’t counter–the water would just flow elsewhere and freeze. But still, it seems like a good idea, if you could just work this bug out.

And the idea has been around for at least a century, as shown by the cover of the January 1925 issue of Science and Invention. This one didn’t involve a flame, and the magazine didn’t think that my parents’ objection would be an issue, since it matter of factly stated that the snow would melt, “which runs off in the form of water.”

The magazine didn’t use a blowtorch. Instead, it used a method that might be of interest to young scientists in search of a science fair project. You simply sprinkle calcium carbide on the snow. It sinks in (you start the process by poking a few pieces into the snow) where it mixes with water, creating acetylene gas, which is highly flammable. You strike a match and set the snow on fire. You go forward sprinkling more calcium carbide ahead of the flames, and as the flames catch up, it sets fire to the snow you have sprinkled.

For the science fair, Junior simply finds a patch of snow outside the school, seeds it with calcium carbide, and sets it ablaze. It’s sure to take home the blue ribbon.

Junior does need to be reminded to be careful. The magazine article contained these warnings:

Great care must be exercised in sprinkling calcium carbide upon snow, so that when the gas is evolved and ignited, it will not set fire to shrubbery, trees or the house itself. Under no conditions should such a snow remover be used when a gale is blowing, and the individual drawing the mechanism over the road should always see to it that he heads into any slight breeze which may be blowing, so that his own clothes will not be ignited.

If Junior sets the school, or himself, on fire, then he’s unlikely to get the blue ribbon.

As with everything, Junior can get the calcium carbide on Amazon. If he wants to augment his project, he can explain how this chemical was used in miners’ lamps.



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1940 Admiral Radios

1940RadioRetailingJan1940 was one of those times when people dressed up to listen to the radio, especially if the radio came from Admiral. This two-page spread from the January 1940 issue of Radio Retailing
shows that company’s offerings in table radios, including both broadcast sets, and also two-band sets covering the short waves.

Broadcast sets started for only $9.95, and a shortwave set would set you back only $12.95. Most sets offer “television sound,” meaning only that they had an audio input jack on the back that could supposedly be hooked to a future television. All of the sets tuned up to 1730 kHz on the AM dial, meaning that they could pick up many police calls.

Shown in the ad are Admiral models 13-C5, 14-C5, 20-A6, 21-A6, 22A-6, 23-A6, 15-B5, 17-B5, 18-B5, 396-6M, 397-6M, 398-6M, 399-6M, and 25-Q5.



1955 Test Instruments

1955JanPracWirWe don’t know exactly what this gentleman is working on, but it’s safe to say that he’s making use of his electronic test instruments. But one thing is for sure–if you’re a proper British gentleman, you put on a tie before getting to work in your electronic workshop.

This illustration appeared 70 years ago this month on the cover of the January 1955 issue of Practical Wireless.



TV Test Patterns, 1950

Seventy five years ago, the January 1950 issue of Radio Electronics had a listing of all television stations on the air at that time. What makes this one unique is the fact that it includes a test pattern or identification slide for each of those stations. It was of service to TV DXers back in the day, but it is also a treasure trove of what those TV stations might have looked like back in the day.



V-2 Rocket, 1945

1945JanPracMech3Eighty years ago this month, the war was still raging, but the January 1945 issue of the British magazine Practical Mechanics takes an interesting look at one of the German’s instruments of war, namely the V-2, rocket that was terrorizing London. The article begins, “forgetting for a moment its sinister purpose, let us admit directly that “V-2″ is an engineering achievement of indisputable brilliance. It is an achievement, too, that will have great bearing on scientific progress in the years of peace to come, by penetration to great altitudes to return with data of conditions existent in the so far uncharted reaches of the atmosphere, and later, by excursions into space itself.”

The article notes that the rocket on a ballistic trajectory toward London achieved an altitude of about 60 miles. That number exceeded by far the prior altitude record of a mere 98,000 feet.
But if it was instead pointed straight up, it could achieve an altitude of 750 to 800 miles. Indeed, it could escape the gravity of the Earth entirely, never to return.

The article concludes, quite correctly, “V-2 is without doubt a first practical step toward the conquest of space.”

1945JanPracMech2



Harry Truman’s Hallicrafters

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We recently had the privilege of visiting the Harry S Truman Library and Museum in Independence, MO., which included this recreation of the White House Oval Office as it appeared during President Truman’s time in office.  Most of the objects in the room, such as the artwork, were the originals.

If you’re reading this as it’s posted, you’re probably aware that the Kansas City area is completely snowed in by a blizzard, which was preceded by freezing rain. The museum closed early in anticipation, and will remain closed through Monday, January 6. We were aware the storm was coming, but were confident that we would be out of the area in time, and we were indeed. We hit the Iowa state line about an hour before the museum closed.  We had severe clear conditions all the way home, and the only sign of winter was the cold.  But about the same time, Interstate 35 was closed near Kansas City because of a crash caused by the ice.   Had we waited a few more hours to leave, we would still be there.

472504283_10235578380583919_3925131071453832686_nOf course, for most readers of this site, upon seeing the photo at the top, your eyes were immediately drawn to the object directly behind the desk.  And, of course, it’s the first thing we noticed.  It is a Hallicrafters SX-28 “Super Skyrider”.  The 15-tube set covered 550 kHz through 44 MHz, and was a top-of-the line receiver, as would be expected from a set in such a place of honor.

If I were the Leader of the Free World, I would also want to have a shortwave receiver at my desk.  And when Truman met at the White House with former President Herbert Hoover, we have little doubt that Hoover approved of the inclusion of this useful device.  But I’ve been unable to find much reference to it.  I would like to know how often Truman had it turned on, his thought process in getting it, and how exactly he used it.  Unfortunately, because of the weather, I didn’t have time to ask the library staff.

The library website shows that there is a file pertaining to Hallicrafters in Truman’s personal files.  If I had more time, I would have gone over to the reading room to look at this file, but it classification indicates that the receiver was Truman’s personal property, as opposed to government property.  The next time I’m in Kansas City, I’ll probably make an appointment to view that file.  In the meantime, if any of our readers would be interested in inspecting that file, please let us know.

I did find this thread at QRZ.com where W6OGC had written to the museum asking about the receiver.  This is the reply he received:

Recently you asked about the short wave radio that is displayed behind President Truman’s desk in the Library’s replica of the Oval Office.

This is a Hallicrafters SX-28 “Super Skyrider” short wave radio receiver, along with its speaker, a Hallicrafters model PM-23. These units are not the actual short wave sets used in the Oval Office, but they are units the Truman Library purchased in 1995 to closely duplicate those that were in the Oval Office when President Truman occupied it.

Photographic evidence of President Truman’s Oval Office as it appeared in the summer of 1950 indicates that there was a Hallicrafters receiver behind his desk, the left side of which resembled a Hallicrafters SX-28 and the right half of which resembled a Hallicrafters SX-32 (a later model). According to Mr. Chuck Dachis of The Hallicrafters Collector of Austin, Texas, the model that was actually in President Truman’s office was probably made during a transition period (1940-1943) between the production of the models SX-28 and SX-32. This seems to suggest that the receiver may have been first acquired during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt and simply remained in the White House during the Truman years.

We do not know, with any degree of certainty, just how the receiver was utilized during the Truman Presidency, although it is entirely possible that Truman used it at the end of the Second World War to listen to war broadcasts from various locations.

I hope this information will be of assistance to you. Thank you for your inquiry and for your interest in the Harry S. Truman Library.

Clay Bauske
Museum Curator
Harry S. Truman Library

472347243_10235578388664121_8660988157925256905_nIf the Hallicrafters wasn’t the first thing you saw in the photo, the only other explanation is that your eyes were fixed on the television set.  Truman was the first president to have a television in the office, and this one appears to be a DuMont model RA-108 from 1949.  Of course, it stands to reason that Truman was the first president to have a TV in the White House.  The first station to come on the air in Washington, W3XWT, later WTTG, came on the air in May, 1945, a month after Truman took office.  According to the Winter 1949 issue of White’s Radio Log, there were four stations on the air in Washington when this set rolled off the assembly line.

While we were at the Library, we took the opportunity to sign the condolence book for President Jimmy Carter, shown here in this earlier Library photo.  The book will be sent to the Carter Library  in Atlanta.

 

L



1945 One Tube Radio

1944JanRadioCraftWhen it comes to one tube radios, they don’t get much simpler than this one, which appeared 80 years ago in the January 1945 issue of Radio Craft. It had been sent in to the magazine by one Philip Dennison of Salina, Kansas, who noted that it worked as well as much larger radios.  It’s essentially a crystal set, with the crystal replaced by a tube with the grid and plate tied together to act as a diode.  The only power is the filament voltage, and the author reports that it works even better with the battery slightly run down.

It’s likely that the author was this Philip Dennison, who was born in 1926 and died in 1964,  Since his grave indicates that he was a World War II veteran, I’m guessing that he was drafted shortly before his circuit was published at the age of 18.



Hi-Fi Hobbyists, 1955

1955JanPE1955JanPE2Seventy years ago this month, this couple made the cover of Popular Electronics, January 1955, by putting the finishing touches on their Hi-Fi system.

The issue of the magazine carried a number of articles that would be helpful to them, and noted that the Hi-Fi fan was at heart a hobbyist. That could mean a music lover, someone who simply enjoys good reproduction, or building the equipment.

The painting was by  Leo R. Summers.



Happy New Year!

1958CalendarHappy New Year from OneTubeRadio.com!

Many of our readers suspect that the New Year is part of a conspiracy by the Big Calendar Companies to sell more of their calendars.  While we have not verified this, the fact remains that it’s a recurring expense for many.

But it needn’t be!  2025 starts on a Wednesday, and it’s not a leap year.  The same was true of 1958, and that old 1958 calendar is once again perfectly good.  If you forgot to save yours, feel free to print this one, which appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 28, 1957.