1956 Solar Panel

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With think of solar panels as being a recent innovation, but that’s only because in recent years, they’ve become efficient and cost-effective enough to produce large amounts of energy. But the underlying technology has been around for a long time, as seen by Wikipedia’s timeline of solar cells.

But they’ve been useful for niche applications for a long time: Places where a reasonably small amount of electrical energy is needed, but no other source is available. For example, we’ve featured many do-it-yourself projects of solar powered equipment.

This ad, from the June 1956 issue of Boys’ Life, shows an early niche application. As explained in the ad copy, this solar cell kept a storage battery charged, and as a result, was able to power equipment distant from commercial power mains.



1926 200-Mile Crystal Set

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One hundred years ago this month, the June 1926 issue of Boys’ Life magazine showed scouts how to build this receiver, touted as having a range of 200 miles. But that wasn’t an idle claim. Radio editor Zeh Bouck reported that from his Niagara Falls, NY, location, he was able regularly to pull in Pittsburgh, Springfield, Schenectady, and Chicago, the latter being 450 miles away.

The circuit calls for a carborundum crystal, although Bouck notes that other crystals could be used. If the design, and the carborundum crystal, look familiar, it’s because we previously featured a very similar design, also from Niagara Falls but different authors, in a magazine article two months earlier

Bouck called for an antenna of 100-200 feet. The entire circuit was optimized to be low loss.



Radio for Auto Tourists: 1926

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One hundred years ago, this trio, shown in the June 1926 issue of Popular Science, are enjoying a radio program while enjoying an auto tourist adventure, thanks to a number of pointers contained in the magazine. They might have been listening to entertainment, but as the magazine points out, much useful information was available, such as the weather. There were even, according to the magazine, lectures about car camping.

They were set up next to the car because they were using the car’s 6 volt battery as an A battery. They brought along the B batteries, which took up little extra space.



1956 6-Transistor Superhet

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This young woman looks overjoyed, and she has good reason to be. She can have a summer full of picnics, complete with radio, without spending a fortune on batteries, since she made the 6-transistor superheterodyne radio shown 70 years ago this month in the June 1956 issue of Popular Mechanics.

The magazine notes that the initial cost of this all transistor set was higher than a comparable tube set, but the cost difference would soon be made up by the lower cost of batteries. This one would run for many hours on two six-volt batteries, whereas the old fashioned set would quickly go through them by the dozen. The set is superheterodyne, so it will pull in stations along with the best.



CHU Canada to Go Dark

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We recently carried this image from the the March 1956 issue of Popular Electronics, J.P. Henderson making an adjustment to the clocks at CHU, at the Dominion Observatory in Ottawa.

The station has had that call sign since 1938, and has transmitted daily time signals since 1928. Unfortunately, it now joins the things that didn’t quite make it to their 100th anniversary, since the station is slated to shut down on June 22, 2026, according to an announcement by  National Research Council Canada, the operator of the station.

We would like to think that the station will sign off with O Canada, although we suspect that they’ll just unceremoniously pull the plug.



1941 Portable PA System

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Eighty-five years ago, the June 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics showed how to put together this deluxe 20-watt PA system. Housed in three units which could be transported together, it was ideal for transport to resorts and summer camps. While it had all of the features of a high-end unit, it was easy to assemble to capitalize on the summer sound market.



Another Sound Lens, 1926

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One hundred years ago this month, the June 1926 issue of Science and Invention showed this simple science project, that’s probably good for a blue ribbon today at the science fair. Just as a lens made out of glass can refract light waves, a lens made of gas can refract sound waves. If this project looks familiar, it’s because we previously showed another version.

The 1926 version calls for the balloon to be filled with “carbonic acid gas.”  But since carbonic acid is unstable, it immediately turns into CO2 and water, so the balloon is just carbon dioxide.  You should be able to fill the balloon using vinegar and baking soda.  For those who want to experience more danger, you can look at the 1927 version.  If you need step-by-step instructions, you can find them at this site.



Selling School Sound Systems: 1951

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Seventy-five years ago, the June 1951 issue of Radio Retailing gave dealers some pointers on selling sound systems to schools. It focused on the case study of a North Carolina dealer who successfully secured the contract for a new high school being built in his town. This dealer prepared carefully and presented detailed information to the school board leading up to the award of the bid. By the time it came to make the selection, that dealer was viewed as the expert, and he got the contract, despite another bid coming in slightly below his.

In making the original presentation, he included features that he thought might be of interest to the school. His philosophy was that features could be removed if the price tag were too high. But once he planted the seed, the board opted to take most of his suggestions.



1956 Motorola Pager

Shown here, 70 years ago in the June 1956 issue of Radio Electronics is the Handi-Talkie pager from Motorola. It was billed as “low frequency,” which presumably means the 30-50 MHz band, and used a vibrating reed, matching a corresponding one in the transmitter. It weighed in at only 10 ounces and was powered by a 4-volt mercury battery.



1941 BBC War Reporter

Eighty-five years ago this month, the June 1941 issue of Radio Craft had this cover image of BBC broadcaster Robin Duff broadcasting a live eyewitness account of a London bombing, while the fires were still burning.

The magazine noted that radio broadcasting was a valuable communications
link between the government and the people.