Sixty years ago this month, the October 1966 issue of Popular Mechanics showed how to put together this pocket guitar amplifier. Of course, the entire amp didn’t fit in your pocket–what you built was a miniature transmitter, and the other half was any AM radio. If the radio was battery powered, then the entire setup could be used off grid. Or, if your venue had an AM radio, you could simply use that.
This ad for WYSR, Syracuse, NY, appeared in Broadcasting 85 years ago today, October 27, 1941. It announced that the station was now 5000 watts on 570 kHz. It was billed as the perfect combination, because a signal on that frequency has a much greater reach than a station on a higher frequency. In this case, the ad notes that a station on 1400 kHz would require 340,000 watts to have the same coverage area.
Here in the Midwest, WNAX in Yankton, SD, has the same frequency and power, and it blankets four states with its signal.
Eighty years ago this month, the October 1946 issue of Radio Service Dealer carried this ad from GE about the facts of life, namely, the importance of good replacement dial lamps for your radio.
Of course, it wasn’t just a cosmetic issue. In an All American Five receiver, the dial lamp played an important role, and you would want to replace it as soon as possible if it ever burnt out. It was wired generally directly across a tapped heater section of the rectifier tube. In this spot, the bulb acted as a current-cushioning ballast that absorbed the dangerous power surges that occur when cold vacuum tubes first switch on. Running a radio with a dead dial light overloaded that rectifier filament, quickly destroying the expensive tube and disabling the entire set.
Eighty-five years ago, this gentleman (Bill) and his wife Mary were experiencing a dilemma about their radio. It wasn’t working, and Mary suggested that because Bill was always fooling with radio, that perhaps he could fix it. Bill lacked confidence, but undertook the repair anyway, knowing that he would make a fool of himself.
Fortunately, Bill’s friend Joe just happened to stop by and gave some pointers. Joe had started the National Radio Institute home study course, and was able to diagnose the problem for the free introductory lesson.
Bill went on to a successful career in radio. The ad appeared in the October 1946 issue of Radio Craft.
Seventy years ago, Popular Electronics had been running a series of simple projects designed to show off what transistors could do. And the October 1956 issue featured this simple two-transistor regenerative receiver. The magazine doesn’t mention the frequency range, but from the looks of the coil, it appears to be for the broadcast band.
The circuit used a 2N35 NPN transistor for the regenerative detector, with a CK722 audio amplifier.
Seventy-five years ago, the BBC realized that it needed to start broadcasting on VHF. The reason was simple: The mediumwave band in Europe was too crowded. But unlike America, which had been using FM on the old 42-49 MHz band, and was about to move to 88-108, Britain hadn’t decided on whether to use AM or FM modulation on the VHF band. In order to decide, they ran a test in the London area. From the same antenna, two signals would be broadcast, both carrying the same program. The transmitters are shown above, from the October 1951 issue of Radio Electronics.
Both transmitters used approximately equal power, with the AM signal going out over 93.8 MHz, with FM on 91.4.
Seventy-five years ago, this couple were enjoying some new records, thanks to the foresight of their local dealer, who used direct mailing to drive record sales. They were pictured in the October 1951 issue of Radio Retailing,
https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Retailing/50s/Radio-Retailing-1951-10.pdf
which noted that direct mail was an inexpensive method to reach known phono record customers.
The secret was to use mailings aimed at making people want to buy now. Ways to generate interest included free items (such as needles, record brushes, or 45 inserts) or even hosting gatherings where snacks were served.
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Fifty years ago this month, the October 1976 issue of Field and Stream carried an ad for this interesting radio receiver, which undoubtedly appealed to the avid outdoorsman.
The GE Model 7-2995 (or 7-2995A) was a portable AM-FM receiver powered by six D-cells, so the batteries were sure to last a long time. But it was also a scanner covering the VHF high band (150-174 MHz) for tuning in on action such as fire, police, and marine bands. It required no crystals, as the four channels could be preset. Undoubtedly, it was a slightly painstaking process getting them tuned in initially, but once they were set, there were no crystals to buy. If you didn’t need AM-FM, the scanner by itself was available as the model 7-2985. The picture of that set reveals that the tuning is accomplished by individual adjustments concealed by a small door. So no tools were needed to adjust the tuning, although a little patience was probably helpful.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these in person, but examples are available on eBay.
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Seventy-five years ago, the British journal Radio Constructor showed how to put together this compact three tube–er, I mean valve–receiver for the medium wave and long wave broadcast bands. It used three 6AG5 tubes, which the author noted were readily available at government surplus stores. These days, they’re equally available on eBay.
The author, Peter T. Pitts, G3GYE, noted that the design was not fragile, and would work on any voltage 100-240 volts, AC or DC. A six-foot wire would pull in stations anywhere in Britain, and he noted that in London, the antenna could be left coiled up.
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Botany Wooly Lamb, as shown in New York PM newspaper, Oct. 15, 1941, via Tralfaz.
Today marks the 85th anniversary of the very first televised weather forecast, on October 14, 1941. It was delivered not by a human, but by a cartoon lamb, Botany Wooly Lamb, over WNBT Channel 1, broadcasting from the Empire State Building. The lamb was voiced by teenage actress Charita Bauer, who would later go on to play matriarch Bertha Bauer on The Guiding Light.
The lamb would start by gazing at the sky and singing a jingle:
It’s hot, it’s cold, it’s rain, it’s fair,
It’s all mixed up together;
But I, as Botany’s little lamb,
Predict tomorrow’s weather.
He would then star in an 80-second sketch tailored to the forecast. Since rain was forecast for October 15, Botany took an evening stroll through a park, but was held up by a masked bandit. When ordered to put his hands up, the lamb opened his umbrella instead, and a downpour drenched the mugger. After the cartoon, a slide showed the official forecast details.
Botany was the brainchild of advertising man Douglas Leigh, famous for some of the spectaculars over Times Square. Animation was by Otto Messmer, creator of Felix the Cat (the wonderful, wonderful cat).