Monthly Archives: September 2015

1940: FCC Announces NARBA Rules

BC091540

Saturday, March 29, 1941, was a big day in broadcasting in the North America. At 3:00 AM Eastern Time, most of the broadcast stations in the United States had to change frequency, due to the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA).  The agreement was signed in Havana in 1937 and ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1938. The ratification stipulated that it should take effect a year after the treaty was ratified by four of the participating countries, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, and the United States.

The treaty was necessitated mostly by the powerful Mexican “border blaster” stations which operated on the same frequencies as U.S. stations and caused considerable interference. For example, an earlier post details how Chicago’s WCFL suffered interference from XEAW in Reynosa, Mexico.

Mexico had no incentive to deal with the situation, since it had never been assigned any “clear channel” stations on which these powerful stations could operate. The interference was Uncle Sam’s problem, and Mexico had no reason to fix it. As an incentive, NARBA gave Mexico its own clear channels on 800, 900, 1050, 1220, 1550, and 1570 kilocycles. The rest of North America agreed to keep these channels clear for Mexico. And in return, Mexico would limit its superpower stations to those channels.

The make room for the new channels, the broadcast band was expanded. It had previously run from 550 to 1500 kHz. The new band would extend from 540 to 1600 kHz, where it remained until 1990 when the top of the band was expanded to 1700 kHz.

As a result of the change, 777 of the country’s 862 standard broadcast stations got their orders to move. In most cases, the stations moved up the dial. Near the bottom of the dial, the move was generally up 10 kHz. Toward the top of the dial, most stations moved up 40 kHz. For example, WCCO in Minneapolis moved from 810 kHz to its present spot on the dial at 830.

Over the next few months, there was a great deal of activity. Transmitters would need some tuning during the early morning hours of March 29. But the most pressing matter was new crystals, and the change put a strain on the country’s crystal manufacturers. Since most stations had a spare, stations were encouraged to buy the spare from an existing station on their new frequency and to sell their own spare to a station moving in. For broadcast engineers, the night of March 28, 1941, would be a busy one.

Radio dealers could also take advantage of an opportunity for some business. It was estimated that there were ten million sets in use with pushbutton tuning. The September 15, 1940, issue of Broadcasting
pointed out that a service call to reset the buttons should cost about $2, although any listener “who can read and handle a screw-driver” should be able to do the job. As the months went on, many radio dealers sought to capitalize on the opportunity to visit customers’ homes, and perhaps sell a new set while they were there.

On this day 75 years ago, September 11, 1945, the FCC announced the new channels. The headline shown above is from the September 15, 1940, issue of Broadcasting.  It marked the start of a six-month frenzy to make the necessary changes.

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Emergency Water Storage in Your Bathtub


Quick Links:

If you have advance warning of a hurricane or other emergency situation, it’s a good preparation to use your bathtub to store emergency water.  Even if you take no steps to sanitize the tub, simply filling it with water is a good idea, since you can use the water for many purposes, such as cleaning. However, unless you clean the tub thoroughly before filling it, you probably don’t want to actually drink the water from the bathtub. Also, the tub is uncovered, so the water can be contaminated. Finally, there’s the possibility that some of the water will leak down the drain. The plug is designed to hold the water long enough to take a bath. If it leaks even a tiny amount, the water could be gone in a few days when you need it.

The products shown here are designed to solve those problems, and they do. For some people, having one of these on hand could be cheap insurance. If you live in hurricane country, you should consider the problem, and having one of these might be part of the solution.

The products shown below are normally available on Amazon.   The first is the AquaPod, and the second is the WaterBob.  However, at the first hint of a hurricane approaching the U.S., they quickly sell out.  If you’re reading this before hurricane season, then it’s a good idea to order now if you think you will need one of these.  If you need a water storage solution and it’s too late to order, continue reading, since this page shows many alternatives.

For a less expensive alternative, see our later post about disposable bathtub liners such as the ones shown here:

Essentially, each of these products is the same: A large plastic bag, made of food-grade plastic, that fits inside your bathtub. The bag itself would burst under the weight of the water, but cradled by the bathtub (which was designed to hold water in the first place), the bag serves simply to keep the water sealed up safely. It also prevents the water from leaking in case the tub’s drain doesn’t have a perfect seal.

Each of these comes with a spout to fill the bag from the tub’s normal faucet. To get the water out, each of them comes with a hand pump to transfer the water to more convenient containers. So overall, each of these products is a good idea, since it gives you a convenient way to store between 65 and 100 gallons of drinking water. For some people, having one of these could be a good solution.

There are a couple of downsides, however, that you should consider. First of all, all of these are really only good for a single use. There’s no way to completely empty it. So once you’ve used it, you need to dispose of it. For that same reason, there’s really no way to test it. I’ve never heard of one of these having a leak. They appear to be well made, and it’s very likely that they will serve the intended purpose. But if it proves to be defective, there’s no way for you to know until the hurricane is bearing down, at which time it’s probably too late to get a replacement.

In addition, there is the matter of cost. While the prices are very reasonable, it’s still something that you hope you never need to use. And it’s possible that you’re reading this hours before a hurricane is expected to strike your area. If you don’t have one of these stored away, it’s probably too late to get one. So it’s important to think about alternatives.


Other Water Storage Alternatives

Obviously, clean water is one of your most critical needs during an emergency. Many emergencies could cut off your supply of tap water.  These could be a local  water line break, a hurricane, a winter storm or blizzaard, or many others.  If one of these is approaching, you should store water in all available containers, whether or not you have one of these. Your kitchen probably contains many pots, pans, and other containers, all of which were designed to hold items for human consumption. Your first order of business should be to fill them with tap water while that water is still safe to drink. Also, if you believe that the water might become unsafe at some point, it’s a good idea to turn off your water heater and turn off the intake valve. Then, you can get safe water from the tap at the bottom. (You’ll probably need to open a hot water tap on a higher floor in order for air to enter the system as you draw out the water.)

In addition, you can probably find additional containers in your recycling bin by making use of soft drink bottles. Simply clean them thoroughly and refill them with water. (Plastic milk bottles probably can’t be cleaned sufficiently to use for drinking water, although they also represent a way to store water for other purposes.)

If you are still expected to have power for a few hours, fill your refrigerator and freezer as completely as possible with water containers.  The ice and cold water will keep the other contents of the refrigerator cold, and it’s another source of clean water.

Even without a special liner, the bathtub can still be used for water storage.  You can clean it thoroughly for use.  Presumably, if you get every last bacteria, then you can simply drink the water.  However, you have no way of knowing whether you cleaned it well enough.  But even if the water is questionable, you could later purify it with bleach.

You’ll also need water for things other than drinking.  So even if you have plenty of drinking water stored elsewhere, filling the tub is cheap insurance.

If you do use the tub without a liner, you’ll want to make sure that the drain is completely closed and makes a good seal.  If you’re not sure, a piece of plastic and caulk can ensure that the tub will remain full.


Emergency Bathtub Water Storage With Garbage Bags

After filling all other containers in the house with water, you can also make your own bathtub liner in one of two ways.  The easiest would be to line the tub with clean plastic sheeting.  Then, simply fill it as usual.  It won’t be covered, but you can take care of that with additional plastic sheeting.

If you don’t have any plastic sheeting, you can also use normal garbage bags.  Of course, such a bag will quickly burst if you just started filling it with water, because it was never designed to hold that much weight.  But it will still keep the water contained.  And the tub will provide the required support.

The process of filling them is not particularly difficult.  Take enough bags to completely cover the surface of the tub.  With a normal household garbage bag, you will probably need four or five.  Place them in the empty tub, and open them up the best you can.  If there is any sharp edge in the tub, such as the drain, it’s best to cover it up with something like a washcloth.

When you have them placed, you’ll need to start filling them.  But you can’t immediately fill one of them all the way, because it won’t hold the weight.  The bag will need to be supported by the tub, and by the other bags.

Therefore, you need to take turns filling them partially, while they’re already in their assigned spot.  You won’t be able to get water from the faucet into the bags at the rear; so you’ll need to come up with another method.  If you have some kind of hose that you can attach to the bathtub faucet (or another nearby faucet), that would be easiest.  Lacking that, you’ll need to use another container.

Fill one bag part way, and then fill the one next to it to the same level.  Once you’ve filled all of the bags to the same level, go back and add more to the first one.  Eventually, all of the bags will be full, and snugly fitting in the tub.



When you pick the bags to use, make sure that you’re using ones that don’t have any kind of insecticide.  This is a case where cheaper is better.

When all of the bags are full, you can tie off the tops to keep them sealed.  Getting the water out will be slightly challenging, but not too difficult.  A pump of some kind would be ideal.  But if you don’t have one, you can simply use another container to remove water as needed.

Just as you filled them evenly, you’ll need to take the water out evenly.  You’ll need to take turns taking water out of different bags so that the water level stays about the same.

If one of the bags springs a leak, that’s not a major emergency.  You won’t be able to use that water for drinking, but it will still be safely contained in the tub for other uses.  And because the other bags are separately sealed, you can still drink that water.

waterstorageIf you need more ideas for storing water in an emergency, a good source of ideas is chapter 8 of Nuclear War Survival Skills.  Despite the title of the book, it is also an excellent source of information for practical ideas for other emergencies.  For example, the illustration here is from that book, and shows a man carrying ten gallons of water in burlap bags lined with a plastic trash bag.  You might not have burlap bags around the house, but you probably have pillowcases, and they will work as well.  You can also use a trash can or heavy cardboard box with a garbage bag as a liner.  (All of these will be heavy once filled, so you’ll want to put them where you need them prior to filling.)

Other Water Containers

Of course, if you know that a storm is coming, rather than relying on expedient solutions, it would be a good idea to have some containers designed for the purpose.  The links below show just a few of the many possibilities:

 

Other Helpful Links

For more information on emergency preparedness, please visit some of the following pages on my website:

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Private Anthony J. Theobald, 1894-1919

 

AnthonyTheobaldDuring the centennial of World War 1, this page periodically remembers American servicemen who gave their lives in that war.

Anthony J. Theobald was born  on January 17, 1894, in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.  He was the son of Mathias J. and Maria (nee Stiff) Theobald.   He served as a Private in the U.S. Army during World War I and survived until after Armistice Day.  However, he died of disease in Germany on March 4, 1919.

According to Martin County in the World War, he was a resident of Jay Township, Martin County, at the time of his induction into the Army as an infantry private at Fairmont, Minnesota, on July 26, 1918. He was assigned to the Headquarters Company, 54th Pioneer Infantry, at Camp Wadsworth, S.C. On August 29, 1918, his unit embarked from Newport News, Virginia, aboard one of the transports Duca d’Aosta or Caserta and arrived at Brest, France, on September 12, 1918, where he was engaged in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive from September 27 until the Armistice on November 11.

Thereafter, his unit was garrisoned in German towns in the vicinity of Wittlich and later Coblenz, and he continued service with the Army of Occupation in Germany, where he contracted pneumonia.

The unit’s history is available online.

Private Theobald died on March 4, 1919, at Neuendorf, Germany.  His death was announced in the War Department’s casualty list of March 21, 1919.  His body was returned to the United States and he was buried in St. Luke’s cemetery, Sherburn, Minnesota, in July 1920.

The photo here is from Soldiers of the Great War, Volume 2, Page 111.



Book Review: The Knowledge by Lewis Dartnell

WikiReader.

My website contains a review of the WikiReader. This little device set me back about $20. It’s apparently no longer available on Amazon, but there do seem to be examples available on eBay and elsewhere. It’s a small battery-operated device that contains in its internal memory (with some limitations) the full contents of the English language Wikipedia.

In other words, it contains what its manufacturer called “the Internet without the Internet.” If you’re transported back in time, if you get stranded on another planet or on Gilligan’s Island, or if the world suffers TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It), you’ll no longer have access to the Internet, but you’ll have a pretty good summary of just about any subject. The batteries of the WikiReader will eventually go dead, but before that happens, all you need to do is find the Wikipedia article on the history of the battery, take some good notes, and you’ll be able to whip yourself up a new one when the time comes. Once you’re settled in in your new era, you find an interesting article such as the one on the electrical telegraph, put together a prototype, and then make arrangements to demonstrate it to Julius Caesar or Louis XIV.

The WikiReader has a number of practical limitations, and I rarely use it. But it’s carefully put away just in case I’m involved in inadvertent time travel. In my pocket, I have the important knowledge of the 21st century. If I accidentally get stuck in a time warp, I’m going to make the best of the situation.

It appears that I’m not the only one who thinks that way. I recently got an e-mail from Amazon stating that customers who bought the WikiReader also bought a book with the intriguing title The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Civilization in the Aftermath of a Cataclysm by Lewis Dartnell. The book is available in the usual places, such as Amazon, amazon.ca in Canada, or your local library.

As the title suggests, the book is written for the benefit of some future inhabitant of Earth who needs to reconstruct (or “reboot” as  author Dartnell calls it) civilization after some sort of cataclysm.  The first chapter suggests some possible sources of the disaster, and the second chapter discusses the “grace period.”  After some types of disasters, such as a pandemic (such as happened in Earth Abides by George Stewart or in my own novel Caretaker), the survivors of the disaster have at their disposal the spoils of the earlier civilization.  It’s a relatively simple matter to eat canned food, set up generators, and take advantage of what was left behind.  In some cases, such as pandemic, that grace period might extend for generations.  In other cases, such as nuclear war, there will be fewer benefits available from the earlier civilization, and survivors will need to get to work right away tending to their immediate needs.

Dartnell doesn’t dwell a great deal on the grace period, since he correctly notes that numerous other survival manuals have been written.  What he spends most of his time talking about is rebuilding a technological civilization after the grace period has ended.  With a few exceptions (such as how to make soap), he doesn’t provide enough detail about any given technology in order to show exactly how they’re done.  But Dartnell does give enough clues in order to point survivors in the right direction.

For example, in the section on radio communication, he describes how to build a crystal radio, and he gives enough detail to allow the future archaeologist to recreate one.  He gives some of the theory, but no unnecessary theory.  In our current timeline, for example, it probably would have been impossible for society to come up with radio without first having an understanding of Maxwell’s Equations.  Instead, Dartnell gives only enough theory to make the thing work.  After building a few radios, the post-apocalyptic society would eventually come up with Maxwell’s Equations on its own.  So future history would follow the same general course, but in the opposite order from ours in some instances.

In addition to the plans for the receiver, Dartnell also gives enough detail so that someone could probably come up with a workable spark-gap transmitter.  I think the stumbling block for the future inventor would be coming up with an earphone sensitive enough to work with the receiver described.  Armed with theory in our own civilization, the telephone was created first, which gave the required prior technology.  Dartnell does qualitatively describe both a magnetic and piezoelectric earphone, but either one would require a great deal of trial and error.  In our own history, a skilled inventor would know enough theory to realize that sound would come out of a telephone receiver if hooked up properly.  If it didn’t work the first time, he would eventually figure out that he needed to make it more sensitive by adding more windings to the coil.  The post-apocalyptic inventor would have more trial and error.  But if he or she had enough faith in the book (perhaps because he knew that the soapmaking description was correct), that might provide the incentive to keep experimenting.  (Dartnell does provide the future inventor with Edison’s admonition that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.)

Similarly, Dartnell gives enough clues to invent the triode tube.  There isn’t nearly enough detail to make one, but he tells just enough about the Edison effect so that a gifted future scientist could verify it, and some hints as to how this effect could be harnessed to provide amplification.  Dartnell mentions in passing that oscillation is possible, although I hope the future scientist figures out that feedback is necessary in order to get the thing to produce radio signals.

In order to jump-start science, Dartnell provides a few simple experiments to prove non-intuitive concepts, such as the Earth spinning on its axis (Foucault’s Pendulum) and revolving around the sun (stars rising four minutes earlier each night).   In case the surviving society has lost track of time, he shows how to establish the year, either by the proper motion of Barnard’s Star or changes in the night sky due to the Earth’s axial precession.  The book contains convenient charts showing the reader the year (as well as a map and picture to locate the Svalbard Global Seed Vault).

In short, the future reader will get a lot of useful information from this book.  In most cases, the ideas contained in the book will need additional details, but Dartnell points the future inventor on the right path for either experimentation, or at least a clue as to which ancient texts he or she should try to recover.  (The book contains an extensive bibliography to help the future inventor in that quest.)

Chances are, nobody would read a book entitled, “The History of Science and Technology.”  But when you get to the end, you realize that’s exactly what you read.  In detailing the easiest course for future civilization, he necessarily recreates our own.  There will, of course, be some differences.  For example, most readily accessible deposits of fossil fuels will be gone for the next civilization.  But he offers a number of workarounds.  And since the current nitrate supplies of our early civilization (see The Guano Islands Act for an interesting discussion of a seemingly mundane commodity) are also depleted, he goes into more detail regarding the relatively simple chemistry required to fix nitrogen from the air.  On the other hand, aluminum requires a great deal of industry to refine.  But in the case of a future society, even hundreds of thousands of years in the future, our dumps will provide ample mines of high-grade ore that will need little more than melting down and re-casting.

In short, if you bought a WikiReader after reading my review, then, yes, Amazon was right.  You’ll want a copy of Dardnell’s book as well.

More information, including a discussion forum, is at the book’s website:  the-knowledge.org

   Buy this Book on Amazon:
USA:                              Canada:

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KGEI, GE’s Shortwave Station

KGEI

Photo courtesy of John Schneider and Bay Area Radio Museum. Used with permission.

Seventy five years ago, this date’s issue of Radio Guide magazine concluded a two-part feature on GE’s short wave station KGEI.  Part 1 appeared in the August 31, 1940 issue, and part two appeared on September 7.

The station was owned and operated by General Electric and went on the air in San Francisco in March 1939. Short wave broadcasting was not new to GE. It first put a short wave signal on the air with station W2XAF in Schenectady, New York. That station later became WGEO. The next year, another transmitter was installed at the same site with call letters W2XAD, later WGEA. By 1940, WGEO was transmitting with 100,000 watts and was the world’s most powerful station. The two stations were popular with listeners in Europe and Latin America.

Golden Gate International Exposition, 1929-40. Wikipedia image.

Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939-40. Wikipedia image.

By 1940, KGEI was running 20,000 watts, but there were plans to increase it to 50,000. The Schenectady stations operated on 9.53, 15.33, and 21.5 MHz. KGEI broadcast on 9.67 and 15.33 MHz, and provided an additional signal to Latin America as well as Asia and Oceania. The station, both studio and transmitter, was part of GE’s exhibit at the Golden Gate International Exposition, and was located on Treasure Island, between San Francisco and Oakland. The Island was also to serve as a terminus for Pan American‘s Clipper ships, and the station was used to promote Pan American as well as GE. According to the article, “one of the most interesting and colorful programs is ‘Clipper Departure.’ This program is a dockside complementary describing the actual departure of the China Clipper for Hawaii, Guam and points westward. The captain and various members of the crew of the Clipper are interviewed, each contributing some bit about the interesting aerial journeys to and fro across the Pacific. Passengers ready to embark give their reactions as they prepare to set forth on their fascinating trip. The program concludes with the roar of the Clipper’s motors as it moves down the ramp and into the bay off to Hawaii on the first leg of its voyage to Manila and Hong Kong.”

THe station had a studio on the Exposition grounds, and it also carried network programming, such as Burns and Allen, Bing Crosby, and the Don Ameche Show.

Photo courtesy of xxxxx. Used with permission.

Photo courtesy of John Schneider and Bay Area Radio Museum. Used with permission.

The picture at the top of the page was taken in late 1939, and bears the KGEI call letters.  The picture of the transmitter and enclosed studio at the left was taken earlier in the year and shows the W6XBE call sign.  The public was allowed to be in the same room as the 50 kW transmitter, separated only by a flimsy guardrail.

After the Exposition, the station continued operation.  During the War, it remained under GE’s control, but at the request of the Government, did carry programming that was recommended.

The station was widely listened to, especially in the Phillipines. Many resistance fighters listened to the station,, which included broadcast in Tagalog. In 1954-55, the station carried broadcasts from Stanford University, billed as “The International University of the Air.” During that period, the University received 12,000 letters from listeners in Latin America.

In 1960, the station was acquired by the Far East Broadcasting Company, a religious broadcaster. Even though FEBC operated other stations in Asia and the Pacific, KGEI was directed mostly to Latin America, billing itself as La Voz de la Amistad (The Voice of Friendship). During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, the station once again put under Government control. In fact, a Cuban listener wrote to the station in 1962, and his letter included the exact positions and descriptions of Russian missile sites. This hadn’t been publicized in the world press yet, but KGEI decided to reproduce this interesting letter in one of its fundraising letters. Unbenknownst to KGEI, that mailing list included the CIA, which hastily arranged a meeting and asked that such letters be made available to them prior to making them public.

A few months later, presidential Press Secretary Pierre Salinger called and informed the station that the President was requesting use of the station to rebroadcast the VOA. The station was reluctant, since it valued its voice as being independent of the U.S. Government. But FEBC was eventually convinced of the need to “volunteer” the station, and it carried VOA programming during the crisis.

KGEI remained on the air until 1994. The original 50 kW GE transmitter was donated to another Christian organization organization for use in Liberia. However, it was destroyed by rebels prior to going on the air. The station’s then main transmitter, capable of 250 kW, was donated to another organization for use in broadcasting to Russia from Alaska.

Acknowledgment

I would like to thank John Schneider and the Bay Area Radio Museum for allowing me to use the photos shown on this page, and for providing much of the information for this post.  More information about KGEI can be found on the Museum’s website.

References 

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The Tank Turns 100

1915 “Little Willie” prototype. Wikipedia photo.

A hundred years ago today, a new era in warfare began as the first tank rolled off the assembly line.  The prototype, nicknamed Little Willie, weighed 14 tons, had a speed of only two miles per hour, and frequently got stuck in trenches. But as the bugs were worked out, the tank transformed warfare.

The vehicle was the brainchild of British Col. Ernest Swinton and Maurice Hankey, the secretary of the Committee for Imperial Defence. They pitched the idea to Navy Minister Winston Churchill, who organized a committee to beging making a prototype “land boat.”

The project was veiled in secrecy, and workers were told that the vehicles were to be used to carry water to the battlefield. In keeping with the deception, they were shipped in crates marked “tank,” and the name stuck.

British tank in action, Sept. 1916. Wikipedia photo.

British tank in action, Sept. 1916. Wikipedia photo.

Work continued to work out the bugs, and a more refined version was first used on September 15, 1916, at the First Battle of the Somme. It wasn’t an immediate success, but further refinements were made, and at the first Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, the British fielded 400, capturing 8000 enemy troops.

 

References

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Hurricane Betsy, 1965

Hurricane Betsy satellite image, 4 Sept 1965. Wikipedia photo.

Hurricane Betsy satellite image, 4 Sept 1965. Wikipedia photo.

Fifty years ago today, Hurricane Betsy started bearing down on the United States. On August 27, 1965, the storm formed as a tropical depression off the coast of French Guiana and started moving northwesterly. It caused only minimal damage to the Leeward Islands before heading over open waters for several days. It achieved hurricane intensity on August 30. On September 5, 1965, the hurricane stalled over the Bahamas, where it inflicted the worst damage since 1929, before resuming a westward track. It made its initial landfall in Key Largo, Florida, before reemerging in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where it continued to gain strength.

Flooding in New Orleans. Wikipedia photo.

Flooding in New Orleans. Wikipedia photo.

On early September 10, it made landfall again near Houma and Grand Isle, Louisiana, with winds of 155 mph. The eyewall was in the New Orleans area for over eight hours, with winds in the range of 120 mph. It caused a strom surge into Lake Pontchartrain and considerable flooding and levee breaches in New Orleans, lasting ten days. Near Baton Rouge, the storm caused the sinking of a barge loaded with enough chlorine to kill 40,000 people, necessitating mass evacuations in the harbor area.  In New Orleans, most antennas were down, and 90% of the city was without power.

The November, 1965, issue of QST reported on how Radio Amateurs responded to the storm. K5AOE set up on the 8th floor of City Hall, where considerable traffic was handled on 75 meters. This included health and welfare traffic, and also a dedicated medical net. Fifteen mobile stations, each assigned to a doctor, were set up at shelters, and there was constant traffic as conditions were reported and medical supplies requested. The FCC declared a communications emergency for the duration.

The Hurricane Watch Net was formed informally during Hurricane Betsy as stations came on the air to provide communications to and from affected areas. Since then, the net has continued to operate with a more formal structure any time a hurricane is within 300 miles of projecte landfall or otherwise threatening any populated area.

 

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Don Wallace, W6AM, and WCCO Radio

DonWallace1925I always knew that reknowned Amateur Radio operator Don Wallace, W6AM, had a background in Minnesota radio history. For example, I knew that he was involved with the University of Minnesota Amateur Radio Club, and I knew that he was involved with the Minnesota Wireless Association, whose antenna was a prominent feature on Minneapolis City Hall in 1915.

But I never knew the role that he played in the founding of WCCO radio. His role is detailed in a profile of WCCO which appeared in the September 1925 issue of Radio in the Home.

An earlier post recounts how WCCO first came on the air in October 1924. Its predecessor, WLAG, first came on the air in 1922. One of the problems encountered by WLAG before its demise was the transmitter location. The 500 watt transmitter was located in the city. When it was on the air, it made listening to more distant stations impossible. But when it was off the air, the listeners with crystal sets weren’t able to get anything. When a major investor in WLAG pulled its support, the station was off the air.

A group called the “Northwest Radio Trade Association” took the lead in getting a new station on the air. Obviously, the lack of a radio station put a dent in radio sales. In particular, without a local station, crystal set owners were left with nothing to listen to.

By this time, Wallace was employed by General Electric. As he recounted in a 1984 interview, when offered a position right out of college, he was offered a salary of $100 per month. He noted that his wife made more than that as a teacher, and that he could make more working as a telegrapher. GE was unwilling to budge very much, but they upped the offer to $125, and also offered him 1% of his department’s sales. Within a few months, he was making more than the company’s president.

Wallace was also the president of the Northwest Radio Trade Association in 1924, and took the lead in organizing a new station for the Twin Cities. Along with the group’s secretary, H.H. Cory, he proposed a more powerful 5000 watt station about 20 miles away from the Twin Cities. This would result in a signal powerful enough for the crystal set owners, but far enough away so as to allow owners of more powerful sets to pick up distant stations.

The plan met with some initial skepticism, as local businessmen noted that the area couldn’t support 500 watt WLAG, and they were hesitant about investing in a 5000 watt station. But eventually, Washburn-Crosby pledged to buy the station, provided that additional subscriptions of $50,000 per year from both Minneapolis and St. Paul could be secured.

WCCO transmitter site in about 1930.

WCCO transmitter site in about 1930.

As proposed by Wallace, the transmitter was located away from both Minneapolis and St. Paul, at its current site in Anoka. Studios were located in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, and to avoid any rivalries, announcers alternated announcing the location as “Minneapolis-St. Paul” and “St. Paul-Minneapolis.”

WCCO Minneapolis studio, Nicollet Hotel, 1925.

WCCO Minneapolis studio, Nicollet Hotel, 1925.

Wallace graduated from high school in 1912. He first became involved in amateur radio in 1910, prior to licensing, and got his first license in about 1912. He is listed in the 1913 call book as 6OC at 1431 Linden Avenue, Long Beach, California.

He served as a radio operator during World War I, and after the war, was assigned to serve as the radio operator for President Wilson at Versailles. He came to Minnesota after the war to attend the University of Minnesota. In Minnesota, he was licensed as 9XAX and 9ZT. In the 1922 call book, he is also listed as 9DR at 1830 Stevens Avenue in Minneapolis.

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1945 “Tom Thumb” Crystal Set

1945SeptPMXtalSetSeventy years ago, the September 1945 issue of Popular Mechanics carried the plans for this “Tom Thumb” crystal set, about the size of a match box. The circuit was very basic, with no variable condenser, instead using a simple slider across the coil to tune. The coil was flattened, and wound on a 5/8 by 1-9/16 by 2-5/8 inch block of wood. It notes that this block is recessed at one end to take a small fixed detector. For a modern replication, a diode could easily be used, with many sources for obtaining it noted on my crystal set parts page.

1945SeptPMXtalSet2The article notes that the block should be baked in a moderate oven before winding the coil, presumably to drive out moisture. The slider is made of a partially flattened Fahnestock clip, and the “cabinet” is constructed of cardboard. The outside contains four more Fahnestock clips for the antenna, ground, and headphones. The article notes that in areas with a strong station, about 20 feet of wire tossed on the floor should give adequate reception, with a spring clip attached to a convenient ground.

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WOI, Ames, Iowa, 1925

WOI operating room, 1925.

WOI operating room, 1925.

Ninety years ago, the September 1925 issue of Radio Age carried a profile of radio station WOI, at Iowa State College (now Iowa State University) in Ames, Iowa. In 1925, the station’s focus was clearly on the farmer, and the article notes that the station was “maintained for the farmer by men who have practical farm experience.” The station began operating as WOI in May 1922. Programming included market reports, seasonal lectures of interest to farmers, and weather reports. Entertainment programs included both classical and popular music.

Even prior to the station being licensed as WOI, Iowa State College was a hotbed of radio activity. Even before World War I, weather reports had been broadcast by station 9YI, the predecessor of W0YI, the University’s Amateur Radio club station.

The article notes that the college offered an annual course in radio construction “which has enabled the farmer and especially the boys and girls on the farm to build their own sets.” At one such course, held annually in April, more than 500, from Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and Nebraska, descended on the campus to take part in the free course. In addition to the construction of broadcast sets, there was instruction in Amateur Radio, offered by students connected with Amateur station 9LC.

The station then operated on 270 meters (1111 kHz) with a power of 500 watts. The antenna consisted of wire aerials connected to a water tank and massive smoke stack 150 yards apart.

WOI is currently the flagship station of the Iowa Public Radio network. It’s 640 kHz signal (5000 watts daytime, 1000 watts nighttime) covers most of the state of Iowa during daylight hours, as well as good portions of adjoining states.

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