Seventy five years ago today, the January 31 issue of Broadcasting carried this ad for KFAB, then in Lincoln, Nebraska, and on 780 kHz. As we noted earlier, KFAB shared the frequency with fellow CBS affiliate WBBM in Chicago, and the two stations coordinated their signals.
The station made the move to Omaha and to its present frequency of 1110 kHz in 1948. The move allowed both WBBM and KFAB to boost their transmitter power to 50 kW.
The handsome receiver shown here is the Admiral Aeroscope model 163-5L. The fine print reveals that the price of the set shown is actually $15.95. The set was available in three different Plaskon cabinets: Walnut (model 161-5L) for $9.95, Ivory (model 162-5L) for $13.95, and Onyx (model 163-5L) for $15.95.
The set was billed as 6 tube (including ballast), meaning that it was a 5-tube (“All American Five”) receiver with an additional “tube” containing a dropping resistor.
The ad appeared 80 years ago this month in the January 1939 issue of Radio Today.
Fifty years ago this month, the January-February 1969 issue of Elementary Electronics reviewed the Science Fair “P-Box” shortwave receiver. The three-transistor set used one transistor as regenerative detector, with the remaining two serving as audio amplifiers. With interchangeable coils, the set covered 3-40 MHz.
I had one of these, and even though it made sound, I never did pull in any shortwave stations. I did manage to get some overload from local FM stations. I suspect if I had been more patient with the regeneration control, I actually would have received some shortwave.
Here’s the 1925 version of the Swiss Army knife, especially for radio fans. This 16=in-one tool was advertised in the 1925 issue of The Experimenter, and was sold by the Radio Specialty Company of New York.
In 1924, the Trego Radio Mfg. Co., 1427 Chestnut St., Kansas City, MO, offered this one-tube set, the “Baby Grand” in their catalog. For $28.75, you got everything you needed, including the tube, batteries, and even antenna and ground wire. The batteries even came installed inside the set, which was said to have a range of 500 to 1000 miles.
The set was also available without tube, batteries, or other accessories, for $15.35.
Sixty years ago this month, the January 1959 issue of Popular Electronics showed how to put together this portable one tube FM receiver. The set used a single 1AG4 tube as a superregenerative detector, and used a penlite cell for the filament and two 22.5 volt batteries to supply the B+.
Even though a superregenerative receiver is best suited for AM signals, it does an excellent job on FM with slope detection. The tendency of the set to radiate was put to advantage in the instructions for calibrating the dial. The article suggested using a second receiver, tuning it to 88, and then tuning the portable until the rushing sound was heard on the other receiver.
The young man shown here (quite possibly the son of article author T.A. Blanchard) is probably getting ready to collect his first Social Security check. But sixty years ago, he was shown in the 1959 issue of Radio-TV Experimenter operating this simple crystal set.
The antenna and ground leads are soldered to “frictioned” paper clips, which could be connected to a convenient antenna such as the dial stop on a telephone. Tuning was accomplished with the adjustable ferrite antenna coil. The set would not tune the entire broadcast band, but the article included values for the fixed capacitor to cover various portions.
While not nearly as spectacular as a solar eclipse, another interesting astronomical phenomenon will be visible this Sunday evening throughout the Western Hemisphere. This will be a lunar eclipse, in which the moon passes through the shadow of the earth.
The eclipse begins at 9:36 PM Eastern Time (8:36 CST, 7:36 MST, 6:36 PST) with the penumbral phase, as the moon enters the outer shadow of the earth. The brightness of the moon will decrease, but the small change in brightness probably won’t be visible to the naked eye.
About an hour later at 10:33 PM Eastern Time (9:33 CST, 8:33 MST, 7:33 PST), the eclipse enters the partial stage. At this time, the earth’s shadow begins to eat away at the moon. This continues until 11:41 PM Eastern Time (10:41 CST, 9:41 MST, 8:41 PST), when the eclipse becomes full, and the moon is completely within the shadow of the earth.
Unlike a solar eclipse, the times are more or less identical wherever you are. You only need to adjust for your time zone.
Even though the eclipse is full, the moon does not become fully dark. This is because the moon is illuminated by a ring surrounding the earth, namely, all of the sunrises and sunsets taking place on earth.
At 12:43 AM Eastern Time, the eclipse once again becomes partial. At 1:50 AM Eastern Time, it re-enters the penumbral phase. At 2:48 AM Eastern Time, the eclipse ends.
We previously wrote of an interesting story of a lunar eclipse of July 15, 1916. This eclipse affected the Shackleton Antarctic expedition. The team led by Aeneas Mackintosh was waiting for a full moon to embark, but were surprised to see the moon entering an eclipse as it rose. Fortunately, the eclipse was only partial and enough light remained to make the voyage.
For a snapshot of wartime consumer prices, this Walgreen’s ad appeared in the Milwaukee Journal 75 years ago today, January 20, 1944.
This handsome home entertainment installation appeared on the cover of Radio Television News 70 years ago this month, January 1949. While it appears to be a single console, it’s actually a custom installation of discrete components, a television, radio, and record player.
The issue provided guidance for dealers looking to move into this field, and suggested that thoughtful design and installation of such custom designs could be a lucrative proposition.
