Monthly Archives: November 2019

Transit of Mercury, November 11, 2019

Monday morning in North America, there will be visible a transit of Mercury. The innermost planet will pass directly between the sun and Earth, and will be visible as a small black dot.

The event will begin at 7:35 AM Eastern Time, 6:35 Central Time. Mercury will be at the centermost part of the sun at 10:20 Eastern, 9:20 Central. The event ends at 1:04 PM Eastern, 12:04 PM Central. Local sunrise in Minneapolis is at 7:05 AM, and I”m hopeful that it will be visible in the rising sun. I’m told that Mercury is too small to be visible with the naked eye, but I’m hoping that the sun’s low position on the horizon will make the small speck visible.

Even though the sun will be low on the horizon, you will need eye protection. So dig out those eclipse glasses that you acquired for the 2017 eclipse. If you are unable to view it, it will be live streamed from the University of Minnesota:

1969 Universal Remote

The universal remote control is nothing new, as shown by this photograph from 50 years ago, in the November-December 1969 issue of Elementary Electronics. The accompanying article dealt with some of the finer points of operating a public address system, such as dealing with hum and feedback. Sometimes, the remedy for feedback was just shutting off the offending speaker. This ceiling speaker in a hotel banquet room had a convenient on-off switch, and this hotel maintenance man is shown shutting it off with what those in the industry called a “skyhook.”

Today, remote controls are typically electronic rather than mechanical, but there are some jobs where having a long stick is what you need. For those jobs, having a golf ball retriever or a painter’s pole can quickly save the day, and you can order them from Amazon. They are telescoping for easy storage, and once you get one, you won’t know what you did without it. In addition to being useful for extending your reach, they can be used for applications such as supporting an antenna or being a tent pole.

1944 Grocery Prices

Here’s another snapshot of wartime grocery prices from 1944, from the November 9, 1944, issue of the Milwaukee Journal. None, or very few, of the items shown here required ration coupons, as would be the case for sugar, meat, and some other items.

As with pre-1964 prices, one way to convert to today’s money is to remember that one dollar meant one silver dollar, four silver quarter, or ten silver dimes, or about an ounce of silver, which would be worth about $18.

Flour was $1.17 for a 25 pound bag. A pound of coffee would set you back 21 cents, and a 12 ounce box of Grapenuts was 13 cents. And a package of “Kool-Aid Ice Cream Mix” was only a nickel.

1944 Surrender Speaker

Seventy-five years ago this month, it was clear that the Allies would soon prevail against both Germany and Japan. Therefore, it was soon time to break out the surrender speakers. In fact, such speakers had already been used in all theaters of war to encourage the enemy to surrender. It was found to be particularly useful when the enemy had been encircled or contained in a small pocket.

The model shown here was rated at 175 watts, and could peak at 350 watts, allowing it to be heard two miles away. It could be operated in relative safety, since once the speaker was in place, not only could the enemy not see it, but the microphone could be a further distance away.

The set had already been used at Cherbourg and other areas in Normandy, and resulted in the surrender of hundreds of German soldiers.

The setup is shown here on the cover of Radio Craft , November, 1944, which pointed out that the operator must be fluent in the enemy’s language. The enemy is told that the situation is hopeless and that further bloodshed is useless. This is followed by directions for surrender.

FDR Re-Elected 1944

Seventy-five years ago today, November 7, 1944, Franklin Roosevelt won an unprecedented fourth term as President. Shown here is “the piano playing candidate,” the Vice-President-Elect, Missouri Senator Harry S Truman, celebrating with some buddies from his service in World War I. The picture appeared in the Milwaukee Journal, November 8, 1944.

Just five months later, Truman would become President upon the Roosevelt’s death on April 12, 1945.

1939 Wired Broadcasting

Eighty years ago this month, the November 1939 issue of of Radio Retailing, carried this description of what it called a “community record player. ” The system was operated from a studio in a New York office building operated by the Wire Broadcasting Corporation of America. The company provided two channels, each free of commercial advertising. One channel provided dance music, with the other carrying concert selections. Broadcasting took place from 11:00 AM until 3:00 AM the next morning. The signal was sent out by leased telephone lines.

The subscribers to the service were apartment buildings, such as the Essex House apartment hotel shown in the picture.

1944 Scout Signal Gun

The scout shown above is signalling by night, thanks to the signal gun described in the November 1944 issue of Boys Life. Most flashlights can’t be turned on and off fast enough to send Morse code, so this design adds a trigger and pistol grip to be able to conveniently send. The trigger is wired to the spring at the bottom of the flashlight, so that it can be conveniently aimed and keyed.

The magazine carried a number of other signalling devices, in an article penned by William “Green Bar Bill” Hillcourt.

1939 Four Tube TRF

The young woman shown here is on a weekend jaunt, but that doesn’t stop her from tuning in her favorite radio programs, thanks to the four-tube set described in the November 1939 issue of Popular Science. The set was specially designed for overnight travels, since it nested inside an overnight luggage carrier. The entire piece of luggage could be built according to the plans in the magazine, or it could be made up at the local luggage shop. Both the radio and the baggage were attractively covered in airplane-luggage fabric. When she arrived at her destination, she simply took the radio out of the top of her case, plugged it in, and she was again connected with the world.

The receiver itself was a four-tube TRF design. A curtain burner cord provided the filament voltage.

A Vision of Postwar Appliances

This wistful look at the possibilities for postwar home appliances appeared in Radio Craft magazine 75 years ago this month, November 1944. The idea had been sent in to the magazine by George Predential of Schenectady, NY, and penned by cartoonist Frank Beaven. One wonders what they would think of modern bread machines, some of which are shown below.

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1944 Two Tube Broadcast Set

Shown here is Sgt. Donald L. De Velder of Rochester, NY. He was stationed in Panama, and spent fruitless months trying to find a radio. After finding nothing but the opportunity to spend a fortune on an old beat up piece of tin, he decided to take matters into his own hands and build his own.

Together with Staff Sergeant Emmet Ellis of Nigara Falls, NY, he was able to assemble this two-tube set. It ran off the 110 volt line cord, and a short antenna running down his foot locker allowed him to pull in the local Armed Forces station, as well as other Panamanian stations. The cabinet was made of plywood, and almost all parts were scrounged up from junk heaps. The only expense was for the 32L7 tube, which set the Sergeant back $2, although he was quick to point out that he could have found it for 69 cents back in the States.

The set used two dual tubes. A 12B8 served as RF amplifier and detector. The 32L7 provided audio amplification to drive a PM speaker, with the other half of that tube serving as rectifier. The set was written up in the November 1944 issue of Popular Mechanics. Sgt DeVelder died in 2007 at the age of 83.

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