Monthly Archives: February 2020

Admiral Model 12-B-5, 1940

1940FebRadioRetailingEighty years ago this month, the February 1940 issue of Radio Retailing carried this ad for the Admiral model 12-B-5, a five tube set that covered both standard broadcast (including police at the top of the dial) and shortwave signals from 5.65 to 17.1 MHz.

With Europe at war, this inexpensive set would pull in the news straight from the warring powers. I wasn’t able to find much information about this set, but it looks like an “All-American Five” with the shortwave band added. It probably did an adequate job with the strong stations, and at $12.95, it was modestly priced for a shortwave set.



Happy Valentine’s Day!

HumptyDumptyValentine

Happy Valentine’s Day from OneTubeRadio.com!

The image above is from the cover of the February 1961 issue of Humpty Dumpty magazine.




1945 Army Flight Nurse

1945Feb12LifeShown here, in the February 12, 1945, issue of Life magazine is U.S. Army flight nurse Lt. Victoria Pavlowski, giving a glass of juice to Pvt. Charles V. Reusch, who is being evacuated from Leyte to a hospital in Hawaii. Lt. Pavlowski, described by the magazine as “young, courageous, and pretty,” was among the first class of flight nurses, and was working the 18-hour round-trip flight evacuating injured servicemen from the Pacific theater.

The Life article was penned by Shelley Smith Mydans, who with her photographer husband had been captured in Manila and spent two years in a Japanese internment camp. (We previously wrote about her capture.) She described the group of nurses as “very young, almost like college girls, sitting cross-legged on their beds, smoking and laughing. Their make-up was fresh, their nails brightly polished and their man-sized khakis and flight suits less baggy than the modern coed uniform.”

ArmyNurseLt. Pavlowski went on to marry another officer, and retired from the Army some 20 years later as Maj. Victoria Dragoui. She was profiled in Warrior Medic magazine in 2011, from which the picture at left is taken. She died in 2010 at the age of 98.



Amateur Radio Audio Course

If you, or someone you know, is interested in getting their amateur radio license, I am the author of a study guide for starting class of license, the Technician license. The test requires some study, but not much, since it consists of 35 multiple-choice questions. The passing score is 26.

My study guide is available at Amazon, either as a paperback or as a Kindle eBook. Most people will be able to pass the test by reading the book one time. Since different people learn different ways, I’ve decided to supplement the book with a series of audio lessons. I recommend reading the book, but many will be able to pass the test simply by listening to the lessons. They are available for free download at the following links:

I also have study guides for other amateur and commercial licenses at my website.



Yalta Conference

Yalta conference. Wikipedia image.

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the conclusion of the Yalta Conference, 4-11 February 1945, at which Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin worked out postwar plans for carving up Europe.  Roosevelt would be dead two months later, with Harry Truman taking over at the Potsdam Conference that summer.



1920 Boys’ Life Radio Ad

1920FebBLA hundred years ago this month, the February 1920 issue of Boys’ Life asked the boys of America if they had a wireless station, and offered these two receivers. Both tuned 200 – 2500 meters (120 – 1500 kHz). Each included the loose coupler, radiometer, headphones, and hardware for the antenna and ground. The Moded 4007, selling for 28.00, included a crystal detector. Model 4008 was identical, but used an audion tube for the detector. It sold for $48.

The ad promised that the set could be up and running within hours. The crystal set was said to have a range of 300 miles under ordinary conditions, with the audion set being capable of pulling in stations up to a thousand miles away.

The manufacturer, the A.C. Gilbert Company, is the same one which is famous for erector sets, chemistry sets, and other tools for young scientists.  While the company no longer exists, the brand name is still in use.  The set in operation here is similar to, or possibly the same, as the one we previously featured,  delivered by Santa Claus in 1919.



1945 Grocery Prices

1945Feb9PittsburghPostGazFor the American housewife fighting on the Home Front in 1945, here was the battle plan, as published 75 years ago today in the February 9, 1945, issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

One way to compare the spending power in pre-1964 dollars is to remember that one dollar was one silver dollar, which is worth about $18 dollars today. So 25 pounds of flour was 98 cents, which works out to about 70 cents per pound in today’s money. That seems pretty reasonable, but eggs work out to about $10 per dozen, and pork sausage to over $6 per pound, meaning that the housewife had to be creative when it came to getting protein into her family’s diet.

Some items, such as beef, sugar, and butter, were rationed. But all of the items in this ad were freely available.



1945 One-Tube Shortwave Superregen

1945FebRadioCraftShown here, from the February 1945 issue of Radio Craft, is a compact one-tube shortwave set dubbed “The Ultra.” It’s a superregenerative set covering 10-120 meters using a 117ZP7-GT tube. One half of the tube is the rectifier, with the other half serving as the superregenerative detector. The magazine notes that the set features post-war details such as phosphorescent panel marks. These are made from glow-in-the-dark paper coated with calcium sulphide which is carefully applied to the panel. After being exposed to the light, the markings will then glow in the dark with a purple hue.

The set is shown here with a bent antenna, and the author notes that this antenna is sufficient for strong stations. He cautions against use of an outdoor antenna, as the set will radiate and interfere with other nearby receivers. He suggests the use of one stage of RF amplification if an outdoor antenna is used.

One shortcoming of a superregenerative receiver is that it’s practically impossible to listen to code. When the key is down, the receiver is silent, and when the key is up, the receiver is making a loud rushing noise. Since this is the exact opposite of how it should sound, the author acknowledges that this is a shortcoming. But for AM signals, it would appear that this little set would really pull in the stations.

1945FebRadioCraft2



Canadian Women Needed to Assemble Radio Tubes: 1945

1945Feb7TorontoWith Canada’s men off to war, it was up to the women to work in war industries, as shown by this ad from the Toronto Daily Star 75 years ago today, February 7, 1945.

The ad doesn’t identify the company, but it’s a well-established organization that manufactures radio tubes.  Women were needed full time to work as assemblers, and the work promised to continue after victory.

Application was to be made at an agency located at 832 Bay Street, Toronto.