Eighty years ago this month, the September 1941 issue of Radio Retailing carried this ad for Emerson’s lineup for the coming model year. It turns out these would be the last models made until 1946, as civilian radio and phonograph production ended for the duration on April 22, 1942.
Sixty years ago, this duo were communicating up to 1500 feet from ship to shore thanks to a pair of devices dubbed the Terraquaphone. The plans for constructing the came from the September 1961 issue of Electronics Illustrated.
The device relied on a principle we’ve seen before, namely the use of earth currents. Each Terraquaphone consisted of a three-transistor audio amplifier. Despite the name shown on the cover, it wasn’t a radio. It simply sent the audio signals through the earth, using two probes. If the probes were placed 30 feet apart, the resulting range would be 1500 feet. Of course, that depended a lot on soil and water conductivity. When it was tested in Arizon, the maximum range achieved was 600 feet.
The magazine noted that if used on a boat, one probe should be at the bow, with the other at the stern. Maximum range would be achieved with the boats parallel to one another.
Shown at left is Scout Jack Reese of Troop 40, Middleton, Wisconsin, brushing up on his Morse code 70 years ago. He wasn’t yet licensed, so the transmitter is “dead,” according to an article about amateur radio in the September 1951 issue of Boys’ Life. Ham radio was a fairly common subject of articles in the magazine, and this was the first article on the subject since the FCC had authorized the Novice class license. According to the magazine, getting a license was hard, but the process had just become easier with the new class of license, and the average age of licensees was starting to drop.
Troop 40 was taking to amateur radio with a passion, with 13 scouts working toward earning their licenses, under the guidance of three scouters who were hams, including Jack Pomeroy, W9OME, who served as trustee of the station operating from Middleton High School. The troop already had transmitters for 2, 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 meters, and was preparing for emergency work.
The magazine noted that in coming months, it would carry plans for both a transmitter and receiver suitable for new Novices.
Shown here, from the September 1961 issue of Popular Electronics, is Barbara Slutzkin, WV2PZH, 1225 Ave. R., Brooklyn, New York.
She was a Junior at James Madison High School, where she was a member of the school radio club, and thought more girls should become hams. She is shown here at home, where she had a Viking II transmitter and Hallicrafters SX-25, as well as gear for 2 meters. According to the magazine, her pride and joy was her homebrew electronic key.
She is shown holding a microphone, so she was presumably operating two meters, the only band on which novices had voice privileges at the time. According to the magazine, her well-equipped station included a beam antenna for that band.
After a good start, and despite an excellent home station, it appears that Ms. Slutzkin didn’t continue with amateur radio. Her novice license would have been good for one year, and she would have needed to upgrade to Technician or General in that time. Upon upgrade, her call would have become WA2PZH. Unfortunately, the 1962 edition of the callbook doesn’t show that call listed, and there’s nobody by her name listed in the second call area.
We understand that people Google their own names, so if Ms. Slutzkin happens to read this, we always enjoy hearing from people we’ve featured. Did you continue in ham radio? If not, even though your license lapsed, there’s nothing stopping you from getting a new one! Feel free to leave a comment below, or e-mail us at w0is@arrl.net.
Shown here is one of the first portable radios, from a hundred years ago. The editors of the September 1921 issue of Popular Mechanics were apparently a little bit unclear on what to call it, so they settled on “phonographic suitcase.” But it’s really a six-tube TRF portable radio receiver, conveniently mounted in a suitcase.
The magazine noted that music by wireless was nothing new, but up to that point, it had been necessary to go to a receiving station to hear it. But now, the receiving station could be carried about to where it was needed. The set weighed in at barely 30 pounds, which included everything including two 1.5 volt A batteries and two 20 volt batteries to supply the B+.
The inside of the cover was a receiving coil with 21 turns of 28 gauge wire. At the bottom was a horn coupled to a telephone receiver, which presumably supplied room-filling volume from stations within about eight miles. Once tuned, the set performed while closed. A button near the handle was turned, and this was connected to the inside switch. The only opening to the outside world was the opening for the horn, shown at left.
If Junior likes playing with matches, and the due date for the science fair project is rapidly approaching, then the perfect project can be found in the September 1941 issue of Popular Science. This experiment answers the question, “which surface provides the least wind resistance,” and it turns out the answer is the airfoil.
Junior can easily demonstrate this with the self-explanatory experiment shown here. With the piece of cardboard flat, drag is produced, and when you blow toward the flame, it actually moves back toward you. But when the card is bent into a teardrop shape, scientifically known as an airfoil, then the air blows the flame away.
Sixty years ago, this young woman undoubtedly had the smallest radio receiver on her block, thanks to her steady hand and attention to detail in putting together a five-transistor superhet from the plans in the magazine, Radio-Electronics from September 1961.
All of the electronics were packed into the headphone case, meaning that the builder had to think in terms of three dimensions. The larger components were carefully glued together, and then the electrical connections were carefully soldered. The tuning dial was directly opposite the earphone, and the set ran on two button-style mercury batteries, which were said to be good for 25 hours of operation. The set would easily pull in the strong local stations, and with just a couple inches of wire hanging out to serve as an antenna, weaker stations could be heard.
