This mad scientist, shown in the January 1947 issue of Radio News is probably either George Floyd, W2RYT, or H. Donald Wells, W8LWD, drawing an arc from their newly constructed 1 kW transmitter for the then-new 2 meter band. They apparently didn’t worry too much about RF exposure back then, since he is drawing an arc from the antenna, which is mounted directly on the transmitter. In fact, the article points out that when making measurements of current and voltage in the transmitter, you shouldn’t leave the meters there too long, since they might be damaged by all of the RF that is floating around.

The transmitter is simplicity itself, employing two GL-592 pliotron tubes. According to the authors, the set oscillated the first time it was tried, and they were convinced that “only an order from the FCC would stop the oscillations.” There are few components, as you can see from the schematic below. Tuning was accomplished by adjusting plugs in inductors consisting of 15″ long half-inch copper pipe. It would probably be a good idea to wear thick gloves when making frequency changes, since the B+ was around 2500 volts.

We should mention that kids should not build this transmitter at home. There are a number of obvious safety issues, such as the exposed high voltage and the high RF fields. In addition, it probably wouldn’t meet current FCC spectral purity rules. In other words, an order of the FCC has stopped the oscillations.