Author Archives: clem.law@usa.net

Poor Man’s Direction Finder (1960)

1960MayRadioElecSixty-five years ago this month, the May 1960 issue of Radio Electronics showed that a portable AM radio can made a surprisingly good direction finder. The loop antenna is typically directional, and has sharp nulls as it is pointing directly at the station. You can use this effect to determine your location quite accurately by taking readings from two stations, and plotting them on a map from the station’s known location. The lines should intersect at your exact location.

I have done this before, and by using local AM stations, I can plot my exact location within a few hundred yards. At night, by using distant stations, I can determine my location within a few tens of miles.

Since the radio’s antenna is typically parallel with the case, you can do a good job of plotting by simply laying the radio on the map, and using it as a straight edge. But the article shows a more refined method. You can use an HO-scale model railroad turntable and mount the radio on that. This provides a handy crank, and you can calibrate the dial with exact directions.

A further refinement was to obtain a surplus pelorus and mount the radio in that. This would allow very exact visual bearings to the station.  Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be many surplus peloruses (yes, that’s the correct plural) in circulation these days.

Once you know your position, you can navigate directly toward one of the stations by placing your radio parallel with your boat, and simply keep the signal nulled.



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Radio Facsimile, 1925

One hundred years ago this month, the May 1925 issue of QST contained this feature discussing methods that hams could use to send and receive facsimile images. Synchronization was the big issue, but the magazine pointed out that every home contained a device capable of rotating at a fairly precise speed of 78 RPM. The article showed how the family phonograph could be geared to the fax machine, and the exact speed could be adjusted to match the sending station.

A number of sample images are included, showing that the technology was within the grasp of most hams of the time. You can view the cover and full article at the PDF above.



Last-Minute Science Fair Ideas

1960NovEE5You are probably on this page because you, or your child, have a science fair project that’s due tomorrow, and you haven’t even started! We feel your pain! Listed below are some of our earlier science fair projects that can be done in a very short amount of time, and with materials that you probably already have around the house.  (You won’t have time to make the Jacob’s Ladder shown above, but you still have a chance to take home the blue ribbon.)

If you have more time, you might want to browse through our entire category of science fair projects. But most of those ideas require too much time, and/or require things that you don’t have.

The projects shown on this page can be done immediately, and your teacher won’t know that you waited until the last minute!  Listed below are the projects, along with a list of materials.

Most of these projects are adaptable to various grade levels, so look them over and find what’s appropriate.  Follow your teacher’s instructions, as the project will also include a display board, writing a question that the experiment answers, and other requirements.  But with one of these projects, an acceptable experiment can be done in less than an hour with materials you already have.



1955 GE Portable

1955MayBLSeventy years ago, this scout, named Scott, had just received his very own portable radio, a gift from his father after earning First Class. It’s the envy of his friend, and Scott recounts how he can listen at camp, on family picnics, or plugged in in his room. The set had three-way power, meaning that it could run on AC, DC, or from the battery.

We don’t recognize the model, but perhaps one of our readers can enlighten us. The ad appeared in the May 1955 issue of Boys’ Life.



1940 Gas-Mask Box Receiver

1940May11PracWirIf you were in Britain 85 years ago and needed an enclosure in which to mount your radio, you needn’t look any further than the box in which your gas mask came! This set, shown in the May 11, 1940, issue of Practical Wireless shows exactly how to do it.

Apparently, the box was laced up with string, and the magazine explained how you could substitute wire, and use that for the antenna. The batteries would fit inside the enclosure.

Curiously, the article concluded by noting that the antenna wire and earpiece could be put away inside the box, allowing the box to be easily closed. “It then has the appearance of quite an ordinary gas-mask box.” I guess you wouldn’t want to alarm people by letting them know you had a radio, whereas the ordinary gas-mask box wouldn’t raise an eyebrow.

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1940 British Two-Tube Portable

Screenshot 2025-04-11 10.45.23 AMScreenshot 2025-04-11 10.44.14 AMEighty-five years ago this month, the May 1940 issue of the British Practical Mechanics magazine showed how to build this pocket-sized two-tube receiver. The magazine acknowledged that to make it pocket sized necessitated putting the batteries somewhere else. But as long as they could be placed in, perhaps, a different pocket, then the set could be built into a small cigar box.

To avoid cracking the delicate wood of the box, no band switch was used. Instead, to switch between medium waves and long waves, the ground cable used a crocodile clip which would affix to a different tap of the coil.

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V-E Day

Today marks the 80th anniversary of V-E Day, May 8, 1945. You can hear how it was covered on NBC Radio at this video, which includes addresses by President Truman and Prime Minister Churchill:



1940 Phonograph Stroboscope

1940MayRadioService DealerEighty-five years ago this month, the May 1940 issue of Radio Service Dealer provided this handy stroboscope for testing the speed of record players.

The included instructions explained how to place it on a piece of cardboard, or an old record. If a record was used, it was critical to make sure the hole was exactly in the center. Then, it was placed on the platter, and illuminated with a neon bulb powered by 60 Hz. At exactly 33-1/3 RPM, the outer segments would remain stationary, and at 78.26 RPM, the inner ones would do the same. If the speed were too fast or too slow, the segments would appear to move forward or backward.



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Recharging Flashlight Batteries: 1945

1945MayPSFlashlight batteries were sometimes in short supply during the war, and the May 1945 issue of Popular Science gave some pointers on how you could get some extra life out of them by recharging them. If the battery was already dead, there was little hope, and if they were bulging or pitted, they were beyond hope. But by recharging them before they were completely dead, you could give a low battery a new lease on life.

The idea was to zap them with about twice their voltage. So for a flashlight battery, you could put two in series, and then charge them with a six-volt battery from the car. You would wire them as shown below, but then carefully monitor them. After two to five minutes, they would start to get warm, at which point you would disconnect them and let them cool. This process would be repeated two or three time. It was important not to allow them to become hot. When done, the cells could be put back in use. They wouldn’t last as long as new batteries, but new batteries might not be available.

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