Sixty years ago this month, the March 1965 issue of Electronics Illustrated offered some guidance on equipment for the new ham. The magazine noted that there was a lot of information on learning the code and getting your license, but it was sparse when it came to setting up a new station.

Therefore, they showed possible stations for four different price points: $100, $250, $500, and $1000.

The hundred dollar station consisted of an Ameco AC-1T transmitter kit, along with a Lafayette KT-320 general coverage receiver. The next step up would be a Heathkit DX-60 transmitter and HR-10 receiver. There was enough in the budget for a Lafayette 9902501 VFO.

For $500, the magazine recommended an E.F. Johnson Viking Ranger II, and Lafayette HA-350 receiver.

The well heeled ham could spend $1000 on a Hallicrafters HT-37 transmitter and Drake R-4 receiver.

Seventy-five years ago, the millionth clock radio was getting ready to roll off the General Electric assembly lines, and GE planned to celebrate. They were conducting a contest to give the radio to a lucky winner, who would also travel to New York to meet Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians.

The set, a model 506, was billed as the world’s most useful radio.  It would lull you to sleep and then waken you to music or buzzer.  It could even control a light to waken the hard of hearing.  And in the kitchen, it could be used to control a coffee pot or other appliance.  And, of course, it could remind you of important appointments.

This ad appeared in Life Magazine, March 13, 1950.

Sixty years ago this month, the March 1965 issue of Electronics Illustrated devoted much of the issue to a new kind of electronic component, the integrated circuit. In particular, it included some projects making use of the Motorola MC356G IC. The device, measuring only 5/16″ in diameter, packed in a full six transistors, along with five resistors. It could be had for only $3.55 plus postage.

The IC was designed for logic applications, so putting those transistors to use in a radio posed some challenges, since they were packed so close together physically. But with some trial and error, the magazine settled on the circuit shown below, which had good selectivity, sensitivity, and audio output.

The circuit used four of the six transistors. Components inside the IC are shown in black in the schematic, with added components in red.

This ad for dealer Cal M. Brosius appeared a hundred years ago today in the March 9, 1925, issue of the Seward (AK) Daily Gateway. There were no broadcast stations in Alaska, so a crystal set probably wouldn’t do you much good. But if you had a superheterodyne, there would be a lot to listen to at night. This dealer included a list of stations that had been received in Seward on the Radiola Super VIII or Super Heterodyne.  They included stations on the east coast, as well as stations in western Canada and the U.S. west coast.

But it wouldn’t be cheap.  The Super Heterodyne would set you back $285, and the Super VIII would be $425.  When adjusted for inflation, that works out to $5233 and $7804.