Author Archives: clem.law@usa.net

Lenore Kingston Jensen, W9CHD, W2NAZ, W6NAZ

1939DecRadioNewsWhen I first saw this cover of Radio News, December 1939, I thought perhaps she was building the wireless mike, the field strength meter, or maybe the full-range amplifier. But one way or another, she looks like she knows how to handle a soldering iron.

But it turns out she’s a ham, and undoubtedly working on one of her rigs. Her identity was obscured by the mailing label, but fortunately, her call sign was barely visible. She was Lenore Kingston, W9CHD, later Lenore Jensen, with calls W2NAZ and W6NAZ. She was an actress with NBC in Chicago, and pestered the engineers so that they taught her enough code and theory to get her license. After she moved to New York, she kept in touch with one of those engineers, who proposed over CW and became her first husband. Upon his passing, she remarried another radio engineer. She continued her career in broadcast radio in California

She was born Lenore Bourgeotte, but a publicist changed her name to Lenore Kingston when she started her radio career. When World War II broke out, she taught Morse Code to Navy radiomen. She co-founded the YLRL, and handled thousands of phone patches and traffic for servicemen during the Vietnam war. She passed away in 1993. You can read a full obituary in the July 1993 issue of World Radio.



1964 Transistor Portable

1964DecPESixty years ago, this lucky girl was probably one of the first on her block to have her very own transistor radio, thanks to the construction project in the December 1964 issue of Popular Electronics.

It was a superheterodyne, and pulled in stations as well or better than most portables on the market. She could even plug it into a phonograph to get loudspeaker volume.

She was able to build it herself, but she had a little secret–most of the work was already done for her. It included a pre-assembled, pre-tuned, sealed IF stage. Other than that, it required only one transistor as the local oscillator, plus a few discrete components.

1964DecPE2



British One-Transistor Reflex Regen Shortwave Receiver

1974NovRadioConstr1Fifty years ago this month, the November 1974 issue of Radio Constructor showed how to put together this simple one-transistor regenerative receiver.  The transistor was “reflexed” to allow a bit more gain, but it still required a crystal earphone.  For a bit more volume, an optional AF amplifier using an additional transistor was recommended, but the set could be built either way.

Using plug-in coils, it covered 1.5 to 36 MHz, and was said to be simple to operate.

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1954 GE Radios

1954Nov29LifeSeventy years ago, you couldn’t go wrong giving a radio as a gift, and GE’s colorful two-page ad in the November 29, 1954 issue of Life Magazine gives you ideas for the perfect gift for everyone on your list.

And, of course, for that person whose spelling needs a little help, the same issue contained this ad:

1954Nov29Life2



1954 Novice Transmitter

1954NovQSTThis 40 and 15 meter transmitter designed especially for the novice appeared on the cover of QST for November 1954. The construction article for how to build it, however, didn’t appear until the December 1954 issue.

The set was designed by Lew McCoy, W1ICP, and was billed a stable transmitter especially for the novice.  It was pointed out that a 40 meter dipole would work well on both bands, so only a single antenna was necessary, and the article included details for how to make it.

A shielded enclosure was deemed a necessity, because of the possibility of TV interference while using 15 meters.  The set employed a 6CL6 oscillator, 6BQ6-GA amplifier, and a 5Y3 rectifier in the built-in power supply.

1954DECQST

 

 



1964 Six-Transistor British Portable

1964NovRadioConstr1964NovRadioConstr2Sixty years ago this month, the cover of the British magazine Radio Constructor, November 1964, showed a photograph of this handsome, but ambitious, six-transistor portable, that could be run off either 7.5 or 9 volts. An artist’s conception is shown at the left.

The set pulled in both longwave and medium wave broadcasts (200 to 500 meters and 1250 to 1750 meters). Any suitable cabinet could be used. This one was made of wood, “and covered with one of the various materials which can be purchased for such purposes.”

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1974 Rebuilt TV Tuners

1974NovRadioElecShown here from fifty years ago, in the November 1974 issue of Radio-Electronics, is an ad for an industry that probably had about ten more years of life. These ads were surprisingly common. They offered re-built (or brand new) tuners from Televisions. If the old tuner went bad, rather than the local serviceman fix it, they could send it in for a replacement, and the one they sent would be re-built. It simplified the repair, and put it in the hands of someone who specialized in that task.

Almost every magazine had one of these ads once a month, so it must have been a profitable industry. But in a few years, solid-state sets, especially with digital tuners, would put an end to the industry.



1944 WLS School Time

1944Nov20BCWe’ve previously written about the School Time program on WLS Chicago, which started in 1937. Every day at 1:00 PM, the station carried a program especially for school children, which was played in many schools in the region.

Eighty years ago, the station boasts in this ad on the cover of Broadcasting magazine, November 20, 1944, about how successful it was. The station reports that a single announcement offering a color map of the Brookfield Zoo. 5,629 letters flooded the station asking for a copy of the map. While the ad noted that the School Time program wasn’t for sale, they had plenty of programs that were, and an ad on the station promised to deliver results.



Wartime Telephone Shortages

1944Nov20LifeEighty years ago, there was a war going on, and there were shortages of many things. And that included a new home telephone. You couldn’t get one right away–you had to wait weeks or months.

In this ad from Life Magazine, November 20, 1944, The Phone Company assures you that they feel your pain. But because of wartime shortages, there weren’t enough telephones or switchboards to go around, and everyone would just have to wait patiently.



1944 British One Tube SW Receiver

1944NovPracWir2Eighty years ago this month, the November 1944 issue of Practical Wireless showed how to put together this handsome one-tube receiver for the short waves. While the magazine pointed out that some treated the single-tube design with disdain, but it would pull in an amazing number of DX stations. It was said that it was capable of first-class results with headphones.

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