Author Archives: clem.law@usa.net

1959 Hamming Is Fun

1959JanBL
Sixty years ago this month, amateur radio made the cover of Boys’ Life magazine’s January 1959 issue, which featured an article entitled “Hamming is Fun” by long time ARRL staffer Perry Williams, W1UED.

The article featured the radio adventures of a number of young hams, including Jules Madey, K2KGJ, of Clark, NJ, who apparently inspired the cover. Madey, a high school student, put in as many as 49 hours a week running phone patches for men at the McMurdo base in Antarctica. Since the best conditions were in the middle of the night, Madey made a habit of going to bed right after supper and setting the alarm for 10:30 PM.

1959JanBL2The magazine contains two more radio features.  First of all, the Tracy Twins comic shows the boys receiving a radio control airplane that Grandpa insists on operating without a license.  Of course, he gets busted as an FCC helicopter and car swoop in.  Fortunately, he gets off with a warning.

Finally, the Boys’ Life Radio Club had three offerings.  For just 20 cents, they would send out the Radio reprint book containing reprints of earlier articles, along with a free log book.  One dollar would get 60 QSL cards.  And for no cost, the club would send any licensed ham operator scout or scouter a card identifying the bearer as an emergency service ham.

1959JanBL3



Fun With Morse: 1949

1949JanBLSeventy years ago this month, the January 1949 issue of Boys’ Life carried this article by William “Green Bar Bill” Hillcourt on the subject of Morse Code.

He points out that in addition to being a requirement for First Class, the skill was part of a Scout’s wilderness adventure. Through the use of Morse, Scouts have been called into action in hurricane, earthquake, and flood.

The article focuses solely on the use of wig-wag flags for sending messages. For relatively short distances, a team consisting of signaler and scribe was ideal. For longer distances, an additional reader was called for, since he would be watching through field glasses.



1959 Auto Dialer

1959JanEESixty years ago this month, the January 1959 issue of Electronics Illustrated showed how to put together this convenient autodialer for a telephone. It was designed to be used with a burglar alarm or fire alarm, to place a call to a pre-designated number.

1959JanEE2The heart of the unit was the lever which went over the phone. In case of alarm, a solenoid released to let the phone off the hook. Then, the same lever was used to dial the phone by pushing the hook buttons. This was driven by the wheel shown here, which rotated thanks to a phonograph motor.

A bell or buzzer would sound over the phone, alerting the owner to the alarm.  The article did note that if the line was busy, the message would not go through.



1944 Locator Soldier

1944JanRadioNewsSeventy-five years ago this month, the January 1941 issue of Radio News showed this soldier, somewhere on the East Coast of the United States. The helmet and stethoscope-like attachment allowed him to listen for and trace the origin of sounds, such as approaching aircraft. The specially trained locator soldiers were required to have binaural hearing, meaning that they had the ability to trace the origin of sounds.



1939 Winking Radio

1939JanPSThe plans for this slightly creepy looking radio appeared in Popular Science 80 years ago this month, January 1939. Billed as an “ideal playroom radio,” the set contained two magic eye tubes that winked when the regenerative tuner was tuned to a station. The mouth served as tuning dial, with the nose taking care of volume.  The set used headphones “so it cannot disturb the rest of the household.”

The 6N5 magic eye tubes were used in the circuit, one as regenerative detector and one as audio amplifier. A type 37 tube was used as a rectifier.

As long as C6 didn’t short out, the set could provide hours of safe fun for the youngsters in the playroom.

1939JanPSschematic



1948 Apartment Antenna

1948DecRadioElec2Seventy years ago, W2YSF’s landlord didn’t allow an antenna on the roof of the ham’s Brooklyn apartment building, so improvisation was necessary.

He finally settled upon the design shown here for his 10 meter rig.  A telescoping antenna was mounted to a wooden bracket bolted to the window sill.  When it was time to get on the air, he swung the antenna outside and extended it.

The author notes that the same system should work well for 6 or 2 meters.

The design is shown in the December 1948 issue of Radio Electronics.

 



1958 Toy Telephone Radio

1958DecEE

We previously showed a 1947 radio built into a toy telephone.  The December 1958 issue of Electronics Illustrated improved upon the concept by turning the radio into a two-transistor model, complete with a tuning knob attached to the dial.  The radio switched itself on and off automatically thanks to a mercury switch installed in the receiver.

The two-transistor circuit “reflexed” one of the transistors by using it as both an RF and AF amplifier, allowing Junior to pull in all of the local stations with good volume.  And perhaps, if conditions were good, he might pull in an out-of-town station, or perhaps his deceased grandmother, as shown in the 1961 Twilight Zone episode shown here.

Billy's telephone just 14 years later. Coincidence?

1958DecEEschematic



1943 Life Magazine Electric Motor Project

1943Dec27LifeThis classic science fair project appeared 75 years ago today, in all places, in the December 17 1943 issue of Life magazine.

The magazine carried an article extolling the virtues of the nation’s then 200 million electric motors. It concluded with these plans for making one at home with only a wooden block, 5 paper clips, 13 thumbtacks, and a spool of enameled wire.

The old fashioned dry cell battery is a nice touch, but an alkaline D cell will work just as well.  For those who wish to bypass the parts procurement process, here is an available kit:



1948 Coin Operated Radios

1948DecRadioElecSeventy years ago this month, the December 1948 issue of Radio Electronics featured this serviceman’s account of his successful diversification into the coin-operated radio business.

While the author pointed out that potential markets included lunchonettes, beauty shops, and hospitals, he had so far exclusively provided radios to hotels.

While the radios were adjustable, the author had his set to play one hour for 25 cents. The average income from each set was about $3 per day, of which 25% was shared with the hotel owner.

To deal with the “familiar towel-and-soap stealers,” the set was fastened to a small table, which was in turn bolted to the floor. In addition, the author added a burglar alarm, which consisted of a microswitch in the radio’s case. If the radio was removed from the table, a bell would sound, and a lamp indicating the offending room would light in the manager’s office.