Author Archives: clem.law@usa.net

British Two-Tube Easi-Build Receiver

Seventy years ago, the cover of the September 1954 issue of Radio Constructor carried the plans for this two-tube receiver, dubbed the Easi-Build. It was so named because, well, it was easy to build. The magazine noted that it often carried articles on how to build sophisticated test equipment and even televisions, but they received many letters letting them know there was a strong demand for a “simple receiver which may be constructed by the tyro who has little experience and few facilities.”

This set used a regenerative detector. It noted that was not really necessary for the local stations for which the set was designed, but might be helpful in some cases. It was strictly a local set. It was sensitive, and could be expected to pull in some continental stations. But the simple tuning arrangement meant that it might be hard to separate the weak stations. A four-foot antenna was said to be adequate for both the medium and the long waves, both of which were tuned on the same tuning range.

1954 Ship Radio

Seventy years ago, this mariner was placing a radio call from this well-equipped shipboard station. The transmitter is below deck, and shown on deck is the receiver and direction finder. The illustration appeared on the cover of the September 1954 issue of Radio-Electronics, which carried an article explaining how servicemen could take advantage of some recent FCC rulings to drive some business during the off season.

According to the magazine, the model in the photo is one Mary Gardner. She is apparently calling on the intership frequency of 2738 kHz, rather than the more congested 2638 kHz channel. The FCC had recently ruled that to use the 2738 frequency, the second harmonic (5476 kHz) radiation of the transmitter must be down 40 dB, whereas the requirements for other channels was somewhat more lax. This presented an opportunity for the radio man to add the additional channel, and the article showed some pointers on how to make sure the second harmonic was sufficiently suppressed, and how to measure it.

Answer to Yesterday’s Quiz

As promised, here’s the answer to yesterday’s quiz. As you see, once you see the trick, it’s quite easy. The three battery/bell pairs are wired in series. Buttons are wired to close the respective circuits. The quiz appeared in the September, 1924, issue of Science and Invention magazine.

Here’s a bonus question: How could you wire up another button that rings only bells 1 and 3?

Doorbell Quiz

This quiz appeared a hundred years ago this month in the September, 1924, issue of Science and Invention magazine. Can you figure it out? The answer will be posted tomorrow.

Delaporte Calendar, 1924

A hundred years ago this month, the September 1924 issue of Popular Science explained another concept that, it turns out, never caught on. In the early 20th Century, there were those who proposed simplifying the calendar. While there were other proposals, the Delaporte calendar is shown here, and the magazine predicted, incorrectly, it turns out, that it might go into effect by 1928.

The year was divided up into 13 months of 28 days each. Each started on a Sunday. The mathematically astute will realize that this only accounts for 364 days in the year. For that reason, one extra day, which had neither a month nor a day of the week assigned, was tacked on to the end. Every four years, a second such day would be tacked on at the end to account for leap year.

The idea obviously died out without many traces, but the League of Nations was exploring the idea as late as the 1930s. Their files on the subject are available for free download, and are interesting reading. A leading proponent of the idea was George Eastman.

A considerable part of those proceedings involve religious reaction to the idea. It appears that the Roman Catholic church was cool to the idea, but didn’t reject it out of hand. In America, most mainline protestant denominations had no objections, although Jews, Seventh Day Adventists, and Seventh Day Baptists expressed strong opposition.

Famous Reporters’ School: 1924

A hundred years ago this month, the September 1924 issue of Hugo Gernsback’s Science and Invention magazine carried this ad for The Press Guild, Inc. As you can see from the ad, your tuition of five dollars (if you act fast) will set you up as a reporter, earning between $40 and $125 per week. Or, you could increase your income materially as a correspondent for a newspaper or magazine writer.

You would learn at home, under the tutelage of one Henry J. Brockmeyer, on the editorial staff of the New York Evening Post. The six lessons would teach you what it would take years to learn working on a newspaper.

While Brockmeyer is put forward as the expert behind the school, this legal brief reveals that one of the principals of the school was none other than Sidney Gernsback, the older brother of the magazine’s publisher. (It takes pains to note, however, that Hugo was not connected with the business.)

It reminds us, for some reason, of the Ted Baxter Famous Broadcaster’s School. Of course, if you want to learn how to be a writer, we have previously provided advice, free of charge. And to add credibility to your new writing venture, we recommend that you buy one of the reporter’s notebooks shown here.

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Patton Bros, Benton Harbor, MI, 1949

Seventy-five years ago, these servicemen with the Patton Brothers firm of Benton Harbor, Michigan, speed up television repairs thanks to the use of modern test equipment. Because of the 6 MHz bandwidth of the TV signal, this includes the need for a sweep generator covering the entire TV broadcast range, with a sweep of at least 10 MHz.

The device is discussed in detail in the September 1949 issue of Radio News, on whose cover this illustration appears.

1944 British One-Tube Loudspeaker Set

Eighty years ago this month, the September 1944 issue of Practical Wireless showed how to build this simple one-tube loudspeaker set. The dual tube served as regenerative detector and audio amplifier, and the mediumwave set could pull in the Home Service, as well as possibly some stations on the continent.

1985 Grocery Prices

For a snapshot of grocery prices in 1985, this ad appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Septeber 4, 1985. A pound of ground beef was 85 cents, and bacon was $1.39 per pound. Cucumbers were five for a dollar, and five pounds of potatoes were $1.09. A package of frozen waffles was 79 cents.

Of course, there’s been a lot of inflation since then. According to this online calculator, one dollar in 1985 is the equivalent of $2.92 in 2024. To see comparable prices today, click the links above, which will show you the current prices on Amazon.