Category Archives: Radio history

Charles D. Tandy, 1918-78

1979MarEEForty years ago this month, the March-April 1979 issue of Elementary Electronics carried this tribute to Tandy Corporation founder Charles D. Tandy, who had died of a heart attack at the age of 60 in November 1978. Tandy was best known in the electronics world as having purchased the fledgling Boston Radio Shack chain in 1963. The author of the magazine was none other than Lewis Kornfeld, the president of Radio Shack both before and after Tandy’s purchase.

According to Kornfeld, nothing made Tandy angrier than empty hooks in the parts department. He questioned why there could be even a single out-of-stock item when “I’ve made your life simple by eliminating thousands of slow movers.”

Tandy got his start in the leather business, and while serving in the Navy during World War 2, he noticed sailors being taught knitting and needlepoint as part of their recuperation. He believed the men would prefer leatherwork, and established a system of craft work for the hospitalized men.

The author of the tribute took over Tandy’s role in the company. The company’s monthly flyers included a “Flyer Side Chat,” in which Kornfeld would offer his opinions on some subject of interest. Interestingly enough, most (or perhaps all) of the Flyer Side Chats have been collected into a single volume. In addition, students of marketing would be well advised to read Kornfeld’s classic, “To Catch a Mouse, Make a Noise Like a Cheese.”



Where Are the Radios in Manila?

1944FebServiceSeventy-five years ago this month, this ad in the February 1944 issue of Service magazine asked where all of the radios in Manila were.  The Japanese flag and soldier gave the answer, namely, that the invaders took them.

The ad noted that of all war weapons, radio was one of the most important. “it unites the free peoples in a common purpose and links them instantaneously with their Governments. It maintains the power to resist of the conquered. It unites and aims the hammer blows of armies.”

America had 59 million radios, and it was the patriotic duty of the radio serviceman to keep those receivers functioning. The reminder came from the Jackson Electrical Instrument Company of Dayton, Ohio, which provided the tools to do just that.



Citizens Radio Corp. Model 100-B, 1949

1949FebMarNRNShown on the cover of the February-March 1949 issue of National Radio News is the model 100-B citizen’s radio transceiver from the Citizens Radio Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio.  The set operated in the new Class B citizen’s radio service on 465 MHz, running an input of 3 watts with a 6K4 subminiature tube.  The superregenerative receiver used three 1V5 tubes.  The set itself weighed in at 11 ounces including antenna, but the total station equipment including batteries weighed 2-1/2 pounds.



RCA “The Floater” Radio 1969

RCAFloater1968Fifty years ago, the February 1969 issue of Popular Science showed “The Floater,” an AM radio in the shape of a buoy that, well, floated.

It was billed as being suitable for pools and lakes, or even the bathtub, but the magazine noted that it was not suitable for use in salt water.  The set sold for about $20.

If you’re looking for a modern replacement, the following radios available at Amazon have varying levels of water resistance.

 



1949 Television

1959FebPS11959FebPS2Seventy years ago, television was the center of every family’s interest, and the February 1949 issue of Popular Science provided numerous pointers on buying a set. As shown in the graphic here, a key concern was the size of the screen, which would limit the number of people who could watch. A hundred dollars would buy a 3-inch (diagonal) set, suitable for a single viewer. For two people, you could expect to pay $200 for a seven-inch set. And the most popular option for families was the 10-inch set, which would cost around $325.

The set was likely to need service, and the article recommended that a one-year guarantee would be worth any additional cost.



1959 Crystal Set Antenna

1959RadioTVexp2If the initial work is checked carefully, then this isn’t quite as bad an idea as it appears at first glance. This crystal set antenna appeared in Radio TV Experimenter in 1959. A six-foot cord is called for, and the conductor used for the antenna is not hooked to the power line. Instead, the six feet of parallel wire serve as a capacitive coupling to the live wire.



1959 Sleep Learning

1959FebPEThe February 1959 issue of Popular Electronics carried this handy device to facilitate sleep learning.  As a youth, my attempts at sleep learning were frustrated by (in addition to the fact that it apparently doesn’t work) that the only tape recorder I owned had a very limited amount of record time.  So chances are, the tape would have played to completion before I even fell asleep.  And it would play only a single time.

One of these devices would have solved that problem.  The exact details (as well as the price) were lacking, but the Electronic Educator, sold by the Sleep Learning Research Association of Olympia, Washington, allowed the use of a continuous tape cartridge with between 1 minute to 2 hours of tape.  In other words, the lesson would play all night, and you would wake up having mastered the material.

 



Electronics in the Classroom: 1959

1959FebRadioElec

The student and instructor shown here are demonstrating properties of sound, thanks in part to $300 million in federal funds made available to high schools by the Science Education Bill. The February 1959 issue of Radio Electronics gives some ideas of how electronic equipment can be worked into the curriculum. The article suggested that many phenomenon, such as sound, can be converted into electrical energy by appropriate transducers. Here, a scope, audio amplifier, and giant VTVM are used to demonstrate properties of sound.



RCA Model 97K2, 1939

1939Feb6LifeEighty years ago, people still dressed up to listen to the radio, as shown by this RCA ad from the February 6, 1939, issue of Life magazine. This listener is tuning in a standard broadcast station on her RCA model 97K2.  The set also tuned two shortwave bands, 2.3 – 7 MHz and 7 – 22 MHz, but we can see that she is pushing one of the six preset buttons, which were for the standard AM band. In fact, we see that she is pushing one of the two rightmost buttons, which could cover approximately 890-1500 kHz. The first two buttons could be set for 550-950 kHz, and the middle two buttons could be set for 690-1225 kHz.

The set had the following tube lineup: A 6K8 served as first detector and oscillator, with a 6K7 serving as IF amp. A 6H6 served as second detector and AVC, with a 6F5 and 6F6G as audio amplifiers. A 6U5 “magic eye” tube served as tuning indicator, and a 5Y5G in the power supply served as full-wave rectifier. The set featured a dynamic speaker.



1934 “Globe Trotter” Two Tube Regen

1934FebSWEighty-five years ago this month, the February 1934 issue of Short Wave Radio magazine carried the plans for this two tube (plus rectifier) receiver.  Dubbed the “Globe Trotter,” the set covered shortwave and the standard broadcast band thanks to plug-in coils.

The set used a type 57 tube as regenerative detector, with a type 2A5 tube serving as audio amplifier to drive a speaker. A type 80 full-wave rectifier rounded out the tube compliment.

The set would be difficult to duplicate today. It employs a transformer which is probably unobtainium. The hardest to find component might be the dynamic speaker. Instead of a permanent magnet, this type of speaker used a field coil, which magnetized the speaker, and also served as a filter inductor for the power supply.

1934FebSWschematic