One hundred years ago today, the United States was close to declaring war, but it wasn’t the European war.  On March 9, 1916, Pancho Villa had raided Columbus, New Mexico.  Sixty to eighty of Villa’s men were killed, along with a dozen Americans.  President Wilson ordered 5000 American soldiers into Mexico as a punitive expedition to capture Villa.  By June, the state militias had been called up and sent to the border.

Among the skills desperately needed were telegraph operators, both landline and wireless. This item appeared in the Washington Times, June 19, 1916.

According to the article, the D.C. National Guard had a need for “men who can speak two languages that are not United States: the Morse code and the persuasive expletives that awaken the potential dynamic forces of the festive army mule.”

In other words, in addition to mule skinners, the Guard needed trained telegraphers. “The telegraph is playing an increasingly important part in the conduct of war, and the men in the telegraph corps of the signal company of the District national guard are given the best sort of inducements to join the organization.” The article noted that pay ran as high as $76 per month, “considerably more than men employed in similar work in civilian employments receive.”

In addition to landline telegraphers, the army needed radio men. “There are more than 250 amateur radio operators in Washington who are members of the national organization of wireless telegraph operators. Inducement have been offered a number of these men to join the national guard, and several inquiries were made today regarding the chances for radio work. It is understood that wireless equipment is much in use on the Mexican border.”

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Seventy-five years ago this month, QST carried plans for a two-tube “fool-proof rig for 80 and 40 meters.” The author, Don Mix, W1TS, noted that there were two competing factors in coming up with a design: On the one hand, the cost had to be kept low and the circuit be capable of easy construction. But on the other hand, ease of adjustment and operation was important for the beginner. Mix noted that many designs, usually one tube, had erred on the side of low cost, and could prove frustrating for the beginner to operate.

For that reason, Mix settled on this two-tube design using two 6V6’s, or two 6L6’s with a lower plate voltage. One was used as the oscillator with the second serving as final amplifier. This arrangement would keep the keying chirp-free, since the oscillator didn’t need to work at full power. And the final amplifier could be designed in such a way as to prevent parasitic oscillation without the need for the beginner to go through the process of neutralizing the final stage.

The resulting circuit is shown below. The author noted that construction on a metal chassis would be ideal, and took no more time or skill. However, metalwork might require tools not found in the average household, so he showed how to build the set with a wooden chasis, by mounting two 1×2 strips on top. They were spaced such that the sockets for the tubes, coils, and crystal could be mounted between them. The variable condensers could be mounted on the front panel.

He also included a diagram for a suitable power supply which could be built on a similar chassis.

The author was on the ARRL staff, and wrote a number of articles for QST. In 1968, he produced a somewhat updated version of a transmitter for the novice, and that design was later reprinted in “How To Become A Radio Amateur.”

Mix had been on the MacMillian polar expedition in 1923, operating station WNP aboard the Bowdoin. Commander McMillian had recognized the value of radio, but didn’t think that sufficient funds were available. At some point, he had spoken to Hiram Percy Maxim, who suggested that many amateurs would be eager to take part. Mix secured the slot, and operated a station provided by Zenith. On a weekly basis, he transmitted a 500 word press dispatch, handled other traffic, and transmitted a list of amateur calls heard from the Arctic.

As we recounted earlier, one staton who was able to maintain contact with the Bowdoin is a young Art Collins, 9CXX, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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Shown here on this day’s issue of Radio Digest ninety years ago, June 15, 1926, is Miss Fredda Josephine Brown, who was heard over the airwaves of who was heard over the airwaves of WDAF, Kansas City, Missouri.  The magazine noted that her beauty was equalled only by her versatility, since she was accomplished as a violinist and pianist, and also gave readings over the station. She was apparently still in high school at the time, since she  graduated in 1927 from Westport High School in Kansas City, which closed in 2010.

The station, “The Kansas City Star” signed on originally as experimental station 9XAB in 1922 at 833 kHz, and assumed the WDAF call letters later that year. It moved around the dial in the 1920’s, making appearances at 750, 730, 680, 820, and 810 kHz. According to the magazine, its wavelength in 1926 was 365.6 meters, or 820 kHz. In 1928, it moved to 610 kHz, where it was an affiliate of NBC.

In 2003, the station changed to a sports format and changed its call letters to KCSP. The original call letters are still used on FM and TV.

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Shown here on the cover of Radio Guide, June 6, 1936, is Chicago-based NBC radio actress Loretta Poynton Carroll, who performed under her maiden name. She originally planned for a career in legitimate theater, after her intense activity in school dramatics. However, because her mother was ill, she decided to look for work closer to home, and was hired by NBC. According to Radio Guide, she played the character Ruth Morrow in “Flying Time,” and the daughter in “Don Harding’s Wife.” She was later a regular on “Amos ‘N” Andy.”

She retired from Radio in the 1940’s, and died in 1992 at the age of 77 in Thiensville, Wisconsin, according to her obituary in the Chicago Tribune.

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Seventy-five years ago, this little radio would set you back exactly one dollar (along with an additional $29.95 purchase) at Wadlheim’s furniture store in Milwaukee. This ad appeared in the Milwaukee Journal, June 5, 1941.

It looks like a great bargain, and it probably was being sold below cost, but this radio is about as basic as they get.  While most table radios of the day were four or five tube superhets, this one was actually a two tube TRF receiver.  It would probably pull in the local stations, but even then, an external antenna would probably help it along considerably.  You can see a nice example of this patriotic little set at the Radio Attic, with more discussion at this forum.  As can be seen at those links, the white set has red and blue knobs for the full patriotic effect.

The set is identical to the Emerson model CF-255 “Emersonette” from 1939, and uses a 12B8GT serving as RF amplifier and detector, with a 32L7GT audio amplifier.  The 32L7GT also contains the rectifier.  The filament voltage is courtesy of a curtain burner line cord, in addition to another fixed resistor in series.

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