One hundred years ago today, 13-year-old Grace Weaver of Oakwood Village, Ohio, near Dayton, made the front pages by putting together her own five-tube neutrodyne radio. On her first night, she pulled in Los Angeles.
She is shown here on the front page of the Radio section of the Indianapolis Times, January 29, 1925.
Sixty years ago, the January 1965 issue of 73 Magazine showed how to make this simple Grid Dip Oscillator (GDO or “Grid Dipper”.)
The GDO is handy for quickly measuring the resonant frequency of a tuned circuit or of an antenna. The GDO’s coil is exposed, and it’s poked into the coil of the circuit in question. For an antenna, a small loop of wire attached to the antenna goes around the coil. The frequency is adjusted, and at the resonant frequency, the meter showing the grid current drops precipitously. If you need the exact frequency, you can find the signal of the GDO on a receiver, or use a frequency counter.
This example uses a 3S4 tube, and has the convenience of being able to run from batteries. Of course, these days, the same thing can be done with transistors. Even though transistors have no grid, many old timers still refer to the instrument as a Grid Dipper. Hams these days are more likely to use an antenna analyzer, but the Grid Dipper gets the job done in an elegant analog fashion.
Eighty years ago, there was still a war going on, and hams were off the air for the duration. But more than a few of them were itching to get back on the air as soon as possible, and one of them was apparently Sheldon W. Gates, W8VWK, who designed this portable station, described in the January 1945 issue of QST.
The three-band (80, 40, and 20 meters) station was housed in a small vanity case which measured 11.5 by 6.5 by 7 inches, and which set him back $2.49. He originally considered designing the set for battery operation, but since he described himself as a city boy who rarely went farther than the power lines, he settled on AC power. The transmitter used a single 117N7 tube, and the receiver was a three-tube Meissner Student Midget Kit that he cut down to fit the available space. Since the receiver used 1 volt tubes, he included a dry cell to run those filaments.
The cover of the case included plenty of room for logbook, key, crystals, and headphones. At the end of the article, he reminded readers that the transmitter could not be operated on the air at the present time.
For many radio hobbyists, this could very well have been the first transistor radio they had ever seen. The invention of the transistor was announced in 1948, and the first commercial example to hit the market was the Raytheon CK-703 later that year. The January 1950 issue of Radio News showed how to build this project, a crystal receiver, with three stages of audio amplification, courtesy of the new “crystal triodes.”
The new transistors resembled miniature tubes, and required sockets. The collectors and emitter terminals had pins, and the base connection was to the brass case of the device. Sockets had not yet hit the market, so the builder, Rufus Turner, K6AI (earlier W3LF), had to fabricate them himself.
He noted that the set would not drive a loudspeaker, but would “give a walloping good signal in high-impedance headphones.” He noted that “enterprising radio men undoubtedly will find a host of applications for this device.”
Turner is said to be the first African-American licensed amateur radio operator. He had no formal education in electronics, but managed to achieve Professional Engineer status in two states. He was involved in the development of the 1N34 diode with Sylvania. When he did go to college in the late 1950s, he received his degrees in English and became a professor of English at California State College, although he continued to publish in electronics.
One hundred years ago this month, this couple were enjoying some dance music courtesty of their Paragon receiver. In this ad in the January 1925 issue of Radio Retailing, the manufacturer, Adams Morgan Co., 14 Alvin Ave., Upper Montclair, NJ, reminded retailers that if they were not featuring Paragon, they were missing out on profit opportunities.
Shown here, at the reins, is 73 Magazine publisher Wayne Green, operating some six-meter mobile. Seated next to him, in the raccoon coat, is Bob Cushman of Cushcraft, the maker of the Squalo antenna. Pulling the duo is Arabian stallion Alrun, said to be the pride of 73 farms.
The photo, taken by K2YDD, appeared on the cover of 73 Magazine, January 1965.
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Inauguration day 2025 marks a hundred years of the broadcast of presidential inaugurations. In 1925, the inauguration still took place on March 4 (the change to January 20 came in 1947), but on that day, an estimated 22 million Americans tuned in to hear Calvin “Silent Cal” Coolidge be sworn in and address the nation.
Among the listeners were millions of schoolchildren, whose classrooms had recently been equipped with radio receivers.
The broadcast also marked the first time that an address by the President was broadcast in a foreign country. WBZ Boston carried the broadcast with a telephone connection to Washington. Its signal was in turn picked up by CKAC in Montreal, which broadcast the entire proceeding. The fact is noted in this clipping from the Washington Evening Star, March 5, 1925.
Of course, loyal readers will remember that Charles Dawes, the first Native American to hold the office of Vice President, and the first Vice President to write a Top 40 song, was also sworn in that day.
One recurring theme during World War II was converting a car radio to operate indoors. This was because there was a shortage of receivers, due to production being stopped. And with gas and tire rationing, the car radio wasn’t getting much use. So it was only logical to bring it inside, and that’s what this gentleman was doing, following some pointers found in Popular Science for January 1945, eighty years ago this month.
The article discussed such things as replacing the speaker, since the car radio probably employed a 6-volt field coil, and it was easier to get a permanent magnet speaker. And, of course, a bit of rewiring would be necessary to get it to run off household current. The antenna was the easy part, since the car radio required only a short piece of wire.
Eighty years ago, the January 16, 1945, issue of Broadcasting put forth this idea that apparently never went anywhere. Suggested by one Joseph R. Spadea, the idea was that instead of carving up radio time into blocks of 15 or 30 minutes, blocks of 10 and 20 minutes could instead be used. The author noted that some 30 minute programs seemed to drag on a bit too much, and this could tighten things up.
1940 was one of those times when people dressed up to listen to the radio, especially if the radio came from Admiral. This two-page spread from the January 1940 issue of Radio Retailing
shows that company’s offerings in table radios, including both broadcast sets, and also two-band sets covering the short waves.
Broadcast sets started for only $9.95, and a shortwave set would set you back only $12.95. Most sets offer “television sound,” meaning only that they had an audio input jack on the back that could supposedly be hooked to a future television. All of the sets tuned up to 1730 kHz on the AM dial, meaning that they could pick up many police calls.
Shown in the ad are Admiral models 13-C5, 14-C5, 20-A6, 21-A6, 22A-6, 23-A6, 15-B5, 17-B5, 18-B5, 396-6M, 397-6M, 398-6M, 399-6M, and 25-Q5.
