Eighty-five years ago today, the October 15, 1939, issue of Broadcasting magazine carried this ad for the Green Hornet. The radio program had originated three years earlier on Detroit station WXYZ, and was carried on various networks over the years. This ad indicates that it was in syndication in 1939, with its roots still in Detroit. The ad promised a movie to be released soon, and it was indeed serialized in the 1940s.

The Green Hornet was actually the great nephew of the Lone Ranger, who also got his start on WXYZ.

Shown here from 75 years ago is the Heathkit All-Wave Radio. While the ad does not specify the model number, it is the Model K-2, which had recently replaced the similar K-1 which came out the previous year. The set runs on AC power, using one 1626 triode as the rectifier, and a second 1626 as regenerative detector. The 12A6 amplifies the audio to power either headphones or speaker (the only components you need to buy separately, as everything else is included).

There’s a very informative article at the Orange County Amateur Radio Club website by AF6C. At that site, you can find a schematic and more information. The ad shown here is from Heath’s October 1949 flyer.  The ad notes that the set can be built by either adults or boys–it apparently didn’t occur to them that a girl might want to build one. It had been successfully constructed by 10 year old boys and was billed as a great start in radio. Boys would enjoy it for years, and it had the added benefit of keeping the family radio for adult programs, while Junior listened to what he wanted.

It covered 550 kHz to 6 MHz, apparently with a single plug-in coil.  It sold for $8.75 plus shipping, which works out to $115.73 in 2024 dollars.  But chances are, Mom and Dad would be willing to cash in a war bond if it meant freeing up the family radio.

Sixty years ago this month, the October 1964 issue of Radio Experimenter reviews the large number of 6 and 2 meter transceivers available to the ham. The article is penned by Tom Kneitel.  He begins by noting that even those who view CB radio as a blight on society have to admit that there was a bright side.  The concept of the transceiver–a combination transmitter and receiver–predated the CB craze.  But the idea really caught on after CB manufacturers started cranking them out.

Hams were the beneficiaries, since the article gave details of many such units in production, from manufacturers such as Clegg, Gonset, Heath, Lafayette, Olson, Utica, and World Radio.

Eighty-five years ago, this young man is making the final tuning adjustments for the one-tube radio he built from plans in the October 1939 issue of Popular Mechanics.

The set was simplicity itself, but it boasted a loudspeaker and AC power, so there was no need to mess around with headphones or a B battery. It was really a crystal set, with a fixed crystal detector. The single tube was a 25A7GT, which combined a pentode AF amplifier with a rectifier. Of course, it had a hot chassis and the familiar “curtain burner” cord to power the filaments.

It was best suited to tune permanently to the same local station. It wouldn’t tune the entire broadcast band without changing the fixed capacitor in parallel with the tuning capacitor, and tuning was very broad. But if you wanted to listen to a local station with loudspeaker volume, the simple design couldn’t be beat.

Eighty-five years ago this month, the September 1939 issue of Radio Craft carried the plans for this receiver, which the magazine dubbed the tiniest ham receiver.

The three-tube (including rectifier) set had a regenerative detector and one stage of audio amplification to drive a set of headphones. It tuned 9.5 through 700 meters with a set of six coils, meaning that it tuned the entire shortwave spectrum, the broadcast band, and could even pull in SOS calls on 600 meters (500 kHz).

As with many of these designs, it featured a hot chassis, so care must be taken before plugging it in to the power socket.