Shown here is one of the first portable radios, from a hundred years ago. The editors of the September 1921 issue of Popular Mechanics were apparently a little bit unclear on what to call it, so they settled on “phonographic suitcase.” But it’s really a six-tube TRF portable radio receiver, conveniently mounted in a suitcase.

The magazine noted that music by wireless was nothing new, but up to that point, it had been necessary to go to a receiving station to hear it. But now, the receiving station could be carried about to where it was needed. The set weighed in at barely 30 pounds, which included everything including two 1.5 volt A batteries and two 20 volt batteries to supply the B+.

The inside of the cover was a receiving coil with 21 turns of 28 gauge wire. At the bottom was a horn coupled to a telephone receiver, which presumably supplied room-filling volume from stations within about eight miles. Once tuned, the set performed while closed. A button near the handle was turned, and this was connected to the inside switch. The only opening to the outside world was the opening for the horn, shown at left.

Sixty years ago, this young woman undoubtedly had the smallest radio receiver on her block, thanks to her steady hand and attention to detail in putting together a five-transistor superhet from the plans in the magazine, Radio-Electronics from September 1961.

All of the electronics were packed into the headphone case, meaning that the builder had to think in terms of three dimensions. The larger components were carefully glued together, and then the electrical connections were carefully soldered. The tuning dial was directly opposite the earphone, and the set ran on two button-style mercury batteries, which were said to be good for 25 hours of operation. The set would easily pull in the strong local stations, and with just a couple inches of wire hanging out to serve as an antenna, weaker stations could be heard.

There was a time a hundred years ago when physicians knew Morse code, as shown here in the August 1921 issue of Popular Mechanics. The magazine explained that physicians and others who had to stay in close contact with home could install this wireless telegraph receiving set in their car.

The set was said to have a range of five miles and rested on the back seat cushion. The antenna was four loops of wire around the top of the car.

A hundred years ago today, radio amateurs were making their way to the Windy City for the first national convention of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), held at Chicago’s elegant Edgewater Beach Hotel. The occasion was a momentous one, and the following account was carried in the August 29, 1921, issue of the Washington Herald under the heading “Scientific Notes and Comment”:

FIRST NATIONAL RADIO CONVENTION THIS WEEK

From 2000 to 3000 radio operators and engineers from all parts of the country are expected to attend the first national convention and radio show of the American Radio Relay League in Chicago, August 30 to September 3.

The program Includes papers and entertainments of a novel character, and the latest improvements in commercial and experimental wireless apparatus will be shown at the exhibition.

Secretary of Commerce Hoover [whose son, W6ZH, would go on to become the organization’s President in 1962] will send a radio message to the convention, which will be transmitted from the Postoffice radio station In Washington to Cincinnati and then relayed to Chicago, where it will be received in code in a loud-speaking telephone. Each radio enthusiast, in true operator style, will take down in writing the greeting as it is received. Secretary Hoover is the Cabinet officer who administers the government radio in this country through the Department of Commerce Bureau of Navigation.

Rear Admiral W. H. G. Bullard, in charge of wireless for the navy, will be present at the convention.

Several Washington radio men expect to attend the convention as representatives of the local radio club.

QST, October 1921.

The main exhibition hall, located at the nearby Broadway Armory is shown in this grainy photo, the caption of which notes that most attendees were at dinner when the picture was taken.

An extensive writeup of the event can be found in the October 1921 issue of QST, and there is additional material at the ARRL website.
QST reported that the delegates in attendance greeted Secretary Hoover’s radiotelegraph message with cheers:

The Department of Commerce is by the authority of Congress, the legal Patron Saint of the Amateur Wireless Operators. Outside of its coldly legal relations the Department wishes to be helpful in encouraging this very important movement. I am asking Mr. Terrell, the head of our Radio Division, to go to Chicago to learn from you where the Department can be of service.

–Herbert Hoover

As promised, here are the answers to yesterday’s quiz.  They appeared in the September 1961 issue of Radio-Electroincs.

These two quizzes appeared 60 years ago in the August 1961 issue of Radio Electronics.

We’re confident that most of our readers can figure them out. If not, we’ll post the answers tomorrow. If these look vaguely familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen them here before. The first “black box” quiz is very similar to a circuit we showed previously from October 1956 QST. And the second one with resistors is almost identical (only the values have changed) to the one we previously showed from the January 1957 issue of QST.

The 1961 answers (which are similar to the 1956-57 answers) will appear here tomorrow.

FM stereo is 60 years old this year, and 60 years ago this month, the August 1961 issue of Radio Electronics carried an update on the status of FM stereo broadcasting. The format had been approved by the FCC on April 19, 1961, and the first station to start stereophonic broadcasting was GE-owned WGFM in Schenectady, NY, followed soon by Zenith’s WEFM in Chicago.

FM stations were free to start stereo service whenever they wanted, as long as they used approved equipment and gave the FCC 10 days’ notice. But the magazine noted that due to shortages of equipment, there would only be 20-25 stations on the air before the end of the year.

The magazine was advertising a few stereo receivers, and the article noted that there were two ways to get stereo. Some receivers had been constructed with multiplex inputs, and the manufacturers were tooling up to produce adapters. However, in most cases, it would be necessary to use an adapter from the same manufacturer.

Table model receivers were also soon available. The magazine predicted that FM stereo would not mean the end of monophonic FM. In fact, the additional demand for FM stereo would probably add interest to FM in general, to the benefit of stations broadcasting in mono.