Eighty years ago, the construction details for this three-tube ultra midget receiver were found in the December 1945 issue of Practical Wireless.

The set was designed for size, and while it promised “reasonable reception” of the BBC Light and Home programs, the magazine made clear that “no exaggerated claims are made as to what may be expected.” The set, complete with batteries, measured only 5-3/4 x 4-3/8 x 2-3/4 inches, “so it can truly be claimed midget.” It was under two pounds, so “no one needs to grumble about carrying the set.” One space saving innovation was building a switch into the lid so that it opened whenever the lid was open.

The set had an internal frame aerial, but performance could be enhanced by tossing out few feet of wire.

Eighty-five years ago this month, the December 1940 issue of Radio Craft showed the newest idea to come to its attention, namely, this shoeshine boy who installed a radio inside his shoe-blacking case.  He could thus entertain both himself and his customer with some radio entertainment.

No technical details are given, although they should be pretty self-explanatory.  Just about any circuit powered by batteries and with a loudspeaker would be suitable

Shown here, all decked out for the holidays, on the cover of Radio News, December 1955, is the well equipped station of W9DW, who was undoubtedly a serious ‘phone man. The magazine contains technical details, courtesy of the Hallicrafters Company, of the commercially available single sideband (SSB) equipment which would soon change the ham bands.

The transmitter is a model HT-30, with 18 tubes (plus two rectifiers and one regulator). It starts out modulating a 50 kHz signal, which passes through three mixers to generate the desired frequencies. The receiver, while not identified in the article, appears to be an SX-100.

If you were a small broadcast station 80 years ago, you might be interested in knowing that you could purchase a Western Electric 451A-1 transmitter for immediate delivery. This ad appeared in the December 15, 1945, issue of Broadcasting. In addition to the broadcast band, it covered up as far as 2750 kHz, and ran from a single-phase 200-240 volt power supply, 50 or 60 Hz.

You can find the full specs and operating instructions at this link.

One hundred years ago, this family is enjoying a program on their new radio. It was probably a Christmas present, and it was undoubtedly a factory set.

The picture appeared on the cover of Radio In The Home, December 1925, and the magazine carried a feature discussing the relative merits of homemade sets and factory sets. It noted that even five years prior, most radios were of the homemade variety, often wound on an oatmeal canister. But just as America had moved from homemade clothing to store-bought clothes in the prior century, it was decidedly moving toward factory sets. But while the transition in clothing might have taken a couple of generations, it was much faster with radio. While most sets were homemade just a few years earlier, the factory set was decidedly more popular in 1925.

The magazine did note, however:

Of course, there is still another class of home-made set builders besides the amateur and the radio wizard. This group consists of the men to whom a kit of tools and a mess of radio equipment is the finest recreation. It is a matter of almost complete indifference whether the finished set is better, or even quite as good as that which could be bought. The important thing is the pleasure obtained in the building. To such radio construction “fans” (they are really not amateurs because the building, not the experimenting, is the game) we all extend our best wishes, for theirs is both a wholesome and instructive avocation. Most of us, are, however, of another type.

We, that is you and I and our wives, most especially our wives, want a fine cabinet suitable for the living room. Dealers and manufacturers know this. Their displays at the radio shows this winter are centered around such fine cabinet sets.

This is probably true of most of our readers. A kit of tools and a mess of radio equipment is the finest recreation. But we still want that fine cabinet in the living room.

Seventy years ago this month, the December 1955 issue of QST carried this item from Charles Atwater, W2JN, detailing his experience with what we would call today QRPP operation.  He put together a transistorized 80 meter transmitter employing a 2N113 transistor.  His first contact spanned 266 miles with 30 milliwatts, and was copied over 400 miles away.

He later made a two-way QRP contact with W2PEO, who was running 20 milliwatts.

The distance to W2PEO isn’t given, but his first contact with W1QGU was a respectable 8866 miles per watt.  If W2JN sounds familiar, it’s because we featured him previously for his construction of a transmitter in 1928.