Category Archives: Radio history

1921 Printing Radiotelegraph

1921JanPScodereaderThis gentleman, shown in the January, 1921, issue of Popular Science, wasn’t a QRQ operator, but he was still able to copy even the fastest radiotelegraph stations thanks to this device developed by William G. Finch of Buffalo, New York.  Instead of the familiar buzz in the headphones, the code was rendered as dots and dashes printed on paper tape, which could be read at the operator’s leisure.  The device employed an ultra-sensitive relay along with an “ordinary printing telegraph machine.”

The “ordinary printing telegraph machine” had actually been around for quite some time, since the first telegraphs were designed to print the dots and dashes, rather than be copied aurally.  It was later discovered that the operators could hear the letters as they came in, and that became the norm.



Ernest Sperling, 9BBF, W9BKX

1921Jan26NewUlmThis article appeared a hundred years ago today, in the January 26, 1921 issue of the New Ulm (MN) Review.

HEARS CONCERTS OVER WIRELESS

ERNST SPERLING LISTENS TO MUSIC PRODUCED IN MASSACHUSSETS

TONAL QUALITY AS GOOD AS IF RENDERED IN SAME ROOM HE SAYS

Listening to a high class phonograph concert being rendered in far off Massachusetts while comfortably seated your New Ulm home is one of the joys of life not accorded to all of our citizens, but one of our well-known young men enjoys this entertainment frequently, sometimes twice and three times a week. This young man is Ernst Sperling, son of Prof. and Mrs. J. E. Sperling, who has a modernly a completely equipped wireless telegraph apparatus installed the home of his parents on [21] South Jefferson street.

Special Apparatus Needed.

A special apparatus, known as the audion receiving set, is necessary to receive music by wireless. This apparatus is more sensitive and of a better grade than the regular wireless receiving instrument. There is very little electrical energy used in transmitting music waves by wireless, so that the detector must be unusually sensitive, or the other tones will not be clear. Another important factor in the transmission of music via wireless is the prevailing weather conditions. If the air is clear and quiet, with no perceptible wind, the music is much more audible and there is no rising or falling of the tone During a wind that is strong enough to sway the antenna the music sounds as if it were being played on a phonograph, the modultor of which is being changed constantly.

News Every Night.

Mr. Sperling spends a considerable part of his spare time evenings at his wireless instrument and receives many messages containing accounts of important happenings not only in this country but abroad also. One of the principal sources of this in formation is the big wireless station on Arlington Heights, near Washington, D. C., from which such messages are sent out every evening. He also receives messages from commercial stations every section of the United States, the most distant one being located in Alaska.

“Connect” With Europe.

Mr Sperling is at present working on a large receiving set, which, when completed, will enable him to get wireless messages direct from Europe, thus enlarging the scope of his wire less work. Quite a number of interested New Ulmites have visited the Sperling home to view the young man’s wireless apparatus and have him explain its workings.

Later in the year, the newspaper’s June 1, 1921, edition reported that young Mr. Sperling had agreed to supply farm market reports to the telephone company, which made them available to local farmers.

Sperling is listed in the 1922 callbook as being licensed as 9BBF (with his name spelled Ernest). His father, Prof. J.E. Sperling of Dr. Martin Luther College is listed in this yearbook as a Pastor Emeritus of the Joint Wisconsin Synod of the Lutheran Church.

In the 1937 callbook, Ernest is listed as one of two licensees, along with one Victor H. Schleuder, as licensee of W9BKX of 313 S. State St., New Ulm. He is listed in the 1940 census as living at 21 South Franklin.

 



Print Your Own Postcards: 1951

1941JanRadioRetailingA80 years ago, the small retailer, such as a radio dealer, would probably find this to be a very economical way to advertise. For $8.50, he would get everything necessary to print postcards himself, and then he could mail them out for one cent.

The device is a small mimeograph, or stencil duplicator.  The mimeograph should not be confused with the spirit duplicator, or ditto machine, although it often is.  The mimeograph used a stencil, a thin membrane which was physically cut by a typewriter without a ribbon.  The ink was forced through the resulting holes, making a very good image.

This inexpensive model was smaller than most, but could print a postcard in much the same way that one would use a rubber stamp.

If you’re looking for another antique method of printing, check out my hectograph page.

The ad appeared 70 years ago this month in Radio Retailing magazine, January 1951



1951 Arvin Model 4162 CM Console TV

1951JanRadioTVRetailingThis ad for Arvin Television appeared seventy years ago this month in the January 1951 issue of Radio & Television Retailing.

It highlights their top-of-the-line console, the 16 inch model 4162 CM, which retailed for $349.95 (or an extra $20 for a blond cabinet), plus federal excise tax and warranty. Other sets started at $129.95, and the ad reminded dealers that the company had America’s most complete radio line, starting at $15.95, all of which rolled off the assembly line of Arvin Industries, Inc., of Columbus, Indiana.



1946 Radio Listings

1946Jan23WashEveStarIf you had tuned in on the radio in Washington 75 years ago today, January 23, 1946, here is what you would have heard, according to that evening’s edition of the Washington Evening Star.



1971 Two Transistor Transmitter

1971JanEIFifty years ago this month, the January 1971 issue of Electronics Illustrated carried the plans for this transistorized CW transmitter for 40 and 80 meters. The magazine noted that even though transistors had caught on for many electronic applications, tubes were still the most common for transmitters, due not only to the high cost of RF transistors, but also due to output impedance matching problems.

The design solved these problems by using high voltage transistors originally intended for audio amplifiers running off 117 volts. These allowed high impedance matching with the pi-net antenna tuner that hams were accustomed to.

The transmitter used two RCA 40321 transistors, which still seem to be available as New Old Stock (NOS) items. They were run in parallel as a Colpits oscillator. The heat sinks of the small transistors were mounted to a piece of aluminum mounted below the main chassis, which had holes drilled to allow the transistors to cool.  The transmitter had an input power of 17 watts.

1971JanEI2



Taking Requests by Signal Lamp: 1946

1946Jan21BC

WW2-era signal lamp. Wikipedia photo.

The taking of requests has been a long-standing tradition in the broadcasting industry. Most typically, the requests come in by phone, but other methods are possible, as shown in this item from Broadcasting magazine 75 years ago today, January 21, 1946.

WXLH, the Armed Forces Radio Service station in Okinawa, which had come on the air on May 17, 1945, carried a request program, originally slated to run 45 minutes six nights a week. The program was widely popular with servicemen, and requests poured in by telephone, teletype, mail, and in person.

Awase Mudflat Okinawa.jpg

Buckner Bay. Wikipedia image.

Left out, however, were the sailors on the hundred or more ships anchored in Buckner Bay. To accommodate them, on Christmas, some of the station’s engineers rigged up a 500 watt bulb on a stand and pointed it toward the bay. They blinked out a message that the station would be happy to take Navy requests as well.

The sky lit up within minutes with beams of light crisscrossing the horizon. AFRS and Signal Corps men dotted the hillsides and took down the requests.



1941 Inagural

1941InnaguralParade1941Innagural2Eighty years ago today, NBC Radio covered the third inagural of FDR with the help of a 25 watt FM transmitter. During the parade, receivers atop the Washington Monument and the dome of the Capitol. The pickup at the Washington Monument is pictured here, and clearly features a National HRO receiver not unlike the model we previously showed.

This item appeared in the January 27, 1941, issue of Broadcasting, which also carried the item at left detailing the work of radio amateurs from the Washington Radio Club. The hams handled 509 pieces of traffic for Red Cross first aid teams with battery-powered 2-1/2 meter radios.



1930 Car Radio

1930JanPMIn 1930, this gentleman, Popular Mechanics writer Allen C. Forbes, was undoubtedly the first on his block to have a car radio in his 1929 Nash. It took him two years of experimentation to finally succeed, but succeed he did, and he reported that the set furnished pleasure to himself during the day and to his family when out for an evening ride.

He reported that the biggest problems were ignition noise and lack of a good antenna and ground. Ignition noise was solved by suppressors in the ignition line and a well shielded set. For an antenna, he settled upon a screen mounted under the car’s fabric roof. He reported that with a set of six or more tubes, he could get good loudspeaker volume 100-150 miles away from a station.

Grounding was very difficult, because he used the car’s battery as the A battery, but the car had a positive ground, while the radio had negative ground. The set’s ground connection was not used, and the set was mounted with great care so that no part of the metal chassis or case touched the car chassis. The B and C batteries were mounted in an extra battery box. A plug-in cable was fabricated to facilitate easy removal of the radio from the car.

The radio was an Atwater-Kent model 35 with 3 RF stages, detector, and 2 audio stages. He noted that it was essential that a set with a metal cabinet be used, and that the set needed plenty of RF stages to offset the short antenna. Tet was mounted in the car upside down, and he noted that it was a good idea to solder the tubes into their sockets, especially if the car wasn’t equipped with shock absorbers.

The article appeared in the January 1930 issue of Popular Mechanics.



1921: New Transcontinental Radio Record

1921Jan19WashStarThis item appeared a hundred years ago today, January 19, 1921, in the Washington Evening Star:

RADIO RECORD IS MADE.

Civilian Message, Coast to Coast, and Reply in 6 1-2 Minutes.

HARTFORD, Conn., January 19.–A new civilian wireless record was established when Hiram Percy Maxim sent a message from his station here to Los Angeles, Calif., and received a reply 6-1/2 minutes later. The messages were relayed by stations at Chicago and Roswell. N. M.

Tests under the auspices or the American Radio Relay League, of which Mr. Maxim is president, have been made for four nights. It was announced the preceding day that a message had been sent to Los Angeles from this city and a reply received in 1 hour and 8 minutes, a new civilian mark for cross-continent wireless relay. The former record was said to have been 1 hour and 20 minutes, established four years ago by the Maxim station.

Amateur radio operators In all parts of the country sent messages of congratulations to Maxim when they learned through their wireless sets of the new record.