Category Archives: Radio history

Willetta Huggins, 1922

1922JanPMA hundred years ago this month, the January 1922 issue of Popular Mechanics carried the curious tale of sixteen-year-old Willetta Huggins. She had been both deaf and blind for three years, but she was able to “hear” by placing her finger on the diaphragm of a telephone receiver. “With this discovery she soon learned that she could conduct a telephone conversation almost as well as any normal child of her age.”

The magazine recounted a demonstration in which she successfully received a message by wireless telephone, witnessed by a number of dignitaries including Wisconsin Governor John J. Blaine. For whatever it was worth, the magazine noted that the message had been sent on 800 meters (375 kHz), and received with an audion detector and 50 foot antenna.

She also reportedly had the ability to discern colors by smell. In one experiment recounted by the magazine, she was able to identify the colors of six samples of yarn, simply by smell. She was also able to identify the color of the Governor’s suit by smelling it.

But this isn’t the end of the story. According to the New York Times, she was pronounced cured in 1924, and regained her vision and hearing. She ascribed her cure to her Christian Science beliefs, and attested that she had been “completely and permanently healed.” Reportedly, as of 1970, she had changed her name and was working as a Christian Science healer in a midwestern city.



How to Fight Fire Bombs: 1942

1942Jan24RadioGuideEighty years ago today, according to the January 24, 1942, issue of Radio Guide, fire bombs were “ugly, dangerous weapons the enemy will eventually try to use right here in the U.S.A.” According to the magazine, hundreds of such bombs, each weighing only a couple of pounds, could carpet an area, causing particular damage if they hit the roof or attic of a building. Bing Crosby, therefore, took a few minutes out of the Kraft Music Hall program to allow Maj. John S. Winch to discuss how to deal with the threat.

The wrong thing to do was to hit them with water as soon as they landed, since the water would ignite the magnesium. It was necessary to wait about sixty seconds, and then if attacking it with a hose, to use a mist of water. The idea was to let the bomb burn out, and keep nearby material from catching fire. Buckets of sand stored at strategic locations were also indicated, according to the magazine.

This threat, of course, never materialized in the continental U.S.  For the closest thing to happen, be sure to read our four-part series on the Fu Go Fire Balloons.



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1942 Receiver/Phono Oscillator

1942JanPMradioEighty years ago, the January 1942 issue of Popular Mechanics showed how to put together this versatile circuit. It’s shown here serving as a phono oscillator, and can play records over the home radio. But it also served as a receiver for both the broadcast band and short waves. The set had a single coil, but it was tapped. For standard broadcast reception, the entire coil was used, but for short wave, most of the coil was shorted out. The set could drive a loudspeaker, although for shortwave use, high impedance headphones were recommended. A pilot light served as a fuse, to protect the tubes in case of short circuit.

1942JanPMradioschematic



1952 Hallicrafters VHF-FM Gear

1952JanQSTShown here is Hallicrafters’ foray into the world of land mobile radio, as set of FM transceivers for the low and high VHF bands. Models HT-21 and HT-22 were hand carried, and covered either 25-50 MHz or 150-174. Models HT-23 and HT-24 were base station transceivers for the same bands.

The ad here appeared in QST 70 years ago this month, January 1952. The prices weren’t given, but I suspect they were out of the price range for most hams, and hams didn’t even get on VHF FM in any numbers until similar equipment started to hit the surplus market a decade later. I suspect the ad was intended for hams who happened to be involved in purchasing for public safety or business radio systems, since they would probably find the Hallicrafters name impressive. A well financed Civil Defense department might consider these for their RACES operations, although most such activity took place on AM.

According to the specs, the sets didn’t even cover the 6 and 2 meter ham bands, although I’m sure most hams would have little difficulty bending them just enough. The low band models did cover 10 meters, so if the well heeled appliance operator could put one on ten meters with little difficulty, although it’s unlikely he would find anyone to talk to.



Quadrasonic Sound, 1971

1972JanElemElectIf I didn’t know better, I would think that this gentleman was putting a coiled up garden hose inside a speaker enclosure. Well, actually, he is putting a garden hose inside a speaker enclosure, as instructed by the January 1972 issue of Elementary Electronics. He wanted to enjoy quadraphonic sound, and thanks to the magazine, he was able to create quadrasonic sound using his existing stereo. The project shown in the magazine took its input from the speaker terminals of the existing stereo. It then created two new channels, adding a 15 millisecond delay to produce a realistic reverberation. This was accomplished by feeding the signal into the hose from an earphone, and picking it up at the other end with a crystal mike. The output (mixed with a non-delayed version) was then amplified and sent to the rear speakers.

According to the magazine, the result was the greatest home entertainment item since the invention of the crystal set, and would place the listener in a galaxy of surrounding sound and a listening wonderland.

If the general idea sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because you’ve seen a similar idea here before. When WBBM and KFAB wanted to synchronize their signals, WBBM had to build a delay into its transmission, and they accomplished this with a section of lead pipe.



Bomb Shelter Radio, 1942

1942JanRadioRetailerThe January 1942 issue of Radio Retailing stressed to its readers that their trade was an essential one. Radio was a necessity in every home, factory, office, and car. The radio dealer’s patriotic duty was to keep ’em working.

Here, the magazine notes that Americans might have need for bomb shelters, and a working radio would be an essential part of that shelter.



1947 2 kW Two Meter Transmitter

1947JanRadioNews1This mad scientist, shown in the January 1947 issue of Radio News is probably either George Floyd, W2RYT, or H. Donald Wells, W8LWD, drawing an arc from their newly constructed 1 kW transmitter for the then-new 2 meter band. They apparently didn’t worry too much about RF exposure back then, since he is drawing an arc from the antenna, which is mounted directly on the transmitter. In fact, the article points out that when making measurements of current and voltage in the transmitter, you shouldn’t leave the meters there too long, since they might be damaged by all of the RF that is floating around.

The transmitter is simplicity itself, employing two GL-592 pliotron tubes. According to the authors, the set oscillated the first time it was tried, and they were convinced that “only an order from the FCC would stop the oscillations.” There are few components, as you can see from the schematic below. Tuning was accomplished by adjusting plugs in inductors consisting of 15″ long half-inch copper pipe. It would probably be a good idea to wear thick gloves when making frequency changes, since the B+ was around 2500 volts.

1947JanRadioNews2

We should mention that kids should not build this transmitter at home. There are a number of obvious safety issues, such as the exposed high voltage and the high RF fields. In addition, it probably wouldn’t meet current FCC spectral purity rules. In other words, an order of the FCC has stopped the oscillations.



1947 GE Radios

Seventy-five years ago, the January 13, 1947, issue of Life magazine carried this ad showing General Electric’s radio offerings, especially its FM offerings, such as the model 417 console.

1947Jan13LifeSince there were still prewar FM stations on the air, the deluxe set tuned both FM bands, 42-50 MHz and 88-108 MHz. It also tuned two shortwave bands in addition to standard broadcast. The set’s ten tubes drove a 12 inch dynamic speaker.

The ad featured actress Virginia Mayo, who had most recently appeared in The Best Years of our Lives.



1942 Radio Repairman Short Story

1942JanRadioServiceDealer1This interesting short story appeared 80 years ago in the January 1942 issue of Radio Service Dealer. The story appeared in the magazine’s “Serviceman’s Diary” feature written by contributing editor John H. Potts.

The story must have been written days after Pearl Harbor, and the author is fantasizing about an air raid warning. Ordered to shelter by a police officer, a radio repairman found himself in front of a big apartment building. Somewhat counter-intuitively, he remembered that the safest place would be on the third or fourth floor, so he went to the third floor and rang the bell of the first apartment he saw. An attractive woman answered the door, and the story has its happy ending when she falls for him after he is able to fix the radio.

It’s an interesting prediction of home front life early in the war, and makes an interesting read:



Hoosier Radio Company, Indianapolis, 1922

Pembroke Arcade. Image, historicindianapolis.com.

Pembroke Arcade. Image, historicindianapolis.com.

1922Jan9IndianaA hundred years ago today, the January 9, 1922, issue of the Indiana Daily Times carried this feature describing a radio store, Hoosier Radio Company of Indianapolis.
RADIO CREATES NOVEL BUSINESS
Wireless Telephone and Telegraph Open New Field.

Radio telegraphy, which a few years ago was regarded by the general public as only for real experts when operated on a big scale, for youngsters to amuse themselves with on a small scale, now has come to assume an important place in the life of the community, and the radio telephone Is In far more general use than the average person realizes.

This new science, developed along lines all its own, has resulted in the growth of an entirely new business, the supply business for radio equipment, according to L. H. Smith, president of the Hoosier Radio Company, 108 Pembroke Arcade.

“When radio work was Just becoming popular users of equipment found it difficult in the extreme to buy supplies. Supplies of this character were handled by only a few shops as a sideline, the clerks knew very little about them and the technical nature of the equipment made it almost impossible for anyone not enthusiastic about radio work to deal
intelligently with the trade,” Mr. Smith said.

“This led me to establish a store handling nothing but supplies for radio telephone and radio telegraph equipment. My patronage comes from about every part of Indianapolis and Includes persons of all ages from the enthusiastic school boy to the business man, who is interested in radio work. I believe that at present there are more than 1,000 persons actively interested in radio work in this city and the number is steadily Increasing.

“There has been a genera! misunderstanding In the public mind as to the expense of a radio plant. Contrary to the general belief it is not at all prohibitory. A receiving set with a range of 4OO to 500 miles under favorable conditions may be purchased for $15, and no great amount of study is necessary to use these machines.

“Radio telephony is growing more popular every day, a popularity that is increased by the concerts sent out nightly by the Commonwealth-Edison Company of Chicago. These concerts are given by the Chicago Grand Opera Company and are heard in this city and all over the country. Dally concerts are sent out by the Westinghouse Company at Pittsburgh at the same time, and by simply tuning the instrument the owner of a wireless telephone plant has his choice of the music to which he desires to listen.”

The building in which this shop was located, shown above, the Pembroke Arcade, was located in downtown Indianapolis and built in 1895. It was what we would call today a shopping mall–an enclosed building with a large number of stores inside. It was torn down in 1943.