Shown here (at right) is the appropriately named Mr. R.F. Field, a radio engineer with General Radio Company. The photo appeared 75 years ago this month in the June 1945 issue of General Radio Experimenter, a monthly publication put out by the company.
Shown here is the Class of ’20 (1920, that is) who graduated from the Furness School of Philadelphia on this day a hundred years ago, June 22, 1920. These girls are performing the “Welcome to Summer” dance as part of the commencement exercises, and this picture appeared in the next day’s issue of the Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger.
Since the school was a junior high at the time, these were probably eighth graders, probably born in about 1906. Their older brothers very well might have gone to war, and we hope that most of them came back to attend the graduation.
A few years after this picture was taken, their families probably got their first radio. They were 23 years old when the stock market crashed, and they lived through the depression as young adults. Then, another war came. They were a little too old to go to war, and most of their children were too young. All of them, boys and girls, undoubtedly fought on the Homefront.
When they were in their 40s, they saw their first television, and probably bought one soon thereafter. They worked hard and retired with more wealth than their parents. A handful of them bought a computer and sent e-mails to their grandchildren. A few of them lived to see 9/11 on their television screen.
Welcome to Summer, Class of ’20.
A few weeks ago, I recorded this message to the Class of 2020:
Sixty years ago this month, the June 1960 issue of the British magazine Radio Constructor carried the plans for this four-tube superhet portable, dubbed by the magazine “The Regent.” The set tuned both the longwave and mediumwave broadcast bands, and was said to be sensitive. The set was easy to construct, thanks to the use of a printed circuit board.
For those who needed help tracking down all of the parts, one of the magazine’s advertisers, Radio Component Specialists, 337 Whitehorse Road, West Croydon, had them advertised, and they could be purchased as a complete kit, or separately.
In June 1941, the U.S. had not yet entered the war, but 50 million Ken-Rad tubes had already enlisted. This ad appeared in the June 1941 issue of Service magazine.
Vera Lynn. Photo, Practical Wireless, June 1938.
We are sad to report that Vera Lynn has died at the age of 103. She was known in Britain as the “Forces’ Sweetheart” for her songs that helped raise morale during World War 2. Her most famous recording was “We’ll Meet Again,” which was recently echoed by Queen Elizabeth II in her address to her subjects about the coronavirus.
I don’t know if they’re on the beach at Benton Harbor, but seventy years ago this month, this couple were listening to some entertaining program on a radio built into a metal lunch box, as described in the June 1950 issue of Popular Mechanics.
The set was a four-tube superheterodyne, with a 67.5 volt battery supplying the B+ and 3 flashlight batteries in parallel lighting up the filaments. Perhaps the set served as inspiration for the famous Gilligan’s Island radio, as it featured a telescoping whip antenna attached to one side of the internal antenna coil. The built-in antenna was said to pull in local stations, and with an outdoor antenna, even distant stations would supply loudspeaker volume.
The finished set had a professional look thanks, in part, to a dial scale printed in the magazine. For the finishing touch to the set, the dial could be cut out of the magazine and cemented to the case.
Eighty years ago this month, this father-son team lived in an area with poor ground conductivity due to dry sandy soil. Undaunted, they still managed to hook up a good ground for their radio, thanks to this self-explanatory helpful hint from the June 1940 issue of Popular Mechanics. The funnel is permanently soldered to the pipe serving as ground rod. Therefore, whenever the ground conductivity gets poor, it’s a simple matter to pour in some water and squeeze the last mho out of the soil.
If the idea sounds familiar, it’s probably because you previously saw it here.
A hundred years ago this month, the June 1920 issue of Electrical Experimenter showed this ingenious metal detector. Like most metal detectors, it relies upon the inductance of a coil increasing in the presence of metal.
This one uses two identical coils. A buzzer is pulsing a voltage through them, but they are wound such that they are 180 degrees out of phase. Thus, the two signals will cancel out, and nothing will be heard through the headphones. But if one of the coils comes near metal, the inductance changes, and the two signals no longer cancel out. Thus, the buzzing can be heard through the headphones.
The circuit was said to be able to detect a one square foot piece of iron down five feet, or a quart of washers a foot down.
Field Day 1940 should give some inspiration to those who are operating Field Day 2020.
Eighty years ago, the U.S. was still 18 months away from being drawn into the war, but the subject was on the mind of the FCC. Amateur radio operators were not silenced until Pearl Harbor, but there were already restrictions in place, as described in the June 15, 1940, issue of Broadcasting magazine.
The magazine noted that non-essential services, such as amateur, experimental, and special private radio might be curtailed or shut down due to wartime conditions. On June 5, 1940, the FCC banned all amateur communications with hams in foreign countries.
On June 7, the FCC banned portable and mobile operations with a couple of exceptions. First of all, such operations were allowed above 56 MHz, the thinking being that there was little threat from these line-of-sight signals.
Operators at W8QLU/8 getting ready to launch a balloon-supported antenna, Field Day 1940. Photo, QST for December 1940.
In addition, there was a blanket exception allowed for stations participating in the 1940 ARRL Field Day, which the magazine described as “tests of portable transmitters designed for special use in time of emergency.”
Despite the restrictions, hundreds of ham stations took part in Field Day. One of the high scores was from the St. Paul (MN) Radio Club, W9KYC/9, which made 505 contacts on all bands from 160 to 10 meters. 228 of those contacts were with other Field Day stations, the rest presumably being with home stations.
This year again, Field Day is subject to emergency restrictions, and many of the large multi-transmitter operations will be off the air. Despite initially saying that they weren’t going to do so, the ARRL finally relented and will allow points for contacts between home stations operating with commercial power.
While this rule change is understandable, it would seem odd to stay home and get on the air, while pretending to be in a Field somewhere. While many hams won’t be able to do Field Day this year in the normal fashion, they can operate in an honest-to-goodness Field if they use a bit of creativity.
In 1940, despite a war looming and government restrictions, at least 228 groups of hams were able to lug their bulky transmitters, receivers, and generators to remote locations and get on the air.
One of the purposes of Field Day, then and now, is “tests of portable transmitters designed for special use in time of emergency.” This year, there’s an actual emergency going on. But despite that actual emergency, there’s nothing stopping hams from taking their equipment–which is much smaller and more portable than it was 80 years ago–into an honest-to-goodness Field to put it on the air.
This year, my wife and I will be operating from a city park near our home. The tentative plan is to be in the two-transmitter class, probably covering 20, 6, and 2 meters. Power will be supplied with the trusty fish-finder battery, and the antenna will be supported by the trusty golf ball retriever. As a trial run this weekend, I set up in our own backyard for the annual Cookie Crumble QRP Contest. Despite poor conditions, I made contacts with Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New York, and Texas. On Field Day, I’ll repeat the operation. Even though I’m physically distancing myself from others, there’s no reason for me to sequester myself in the basement. I can just as easily operate from a bona fide Field for Field Day.
The ARRL made another temporary rule change this year, and will publish a cumulative score for clubs. I think the idea was that, even with club members operating from their home stations, they can still be part of a club effort. I guess they can pretend they’re all in the same virtual field. And by operating from the comfort of their own home, they can get an even larger score than when they set up multiple transmitters in a real field.
But that rule change applies to all classes of entries–even those who are operating a traditional Field Day from the field. Therefore, I have taken the liberty of forming a new club for the hundreds of hams who figure out a way to operate Field Day as it was meant to be–in the Field.
The new club is named “The Outstanding In Their Field Amateur Radio Field Day Club.” It is open to any and all hams, worldwide, who plan to operate Field Day as a Class A or Class B station, namely, from a remote location with emergency power and temporary antennas. Your setup might be elaborate, or it might be as simple as a $30 Baofeng. If you believe that one contact in such conditions is better than filling up an entire logbook from your air conditioned home station, then this club is for you.
Membership in the Outstanding In Their Field Club is simple. There are no dues or long-term commitment. You can join in one of three ways. If you are gung-ho, then you can sign the club’s articles of association, which you can view at this link. If you’re on board, but not quite to that extent, you can just send me an e-mail to w0is@arrl.net. Or if you’re not sure and want to wait until the last minute, you can join simply by naming the club in your Field Day entry.
Despite war looming, at least 228 hams hit the Field for Field Day 1940. There’s no reason why we can’t do the same. If you also think so, please consider joining The Outstanding In Their Field Amateur Radio Field Day Club.
Shown here, from the June 1940 issue of Radio Retailing, is the ad for an unusual portable, the Setchell Carlson Model 66.
As the ad states, the unique feature is the lack of a “B” battery. Instead, it ran on flashlight batteries, what we would today call D cells. The set accomplished this by virtue of the fact that the power supply, like that in a car radio, used a vibrator to produce the high voltage. Some pictures and discussion of the set can be found at this link.
You can read more about Setchell Carlson at our earlier post.