Category Archives: Uncategorized

1936 3 Tube AC-DC Portable

1936FebPS

The February 1936 issue of Popular Science shows the plans for this simple portable receiver. “By careful planning and the use of midget parts and space-saving metal tubes, a complete three-tube circut, loudspeaker and all, has been crammed into an ordinary cigar box.” Despite the small size, it could “be built by anyone who boasts a jack knife, a pair of pliers, a screw driver, a soldering iron, and a small drill.”

The circuit consisted of a 6K7 serving as RF amplifier and detector, with a 6C5 serving as audio amplifier to drive a three-inch speaker. A second 6C5 was used as rectifier. A “curtain burner” cord was used to reduce the line voltage to 18 volts in order to light the filaments of the three tubes wired in series.

In testing, the set gave good volume on more than a dozen stations, with a sixty-foot outside antenna.

 

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Making Your Own Plug-In Coils

1941FebPMCoils

1940PlugInCoilsMany of the vintage receivers described here require plug-in coils, such as the ones shown in the image at the left. Back in the day, these were readily obtainable in common sizes. And as the February 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics pointed out, “considerable effort can be saved by purchasing ready-wound coils.” However, he magazine also admonished that “the beginner should take the time to wind the coils for at least the first set he builds so that he will understand exactly how they are made,” as the young gentlemen shown at the top of the page are doing.

Today, since pre-manufactured coils are unobtainium, the builder of one of these sets has little choice but to make the coils at home. But as the experimenter 75 years ago learned, the process of making coils is quite simple. This article serves as a good guide for the modern recreator to make the coils. But there is still a slight problem, since the article simply advises purchasing “forms usually made of Bakelite or similar material.” And those coil forms are also unobtanium today.

Fortunately, modern materials come to the rescue, since it’s easy to recreate the forms themselves using readily available PVC tubing, along with the base of a defunct tube. Complete instructions can be found on AA8V’s page.

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6GZ, Bakersifeld, CA, 1916

1916FebPM

Shown here is the radio station at Kern County High School, Bakersfield, California, as depicted in the February, 1916, issue of Popular Mechanics.  The accompanying article notes that the school has a course in wireless telegraphy, with a course in wireless telephony being added.

According to the 1916 call book, the station was licensed as 6GZ, under the control of one A.J. Ludden.



National Parks On The Air “Park To Park” QSO

Photo of bridge at Chickasaw National Recreation Area

Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Oklahoma. NPS photo.

I had my first “park to park” QSO today in the ARRL National Parks On The Air (NPOTA) event.  On the way to do some grocery shopping, I decided to make a quick stop near the Mississippi River, at a parking lot just south of Summit Avenue on the St. Paul side of the river.  It’s at a fairly good elevation above the water, but it’s within the required 100 feet of the river.

I worked about 35 contacts on 20 meter CW in about a half hour, as shown in the log below.  When the pileup subsided, I decided to try phone.  In a previous “activation” from this location, I had managed to work about 50 contacts, but that was after I was “spotted” on the DX cluster.  Without that help, my 5 watt signal didn’t attract anyone’s attention on the crowded band, and I called CQ for about 10 minutes without any takers.  Before packing up, I decided to tune the band and look for any other strong signals.

After a few minutes, I heard Gary, N5PHT, who I had already worked a few times from home.  He was operating from a campground at the  Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Oklahoma.  He had a booming signal and easily pulled my weak signal out of the noise.

Gary’s station is described on his website.  The difference in signal is attributable to the fact that he is running 100 watts to a better antenna, with a nice station set up in his motorhome.  Even though he was portable, he had a formidable signal, and has worked about 2000 contacts in about a week from this portable location.

 

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Radio Scouting, 1926

1926FebRadioAge

Shown here in 1926 is Lyman F. Barry, 2OH, the Scoutmaster of Troop 503, Manhattan. In an article in the February 1926 issue of Radio Age, he describes the radio scouting activities of that troop and the equipment used. He first notes that nationwide, 75% of all scouts had radio receiving sets, and that radio had played a role in scouting from the very start. “Away back in 1914 when radio broadcasting was little known, thousands of scouts were studying the scout handbook and wiring up crystal receiving sets and learning the code.”

His aim was to have every scout in the troop in radio communication with the troop, in a system totally independent of commercial telephones. The troop headquarters was equipped with a CW transmitter capable of reaching every part of the city, and at least half of the members of the troop already had a receiver. The scouts were currently in the process of revamping those sets to tune down to 176 meters (1705 kHz), the wavelength employed by the troop station.

From 2OH, a daily bulletin was sent out at about 8 words per minute, a speed at which even the new scouts could pick out a few letters. At weekly meetings, the messages were handed in, and points were awarded to scouts copying without mistakes. Scoutmaster Barry noted that if any emergency mobilizations could be communicated via these bulletins.

At least one neighboring troop had installed a transmitter and receiver, and intercommunications with that troop was being carried out.

The troop also had a portable station, consisting of a regenerative receiver with a single WD-12 tube. This station was capable of tuning 50-50,000 meters, and would pull in broadcast stations from 15-20 miles, as well as the troop station.

The troop also regularly monitored time and weather broadcasts from NAA in Arlington, Virginia.

Troop 503 is mentioned again in the June 1928 issue of Boys’ Life, where it reported that it was in direct contact with a troop in Buffalo.  At that time, Troop 503 held the call sign 2AAQ for its portable station.



Missionaries Martyred in Ecuador, 1956

Life013056

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the death of five American missionaries in Ecuador, Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian. The five were taking part in Operation Auca, an ultimately successful attempt to evangelize the Huaorani, a tribe of about 700 spread out over about 7000 square miles of jungle.

Despite the initial setback, the effort was successful, after the Huarani realized that the Creator, with Whom they were acquainted through His creation, wanted them to abandon their warlike ways.

Sixty years ago today, the incident was featured in a prominent story in the January 30, 1956, issue of Life Magazine, entitled “Go Ye And Preach the Gospel: Five Do and Die,” from which the photo above is taken.

Much of the news of those events came to the attention of the world through HCJB radio.

 




January 23-24, 1916: 100 Degree Temperature Drop at Browning, MT

Modern day Browning, Montana. Wikipedia photo.

Modern day Browning, Montana. Wikipedia photo.

A hundred years ago today, the town of Browning, Montana experienced a 100 degree drop in temperature within 24 hours.  On January 23, the temperature was 44°F, dropping to -56°F the next day as an Arctic cold front slammed through.

The event is recorded in the Guiness Book of World Records as the greatest temperature range in a day.  While this record for temperature drop still stands, the record for greatest change was actually broken in 1972, but not immediately recognized.

NWS Observer Jim Wood at the location of the 1972 record. NOAA photo.

NWS Observer Jim Wood at the location of the 1972 record. NOAA photo.

This record was actually broken on January 14-15, 1972, at Loma, Montana.  National Weather Service cooperative observer Jim Wood recorded a temperature of -54°F at 9:00 AM local time on the 14th, which rose to 49°F by 8:00 local time the next morning, a 103 degree difference.  The dramatic change in temperature was the result of a Chinook wind from a system centered over Wisconsin.  Neither the observer nor the local weather office were aware that a record had been broken, and it was unknown to the National Climate Extremes Committee of NOAA, which had been formed in 1997 to make definitive rulings on weather records.  It was not brought to the committee’s attention until 2002.

Wood, a former member of the Montana Legislature, died in 2013 at the age of 89.




References

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1916HeadAsReproducer

The photo is self-explanatory.  You don’t need any fancy electronics to listen to your phonograph.  All you need is a needle held between your teeth, and the music will play loudly in your head.  For more details, see this month’s issue of Electrical Experimenter, a hundred years ago.

Train Engineer Ejection Seat, 1915

1915DecPM

A hundred years ago, Popular Mechanics, December 1915, carried a description of this invention to save the lives of the engineer and fireman of a locomotive that finds itself about to be involved in a head-on collision.  Heretofore, the only options had been to either stay with the train or attempt to jump clear, and hope for the best.  Even though the magazine admitted that there might be some practical problems, it was enough to give the men a fighting chance.

With a few seconds warning, the men could pull a lever on their seat.  This would drop them, seat and all, into this thick cylinder, which would close itself and throw it free of the train.  It was strong enough that it would hold even if the locomotive landed on top.  And if it landed in the water, it would float.

Simultaneously, the lever would pull back the throttle, dump the fire, apply the brakes, and put sand on the tracks, so the departing engineer would be doing all he could for his passengers as well.

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NORAD Santa Tracking Begins, 1955

1955NoradSantaAs you are probably aware, each Christmas, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) tracks Santa Claus as he travels around the world. Obviously, there’s a practical reason for this. If his supersonic travels were mistaken for something else, then the results of the error could be quite dramatic, to say the least.

NORAD first began sharing this information with children 60 years ago, in 1955. Initially, this was the result of another mixup, albeit a less dramatic one. A Sears store in Colorado published the ad shown at the top of the page, purportedly showing Santa’s previously unlisted telephone number. Unfortunately, the ad carried the wrong number. Instead of Santa’s number, the store had listed the number of the Continental Air Defense Command, NORAD’s predecessor. Initially baffled, the officer answering the phone ultimately figured out what was going on, and had his men check the radar. He then gave reports of Santa’s current location.

NORAD now uses the Internet to disseminate this information, which is available at NoradSanta.org.

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