Eighty years ago this month, the August 1946 issue of Popular Mechanics carried this reminder that hams were back on the air, after being silenced for the duration of the War. And they were back in force. There had been 60,000 before the War, but by December 1946, there would be 100,000. And more might be on the way–250,000 veterans had received radio training, and getting the license would be a piece of cake for them.
Eighty-five years ago, these persons, quite likely mindful of the implications for national defense, were learning the Morse code, thanks to the oscillator shown here. It had a speaker, but it also included plug-ins, one of which is shown mounted to the table, for each student to conveniently plug in key and headphones.
From a notation in the margin of the magazine, it appears that the oscillator was from Bud Radio, 5205 Cedar Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. The illustration appeared in the August 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics.
Eighty years ago, the September 1945 issue of Radio Craft magazine carried this circuit for a simple one-tube regenerative receiver, which had been sent in to the magazine by one Jim Gary of Kenedy, Texas. With a good antenna and ground, he reported that he had pulled in both New York and San Francisco with the set, which could be built in a cigar box.
B batteries were hard to come by during the war, and this circuit ran on four flashlight batteries. One powered the filament, and the other three provided the 4.5 volts of B+. With that low voltage, a large tickler coil was necessary for regeneration.
It appears that the author was 17 years old, having been born in 1928, and he passed away in 2001.
The cyclists in this 1951 British ad were children during the war. But with that behind them, they were able to acquire these high quality Halford bicycles. The ad appears in the July 1951 issue of Practical Mechanics.
Eighty-five years ago this month, the July 1941 issue of Radio Craft carried the servicing details for the Crosley model 45BV, the “Commuter.” The four-tube superheterodyne portable ran off one flashlight battery for the filaments, and a 67-1/2 volt battery for the B+.
Speaking of batteries, those would soon become hard to find, as the War took them off the civilian market. We previously mentioned this radio, as it appeared in a 1943 article on battery shortages. In that case, the magazine showed how to make a battery eliminator to run the set at home.
Eighty-five years ago this month, the June 1941 issue of Radio Craft had this cover image of BBC broadcaster Robin Duff broadcasting a live eyewitness account of a London bombing, while the fires were still burning.
The magazine noted that radio broadcasting was a valuable communications
link between the government and the people.
One hundred years ago, the Weimar Republic was at its peak, although four years earlier, the New York Times had first reported the potential danger from a popular idol with the capacity of swaying crowds to his will. But this German citizen is making use of the latest in technology, namely, being able to make or receive a phone call from a moving train, and the June 1946 issue of Radio News detailed the system in use by the German railroads.
The phone relied upon a carrier current hookup. There was an antenna on the rail car, and the signal was carried by the telegraph wires that ran along the track. An operator at the station connected calls to the wired phone system, and calls could be placed anywhere with long distance service.
I don’t envy the poor radio serviceman shown in the left illustration, in the June 1941 issue of Radio Retailing. That customer doesn’t look very happy. If the poor guy got drafted the next year, the drill sergeant couldn’t scare him any more than she did. She was going to miss her favorite programs for a few days, and it looks like she’s taking her wrath out on him.
But the customer on the right is happy. She would be able to listen to her programs immediately. The difference was that the dealer on the right stocked a kit from the International Resistance Company, 401 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia.
Eighty-five years ago, Britain was at war, but that didn’t mean that the British housewife couldn’t enjoy a little music while she worked. If your radio was in the living room, she was spending time working in the kitchen. The perfect solution was the addition of an extension speaker. She could then pass the otherwise dreary hours listening to her favorite programs. This ad for Stentorian speakers appeared in Practical Wireless, May 1941.
Eighty-five years ago this month, the May 1941 issue of Practical Wireless showed this efficient shortwave listening post of a listener in Sussex, England.
The SWL is identified only as Member number 5490 of the magazine’s listener’s club, perhaps since he was awaiting call-up at a telegraphist in the Royal Navy. The member notes that his normal receiving speed was 32 WPM, but he had managed to copy a few pages of French text at 42 WPM. He notes that he was able to copy 53 WPM, but only for one minute.
The main receiver was an Eddystone All World Two. The backup rig was homemade, and there was also a portable, which could be fed into a 2-1/2 watt amplifier. The gramophone pickup could be fed to the same amplifier. When reception was not good, he could feed the microphone or gramophone into the amplifier for some home broadcasting.