Seventy-five years ago this month, the March 1944 issue of Radio Craft magazine contained this interesting idea for using a burnt out fluorescent tube as a radio detector.  Even though the filament is open, current can still flow from one end to the other through the ionized gas, and apparently it can rectify.

The magazine also showed how the tube could be used as an audio oscillator, as shown in the diagram below.

Even though there were wartime parts shortages, the experimenter could probably get his hands on a burnt out lamp.

Seventy-five years ago this month, the March 1944 issue of Radio Craft magazine presented this idea of how invading forces could blanket the enemy with radio by sky. The idea was to alert civilians as to the invasion and give instructions. The expendable 500 watt transmitters shown here would be dropped over the teritory in question and would broadcast a prerecorded message from magnetic tape or wire. Another possibility would be to drop PA systems, which would begin playing at 3000-4000 feet.

The advantage of this system was said to be that the aircraft could leave the area immediately. In more recent times, the U.S. military has, indeed used airborne transmitters, but stationed in the aircraft.

Forty years ago this month, the March-April 1979 issue of Elementary Electronics carried this tribute to Tandy Corporation founder Charles D. Tandy, who had died of a heart attack at the age of 60 in November 1978. Tandy was best known in the electronics world as having purchased the fledgling Boston Radio Shack chain in 1963. The author of the magazine was none other than Lewis Kornfeld, the president of Radio Shack both before and after Tandy’s purchase.

According to Kornfeld, nothing made Tandy angrier than empty hooks in the parts department. He questioned why there could be even a single out-of-stock item when “I’ve made your life simple by eliminating thousands of slow movers.”

Tandy got his start in the leather business, and while serving in the Navy during World War 2, he noticed sailors being taught knitting and needlepoint as part of their recuperation. He believed the men would prefer leatherwork, and established a system of craft work for the hospitalized men.

The author of the tribute took over Tandy’s role in the company. The company’s monthly flyers included a “Flyer Side Chat,” in which Kornfeld would offer his opinions on some subject of interest. Interestingly enough, most (or perhaps all) of the Flyer Side Chats have been collected into a single volume. In addition, students of marketing would be well advised to read Kornfeld’s classic, “To Catch a Mouse, Make a Noise Like a Cheese.”

Seventy-five years ago this month, this ad in the February 1944 issue of Service magazine asked where all of the radios in Manila were.  The Japanese flag and soldier gave the answer, namely, that the invaders took them.

The ad noted that of all war weapons, radio was one of the most important. “it unites the free peoples in a common purpose and links them instantaneously with their Governments. It maintains the power to resist of the conquered. It unites and aims the hammer blows of armies.”

America had 59 million radios, and it was the patriotic duty of the radio serviceman to keep those receivers functioning. The reminder came from the Jackson Electrical Instrument Company of Dayton, Ohio, which provided the tools to do just that.

Seventy five years ago today, the January 31 issue of Broadcasting carried this ad for KFAB, then in Lincoln, Nebraska, and on 780 kHz.  As we noted earlier, KFAB shared the frequency with fellow CBS affiliate WBBM in Chicago, and the two stations coordinated their signals.

The station made the move to Omaha and to its present frequency of 1110 kHz in 1948.  The move allowed both WBBM and KFAB to boost their transmitter power to 50 kW.

Wartime parts shortages were undoubtedly the inspiration for these two crystal sets from the January 1944 issue of Popular Mechanics. While commercial parts could be used, from the junk box, salvaged from an old radio, or from a mail-order house, the article showed how to make most of the parts. The article notes that the newcomer needed only a good set of headphones to build either set from scratch.

The first set, shown above, omitted a variable capacitor, as it used a variometer for tuning. It did require one fixed capacitor, but the article shows how to make one using copper foil and either mica or wax paper.

A commercial fixed crystal can be used, but the article also shows how to make one. The crystal is mounted inside an old tube base and sealed with wax. The use of an old 4-prong tube socket meant that a commercial fixed crystal could be substituted at a later time.

The second set, shown above, featured a variable capacitor for tuning, which was constructed “book” style. The top plate, made of spring brass, was hinged and moved up and down from the lower plate.

The sets were said to have a range of about 25 miles.