1930 Car Radio

1930JanPMIn 1930, this gentleman, Popular Mechanics writer Allen C. Forbes, was undoubtedly the first on his block to have a car radio in his 1929 Nash. It took him two years of experimentation to finally succeed, but succeed he did, and he reported that the set furnished pleasure to himself during the day and to his family when out for an evening ride.

He reported that the biggest problems were ignition noise and lack of a good antenna and ground. Ignition noise was solved by suppressors in the ignition line and a well shielded set. For an antenna, he settled upon a screen mounted under the car’s fabric roof. He reported that with a set of six or more tubes, he could get good loudspeaker volume 100-150 miles away from a station.

Grounding was very difficult, because he used the car’s battery as the A battery, but the car had a positive ground, while the radio had negative ground. The set’s ground connection was not used, and the set was mounted with great care so that no part of the metal chassis or case touched the car chassis. The B and C batteries were mounted in an extra battery box. A plug-in cable was fabricated to facilitate easy removal of the radio from the car.

The radio was an Atwater-Kent model 35 with 3 RF stages, detector, and 2 audio stages. He noted that it was essential that a set with a metal cabinet be used, and that the set needed plenty of RF stages to offset the short antenna. Tet was mounted in the car upside down, and he noted that it was a good idea to solder the tubes into their sockets, especially if the car wasn’t equipped with shock absorbers.

The article appeared in the January 1930 issue of Popular Mechanics.



1921: New Transcontinental Radio Record

1921Jan19WashStarThis item appeared a hundred years ago today, January 19, 1921, in the Washington Evening Star:

RADIO RECORD IS MADE.

Civilian Message, Coast to Coast, and Reply in 6 1-2 Minutes.

HARTFORD, Conn., January 19.–A new civilian wireless record was established when Hiram Percy Maxim sent a message from his station here to Los Angeles, Calif., and received a reply 6-1/2 minutes later. The messages were relayed by stations at Chicago and Roswell. N. M.

Tests under the auspices or the American Radio Relay League, of which Mr. Maxim is president, have been made for four nights. It was announced the preceding day that a message had been sent to Los Angeles from this city and a reply received in 1 hour and 8 minutes, a new civilian mark for cross-continent wireless relay. The former record was said to have been 1 hour and 20 minutes, established four years ago by the Maxim station.

Amateur radio operators In all parts of the country sent messages of congratulations to Maxim when they learned through their wireless sets of the new record.

 



Heath Parasol: 1931

1931JanPMMost of our readers are quite familiar with Heathkits, since starting in 1947, the Heath Company sold kits for a wide variety of electronic devices. But the company actually got its start in 1926 with the product shown here, a Heathkit airplane, namely, the Heath Parasol.  About a thousand of the kits were sold in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

The ad here appeared 90 years ago this month in the January 1931 issue of Popular Mechanics.



1941 Sonora Radios

1941JanRadioRetailingAEighty years ago this month, the January 1941 issue of Radio Retailing carried this ad showing the 1941 lineup from Sonora Radio. With one exception, all of the sets shown cover the broadcast band only. Two are portables, and one, the model KNF-148 also includes a phonograph.

The six-tube model KXF-95 was a console which also tuned shortwave and included a phonograph. The company was based at 2626 Washington Blvd., Chicago.



1921 Grocery Prices

WashEveStar011621Here’s a snapshot of grocery prices a hundred years ago today, from the January 16, 1921, edition of the Washington Evening Star and this ad for Piggly Wiggly.  The idea itself of a self-service grocery store was relatively new, the company having been founded in Tennessee only five years earlier.  A number of familiar brand names are evident here, such as Crisco, Mazola, Wesson, Lux, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, and Quaker Oats.

When comparing pre-1964 prices, one useful way of doing the comparison is to look at the cost of silver.  One dollar in 1921 meant one silver dollar, four silver quarters, or ten silver dimes.  Either way, it was approximately an ounce of silver, which is currently about $26.  So for a rough comparison, you can multiply these prices by 26 to find out what the equivalent is in today’s money.

For example, a pound of sugar was 9 cents, which would work out to about $2.25 today.  Then (as now), dry beans were described as “the cheapest food in America today.”  A pound of navy beans was 6 cents, or about $1.50 in today’s money.

To compare prices, the links above go to Amazon.  If you make a purchase after clicking on one of the links, this site earns a small commission.

 



Homebrewing: 1921-2021

1921JanPSThe Eighteenth Amendment, was ratified in 1919, and by 1921, according to this article in the January 1921 issue of Popular Science, home brewing was “among the favorite indoor sports”.

It was perfectly legal to make beer or wine at home, with one minor caveat: The final product could have no more than one half of one percent alcohol. Fortunately, however, the magazine provided information about some tests that can be done to measure alcohol content, concluding “the householder has within his reach means by which he can tell where he stands in his domestic brewing and therefore can find scant excuse for pleading ignorance of the strength of the potations made under his roof-tree.”

Curiously, though, while the magazine describes some of the tests, it doesn’t go into excruciating detail as to exactly how they should be carried out. It seems to me, however, that if the householder had a copy of the magazine, and perhaps some of the instruments described therein, he might be able to plead good faith, even if he couldn’t plead ignorance and the official test revealed a result greater than half of one percent.

Even after Prohibition, the 0.5% limit on homebrewing remained in effect until Jimmy Carter signed a repeal of those restrictions in 1978. Curiously enough, if you go to Google and type in “homebrewing during”, it will suggest “homebrewing during prohibition,” but it will also suggest “homebrewing during COVID” and “homebrewing during lockdown.” According to this article, for example, homebrewing supplies are flying off the shelf.

History has a way of repeating itself.



Phonographs in Cicero, IL, Schools, 1921

1921JanTalkMachWorldShown here, in the January 1921 issue of Talking Machine World, are fourteen schools in Cicero, Illinois. While the magazine wasn’t clear which was which, they are: Woodbine, Morton Park, Drexel, Goodwin Clyde, Cicero, Sherlock, McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, Roosevelt, John Paul Jones, Burnham, Hawthorne, Columbus, and J.H. Sterling Morton High School.

What the schools had in common was an appreciation of music, recorded music to be specific. They had all recently purchased Columbia Grafanola phonographs to bring the 7000 scholars of Cicero the message of music.

The School Board was unfortunately not in a position to provide the needed funds, so the students took matters into their own hands to collect old newspapers, and use the proceeds from the sale to purchase the instruments.

The magazine suggested that other schools looking to increase the music appreciation of the students might consider cake and candy sales, or suppers and fairs. The magazine believed that when more schools started doing so, school boards would soon wake up to their obligation to provide all schools with this equipment.



1941 One Tube Regen

1941JanRadioTVEighty years ago this month, someone wrote in to the January 1941 issue of Radio & Television
magazine requesting plans for a one-tube set which would cover the broadcast bands and the shortwaves. The editors obliged with this simple circuit.

Coil winding data was included, and the editors noted that with the capacitor shown, one coil would cover the entire broadcast band. On the shortwaves, they noted that tuning would be very sharp, and recommended a smaller bandspread capacitor in parallel with the main tuning.



Hallicrafters HT-40 Transmitter & SX-140 Receiver, 1961

1961JanElecWorldSixty years ago this month, the January 1961 issue of Electronics World carried this ad for the Hallicrafters HT-40 transmitter and SX-140 receiver for the 80-6 meter amateur bands. They were available assembled or in kit form. As a kit, the transmitter retailed for $79.95, and the receiver, $94.95. Assembled, the prices were $99.95 for the transmitter and $109.95 for the receiver.

The five-tube receiver was billed as the lowest-priced amateur band receiver available. The transmitter had a DC input power of 75 watts to a 6DQ5 power amplifier, with a 6CX8 serving as crystal oscillator and driver. For AM, it used a 12AX7 audio amplifier and 6DE7 modulator. Both units featured silicon high voltage rectifiers.

I’ve never seen the receiver in operation, but the HT-40 was my first transmitter as a novice, and I used it to burn up the ether on 40 meters in 1974. I used that transmitter for my first few months as a novice before upgrading to a Viking Ranger with VFO. When the transmitter first came out, novices were limited to crystal control, and it made an ideal novice rig. When the licensee upgraded to general (or even technician, thanks to the presence of 6 meters), the new licensee could get right to work on AM.



Answers to Yesterday’s Quiz

1961JanPE2As promised, here are the answers to yesterday’s quiz, from the January 1971 issue of Popular Electronics.

The one on the left is 12 pF.  The center one is 6 pF, and the one on the right is 10 pF.