Sixty years ago this month, the June 1961 issue of Radio Electronics posed the question, “how can I prepare my child for today’s electronic world?” The answer was shown on the cover. A kit such as this would not make a child an electronic genius overnight, but it would let the parent find out of […]
Most 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 […]
Sixty years ago this month, the January 1960 issue of Electronics World carried a simple modification for the venerable Benton Harbor Lunchbox, in this case, the Model CB-1 CB transceiver. James Green, the Chief Engineer of WELO, Tupelo, MS. The station had purchased two of the sets for communicating with one of the station’s engineers “living […]
The hottest night spot in Greenwhich Village 60 years ago was a loft at 732 Broadway. A wide cross section of New Yorkers gathered there–school kids, attorneys, mailmen, a concert violinist, and a lady psychologist. For a dollar an hour, they had access to a workbench, tools, soldering irons, and test equipment where they could […]
The dapper outdoorsman ham shown on the cover of Electronics World for July 1959 is none other than Don Stoner, W6TNS. We wrote about Stoner previously in connection with his 1959 design for one of the first CB transceivers, a design which became widely popular, and which served as the basis for the Heathkit CB-1 […]
This ad for Rolite trailers appeared fifty years ago this month in the April 1969 issue of Popular Mechanics. The Rolite was a solid-walled trailer that folded down. A 12-volt electric motor raised the roof and front and rear walls. The side walls were then raised manually, after which the roof was jogged down a […]
The young man shown on the cover of the September-October 1968 issue of Elementary Electronics, along with his loyal beagle, are taking a break from baseball to pull in some DX on their Heathkit GR-43 portable shortwave receiver. But the portable was pulling in DX from all corners of the world, since it had been effectively […]
Sixty years ago this month, before QRP was cool, the August 1958 issue of Popular Electronics carried the plans for this QRP transmitter for 15, 11, and 10 meters. The set was dubbed the Semiconductor Space Spanner. The two-transistor transmitter had an input power of 96 milliwatts. The author, Don Stoner, W6TNS reported contacts all over […]
This grainy picture appeared fifty years ago this month in the July 1968 issue of Popular Electronics. It shows the members of the Howland Junior High School Radio Club of Warren, Ohio. The adviser is George Watson, WA8HDQ, and the club held the club callsign WA8ODB. According to the camtion, four of the club members […]
The cozy ham shack shown here is actually the fallout shelter of William A. Rhodes, W7PYH. (in the 1972 and 1993 call book, his call appears to have changed to W7KLA.) His Phoenix shelter, along with another one in California. appeared in the March 1958 issue of Popular Mechanics. He had a well-equipped underground station. The […]