Eighty years ago, the August 1936 issue of All Wave Radio magazine carried this ad for the “Candler Scientific Sound System,” which would “teach you everything necessary to enable you to obtain your ‘Ham’ License quickly, easily, inexpensively.  Tell us what you need.”

Apparently, The Candler System took particular pride in teaching the code, and the ad points to two champions of some code competition, both products of the Candler System.  One of these champions was 9 year old Jean Hudson, who is pictured with her trophy.

Surprisingly, I’ve been able to find very little about Miss Hudson, but I did find an article in the June 1933 issue of Radio Magazine, which reveals that she was actually eight years old when first licensed.

According to the 1933 article, she was the daughter of Edgar L. Hudson, W3BAK, of Laurel, Delaware, whom the magazine described as a “veteran Morse operator, an ardent radio amateur and one of the world’s proudest dads.” Jean’s brother Roland, 14, was also licensed as W3AXP. And Jean’s older sister, Dorothy, was also preparing for the license.  According to this site, Dorothy was licensed in 1935 as W3IRR.

The only call sign I found associated with Miss Hudson was W3BAK, her father’s call.  So apparently, while she received an operator’s license, she did not hold her own station license.

Born in California, the family moved to Laurel, Delaware, where Jean first showed an interest in radio. Telegraph keys and related equipment fascinated her, and she soon learned to send and receive code. With some tutoring from her father, she studied transmitters, receivers, and the rules and regulations, and on April 26, 1933, she took the test from the radio examiner at Baltimore. She sat on a thick dictionary to reach the examination table, and passed the code test with no difficulty. Her written examination showed a score of 80%.

Jean copied code on a typewriter, and since she touch typed, she could copy 25 words per minute blindfolded. The QSL card for her first contact, April 28, 1933, is shown below.

Jean Hudson in 1935. Short Wave Craft magazine, August 1935.

The 1938 Call Book lists W3BAK as belonging to Edgar, with no listing for W3IRR.  Edgar continues to be listed as late as 1968.   There is no listing for that call in 1974.  In May 1942, Jean Hudson, under the call W3BAK, wrote an article for QST on the subject of amateur radio at summer

Jean Hudson in 1942. QST, May 1942.

camps, and recounts her experience in setting up a station at a girls’ camp in New Hampshire, which she believed to be the only such station in existence.  That article lists her address as 660 Riverside Drive, New York City.  And in the June 1945 issue, she wrote a longer article, “His Last Strike,” recounting the story of Lt. Joseph Hyland, W2ITR, who was killed in action on January 12, 1945.  That article shows her address as 530 E. 90th St., New York, 28.

I was unable to find any reference to Miss Hudson after 1945, and found no indication that she was ever issued her own station license.  If you have any additional information about this pioneer amateur, I would enjoy hearing it.

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The Hallicrafters S-19R Sky Buddy receiver came out in 1939. This six-tube receiver tuned the broadcast band up to 44 MHz, and sold for a relatively modest $29.50. The set contained a power transformer. The receiver functioned adequately for hams, in addition to serving as a decent shortwave broadcast receiver.

Lloyd Broderson, W6CLV, of Salinas, California, owned one of these for his station receiver, but decided to add a few improvements, which he documented in an article in the August 1941 issue of Radio News.

His first changes were cosmetic. Apparently dissatisfied with the looks of the black control knobs, he decided to paint them a different color. Similarly, the black screws were replaced with nickel plated screws. Carrying handles were also added. He also replaced the speaker grille with a silver colored version, personalized with his call letters.

His first electrical improvement was the addition of some tip jacks which could allowed the receiver’s power supply to be used for other equipment. These jacks provided a handy source of 6.3 and 220 volts.

With these mundane improvements taken care of, he set about adding a transmitter to the set. He noted that plenty of space was available inside the cabinet, so he added a 40 meter transmitter, employing a 6L6. While his onboard transmitter was for 40, he noted that with different crystal and coil, the same idea could be used on other bands. An end-fed antenna was connected to the transmitter output through a mica condenser.

The transmitter input was limited to about five watts, the limiting factor being the power transformer: “Any attempt to load the 6L6 to more than 25 ma. will result in the transformer becoming excessively warm.” He noted that a larger transformer could be added and the power increased several times. But as many QRP’ers have discovered, the 5 watts proved quite adequate, and the author reported working all U.S. call districts, as well as stations in the possessions.

The final modification was the addition of a code practice oscillator. This was done by keying the BFO with the set tuned to a broadcast station. He noted that “many of the boys now joining the Signal Corps have learned the code by using a similar arrangement.”

The author also reported that the newly minted transmitter-receiver could easily be taken to the field.

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Seventy years ago, the British magazine Practical Wireless, August 1946, carried the plans for this two-valve medium wave receiver for the beginner. The circuit was a regenerative receiver, followed by one stage of audio amplification sufficient to drive a speaker.

The set was constructed using “baseboard” components on a cabinet made of plywood. The antenna coil was wound around the cabinet and then covered by leatherette. For strong stations, the built-in antenna was sufficient, but the set had provisions for external antenna and ground.

Apparently, even after the ravages of war, some beginners still had a fear of the soldering iron, and the “baseboard” construction did away with the need for soldered connections, as the author explained:

Another reason is that many amateurs still prefer to make use of baseboard components, rather than chassis components. They can understand such parts better; moreover, there is no soldering to do–a ]ob which the beginner greatly dislikes, for he sometimes makes soldered connection to the wrong points. Some constructors cannot solder successfully at all, and to try to connect four wires to a single pin socket on a chasis valve holder is not only irritating to the amateur, but he also knows in his bones that the connections are far from being satisfactory.

But despite the solderless construction, the author is confident: “As soon as the set is switched on, some programme should be heard immediately. Tune in the station properly and gently apply reaction to increase the volume. If nothing is heard, wait a few minutes. A programme may have just finished. Try tuning in the other station.”

If waiting and tuning didn’t do the trick, the author suggests reversing the leads of the tickler coil, which might have gotten reversed.

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Fifty years ago, the August 1966 issue of Popular Electronics carried the plans for this two-tube shortwave receiver. The set featured band switching, and covered the broadcast band through 30 MHz in four bands. Billed as a “real powerhouse,” the set employed a 12AT7 dual triode, which served as RF amplifier and regenerative detector, followed by a 6AK6 audio amplifier which could drive either a speaker or headphones.

The set ran off AC power, and used a power transformer, which rendered it relatively safe.

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After the War, the FCC moved the FM band from its old home at 42-49 MHz to its current position at 88-108 MHz. This shift delayed the popularity of FM broadcasting, since all prewar FM receivers were rendered obsolete. For the serviceman dealing with frustrated owners of prewar FM sets, one possibility was examined in the August 1946 issue of Service magazine.

The magazine contained the plans for the converter shown here, which would allow owners of the prewar sets to listen to the stations appearing on the new FM band. For simplicity, the converter had its own tuning dial, and the old receiver was left on 43 MHz. The converter consisted of an oscillator containing a single 6SA7. The author noted that this tube wouldn’t function at 100 MHz, but it worked in this circuit since it was merely oscillating at 45-65 MHz, well within its published specifications. By tuning this local oscillator, the result was an IF of 43 MHz, which would be picked up by the old set.

In addition to construction details, some discussion was given to antennas for the new band. The author noted that in most cases, an outdoor antenna consisting of brass, copper, or aluminum tubing about 4-1/2 feet long would suffice. This was mounted outside, horizontally, and fed at the center with twisted pair. For locations with strong signals, an indoor antenna, perhaps an existing curtain rod, would suffice.

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