The plans for this handsome instrument were found in the March 1923 issue of Popular Mechanics. The version shown here contained four tubes, the detector, and three stages of audio amplification to drive the speaker. Also shown were scaled-down models with one or two stages of audio, for use with headphones.
The set tuned 150-400 meters (750 kHz – 2 MHz) and was said to be a well performing receiver for a reasonable cost.
The cover of the March 1953 issue of Radio News showed the new mobile communications unit for Philadelphia’s Civil Defense. According to the magazine, the unit featured complete and flexible facilities for all type of two-way communications, as well as a public adress system. It featured its own 15,000 watt power plant, along with both heating and air conditioning. In addition to police and fire frequencies, the 2, 10, and 75 meter amateur bands could be covered, permitting communications with other cities throughout the United States. And thanks to the Bell System, it included mobile telephone equipment as well as capability of up to 16 phone lines.
If you were visiting New York 70 years ago, you wouldn’t want to be stuck in a room without a radio. So the Hotel Chesterfield, 130 W. 49th St., all rooms with a radio, sounds like a good choice. A single room was $3 a night, with a double going for $4. Adjusted for inflation, that works out to $33.80 and $45.07. I bet you can’t find a room in Manhattan for that price today.
The ad appeared in the Washington Evening Star seventy years ago today, March 24, 1953. You can read more about the hotel at this link.
The “UHF” receiver shown here appeared in the March 1943 issue of Radio Craft magazine. It was sent in to the magazine by Stanley Dowgiala, who reported that the set was designed primarily to pull in police calls in the New York area. He reported that he received calls from Newark Jersey City, New York, Bayonne, and Union City. He also received many FM stations. He notes that the coil consisted of 8 turns for the 42-49 MHz FM stations, and 12 turns for the police calls, meaning that they were probably around 30 MHz.
He also pulled in TV signals, especially WNBT, but didn’t have accurate coil data. The unusual tuner included a variometer coil salvaged from an ancient Zenith. He reported that it worked better than a small variable capacitor.
For a look at grocery prices in 1963, this ad appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sixty years ago today, March 21, 1963. (You can click on the image for a larger version.) In those sixty years, the dollar has lost purchasing power, and a dime in 1963 was the equivalent of about a dollar today. Specifically, according to this inflation calculator, the 1963 dollar would be worth $9.78 in 2023.
So the coffee looks like a bargain at 49 cents a pound, but that’s the equivalent of almost $5 today. Bread is two loaves for 39 cents, but that’s almost $2 a loaf in today’s money. Most of the venerable Swanson TV Dinners were about 59 cents each, although if you were on a budget, the macaroni and cheese TV dinner would set you back only 39 cents.
They no longer come in the familiar aluminum tray (which, of course, was useful for many other purposes once the meal was done), but the modern equivalent of what was my favorite is still available. And adjusted for inflation, the price is about the same:
If you were shopping for groceries 60 years ago, what would you be having for dinner?
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Eighty-five years ago this month, the March 1938 issue of Practical Mechanics discussed the state of the art in British television prior to the War. Shown here was a method for projecting a television image to an auditorium audience of hundreds.
As shown below, Tat the receiving end, a continuous loop of film was used. The image was exposed onto the film, which passed through a developer and dryer, after which it was projected. Then, the emulsion was washed off the film and a new layer added so that the film could be again exposed.
The following year, on September 1, 1939, television in Britain was shut down for the duration.
This nicely equipped ham station appeared on the cover of Radio News 75 years ago this month. It’s compact because part of it, the 400 watt BC-610E transmitter is hidden away in another room and is being operated remotely. It’s being driven by the Hallicrafters HT-18 exciter shown on the top shelf, which by itself put out only about 4 watts.
The receiver, which this unnamed ham is tuning, is the Hallicrafters SX-43. Rounding out the station is a panadaptor and wire recorder.
Shown here is a design that never really caught on, although it appears that there are a few purists who still cling to it. This is the parallel tracking turntable, also known as linear tracking. The advantage is said to be less wear and tear on your records, since the outer half of the groove doesn’t need to do the extra work of pushing the tone arm.
This illustration appeared on the cover of the British Popular Wireless, March 1963, and the accompanying article showed how to build it. If you don’t want to go to that trouble, and you’re an audiophile purist, you can purchase this one. One thing we can say for sure is that the advantage of such a turntable is even greater than oxygen-free speaker wire.
The woman at left might look like she’s been hypnotized, but she’s actually just listening to a particularly interesting radio program, thanks to the whole-house headphone system described in the March 1943 issue of Popular Mechanics. Twisted lamp cord is carefully run through the walls, to open-circuit headphone jacks in whatever room they are desired. In the living room, the wiring is connected to the radio, and the magazine provides details on how to tap in.
The March 1973 issue of Popular Science reported that in the past year, a million Americans had become owners of electronic calculators, and the prices had fallen below a hundred dollars for the basic models. In 2023 dollars, that hundred dollars would be the same as $673, so it still wasn’t a trivial proposition. But they were quickly becoming an item that people could consider owning.
As I’ve recounted previously, a few months later, I recall uncharacteristic jealousy of the kid sitting in front of me in one of my classes whose parents coughed up $79 for his very own pocket calculator. It was just three years later when I was shocked to see the TI-30 scientific calculator in the store for only $29, and I quickly snatched it up, and it saw me through high school. By then, four function calculators were in the under-$10 category, and it was clear that they were around for the long haul. Teachers still said, “but you won’t always have a calculator with you,” but it was soon clear that even they were wrong.
The magazine included a buyer’s guide, and for the newbies, even showed the exact key strokes necessary to carry out everyday math such as balancing your checkbook (a largely forgotten art, it turns out).
Today, of course, the calculator is a practically free commodity item, as evidenced by some of the ones below, all available with free shipping:
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