1923 Radio at Home and On The Farm

A hundred years ago, radio was rapidly becoming a familiar part of the home, whether it was in the city or on the farm. The cover of the January 1923 issue of Wireless Age, above, shows an idyllic scene of radio by the hearth.

But radio was more than just a pastime for the urban upper class. It was rapidly making it’s way to the farm, and it was bringing rural people closer to the city. The magazine contained a feature describing how radio was rapidly becoming a necessity on the farm. Farmers could receive up-to-the-minute market reports, and the main complaint from farmers was that they were being read too fast to write down. And weather warnings could make a huge difference in the safety and profitability of farm life. But in addition to the purely practical, radio was changing rural life by allowing residents to hear news, concerts, and lectures. Shown here are Mrs. Albertina Schockweiler, her daughter and grandson, as the pull in a program on their farm in Osseo, Minnesota.

Oakford Music Co., Omaha, 1923

A hundred years ago today, the January 27, 1923, issue of the Omaha Bee carried this ad for the Oakford Music Co., 419 S. 16th, Omaha. The store announced that it was branching out into the radio business in a big way, complete with a special radio room. The new department was to be headed by radio expert and former aviator Lt. L.E. Stewart.

Product Review: Justin Case Car Emergency Kit

Bottom Line: Better than Nothing, The Price is Right, and Free Roadside Assistance.

If you’re looking for a rudimentary set of emergency gear to toss in your car, this one is by no means the deluxe version. But the price is right (click this link to see it on Amazon), and it’s all certainly better than nothing. It won’t take care of all of your emergency needs, but it might help if you’re in a tough situation and nothing else is available. Santa Claus brought me one, and I’m honoring him by putting it in my car.

The two biggest pieces of gear are the jumper cables, and a tow strap. The jumper cables look good, but it’s hard to tell how thick the conductors are under the thick insulation. Chances are, they’re much smaller than they appear. But if you have a dead battery, and someone willing to give you a jump start, they’ll probably work, although you might need to let your battery charge for a little while.

The tow strap is 12 feet long, and says that it has a 1500 pound working load. If your car is hopelessly mired in mud, that’s probably not good enough. But if it’s slightly stuck in snow, maybe applying 1500 pounds might get it out. Again, it’s better than nothing. (But I would make sure that nobody is standing near it when in use. If it snaps under 1500 pounds of load, I bet it would sting if it snapped you.)

The set also includes a little first aid kit (no more than a few bandages), a headlamp, complete with AAA batteries, a thin but serviceable blanket, a set of cloth work gloves, and a cheap rain poncho. It comes in a fairly durable looking carrying case, which sports a reflectorized triangle to mark your car in case of emergency.

Possibly the best value, though, is an automatic membership in a roadside assistance plan, named, like the product itself, Justincase. It purports to be a AAA-style assistance plan. After sending in the card that came with the kit, you can call a toll-free number, and they’ll come out and provide roadside assistance at no cost. A card is included, which you are directed to send in care of Vehicle Administrative Services of Dallas, TX. If you want to read the fine print of the details of the plan, click the image at left for a full-size image.

The card asks for your name and address, as well as the vehicle description and VIN. It doesn’t ask for credit card numbers or anything, so it doesn’t look too risky. We already have AAA, but it won’t hurt to have a second number available to call in an emergency. Again, I have some doubts, but the price is right. And it looks like it’s better than nothing.

Update: I sent in the card to sign up for the roadside assistance, but after a few months, I never heard anything back. I wasn’t really counting on it, but I wouldn’t buy this kit for that reason.

Of course, while better than nothing is, well, better than nothing, if you’re going to be out and about in your car, you should have more supplies at the ready. See our earlier post for a suggested kit for food and heat. But it won’t hurt to supplement those supplies with the Justin Case Car Emergency Kit

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1948 QRP Transmitter

Seventy-five years ago this month, the January 1948 issue of QST showed this one-tube one-watt transmitter using a 1S4 tube. A flashlight battery supplied the filament voltage, and 30-90 volts of B+ was required. Coil data was shown for 80 meters, but the circuit could easily be used on other bands.

A balanced antenna could be connected to L2, or that coil could be dispensed with and the antenna connected to the point marked X, worked against ground. From Connecticut, the set made 22 contacts with 10 states over the course of 10 hours. It was sent to the magazine by Ernest Lindsey, W4BIW.

1973 ZN414 Receiver

Fifty years ago, this British woman probably had the smallest radio receiver on her block, and she constructed it herself, thanks to the plans contained in the January 1973 issue of Popular Wireless. The set owed it’s diminutive size to then-revolutionary ZN414 integrated circuit, manufactured by Ferranti, which contained all of the circuitry for a tuned radio frequency (TRF) AM receiver onto a single chip. The chip’s specs covered long wave up to about 5 MHz, but in a prototype made by the magazine, the chip was able to cover the 49 meter shortwave band. The version shown in the magazine covered the medium wave band, but could be easily moved to different frequency ranges. For strong stations, the set sometimes tuned broadly, but when two stations were close together, it would separate them, even if one was strong.

The small set had good sensitivity, and tuned in Radio Luxembourg loud and clear. Audio was through a crystal earphone. The case for the radio was a snuff container, which the author reported could be purchased for 9 pence (including the snuff). The author added that “if you haven’t tried snuff, this is your chance,” and that he was partial to the occasional pinch.

The ZN414, like most things, is available on eBay. But it’s replacement, the TA7642, is readily available for those seeking to duplicate this project.

Radio Caravan Promoting 1925 Portland Atlantic-Pacific Highways and Electrical Exposition

Shown here in Popular Mechanics a hundred years ago this month, January 1923, is an automobile caravan promoting the 1925 Atlantic-Pacific Highways and Electrical Exposition, to be held in Portland, Oregon. The caravan toured Eastern Oregon to promote interest in the exposition. It included Army radio operators who demonstrated the apparatus, and for many rural citizens, it was the first time that they had seen or heard a radio.

Perhaps some of them went on to acquire the set shown below, which was also featured in the same issue of the magazine. The portable set, intended for use by non-technical radio fans, The entire set, including batteries, measured only 7 by 9 by 11 inches. According to the magazine, the set was tested near Galveston, Texas, where it solidly pulled in concerts from Georgia, Tennessee, Kansas, and Missouri, despite what were described as troublesome radio conditions endemic to Texas. Even more distant stations were also received at times.

US Navy Blimps of WW2

Like most veterans of World War II, my dad never spoke very much about his service, and it never occurred to me to ask about it. I know that he was a Machinist Mate in the U.S. Navy, and I know that he was assigned to a Blimp HedRon near the Caribean. He was one of about 12,499 Navy personnel assigned to blimps. He enlisted in 1943, so this article predates him, but the January 18, 1943 issue of Life magazine shows how blimps were used to patrol waters off the coast of the United States to scout for enemy submarine activity.

Unwinding Twisted Pair: 1948

Seventy-five years ago this month, the January 1948 issue of the British Practical Wireless showed this self-explanatory tip for unwinding twisted pair.

The idea was sent into the magazine by one R.L.G. of Chelmsford, who pointed out that it was often necessary to unwind a long length of “lighting flex,” which was apparently in common use in Britain for home lighting circuits. But he points out that any amateur who has attempted this learns that it becomes tedious after a few feet. With the device shown here, it was an easy matter. You just pull the wire taut, and start twisting (usually clockwise). In just a few minutes, the wires will separate. It is necessary to move back slowly, as the wires get longer when unraveled.

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WWV, 1953

Seventy years ago this month, the January 1953 issue of Boys’ Life carried this illustration showing some of the uses to which the signal of WWV could be put.

The railroad and the factory worker were on time thanks to the time broadcasts. The time was announced every five minutes, in both Morse code and voice. The Morse was in GMT, and the voice was Eastern Standard Time. The musician took advantage of the standard 440 Hz tones, which were the A above Middle C.

The code key represents an idea shown by the magazine. For an easy code practice set, you could put the key in line with a pair of headphones and tune into WWV. Then, you could key the tone on and off.

In addition, the station sent radio propagation disturbance warnings, with the Morse W, U, or N. W meant warning, U meant unstable, and N meant normal.

1963 Stealth Antennas

It’s become a more common issue these days, but even 60 years ago, some hams and SWL’s were faced with the issue of needing to put up an antenna where they weren’t allowed. As highlighted by this article in the January 1963 issue of Electronics Illustrated, one solution, then and now, is to use an invisible antenna. The easiest way to do that, as apparently done by the owner of the antenna shown above, is to use a very thin gauge wire. The article suggested 18 gauge or smaller (larger numbers being smaller). The best choice is often enamel wire, and it is sometimes possible to select a color that matches the background, for added stealth.

I’ve discovered that one source of very cheap almost invisible wire is cheap speaker wire. Remember, when you see the price per foot, you’re actually only paying half that much, since you can unzip the wire before using it. And it often comes with clear insulation, meaning that it’s almost invisible from even a short distance away.

The magazine suggested a type of insulator to use, but modern hams have discovered that the insulator is often unnecessary. Instead, just tie the end of the wire to a piece of monofilament fishing line, which is even less visible.

The article also suggested the possibility of becoming patriotic and installing a flagpole on your house. Especially for higher frequencies, they can form the basis for an excellent antenna system.

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