1948 Radio Control Sailboat

Seventy-five years ago this month, the April 1948 issue of Radio News featured on its cover this radio-controlled sailboat, getting ready to sail the waters of Boston harbor.

The rudder was controlled by a DC motor, and the remote used two channels to set it to port or to starboard. Polarity was reversed to change direction of the rudder, and it was geared so that the full travel took about 15 seconds. The remote control transmitted on both 51 and 53 MHz, and the receiver circuit shown below featured two separate suprregenerative receivers, one for each channel.

The magazine reminded readers that an amateur radio operator’s license was required to operate the craft.

S&H Green Stamps for Sylvania Tubes, 1963

If you were responsible for procuring vacuum tubes for a TV repair shop 60 years ago, you would probably find this ad very appealing, and chances are, your next order would be for Sylvania tubes. This two-page spread in Electronics World, April 1963, shows two good reasons for stocking that brand. According to the left side of the page, they’re good tubes and they’ll last a long time.

But the right side of the page is even more compelling. When you start ordering Sylvania tubes, you start collecting S&H Green Stamps, just like the ones you get at the supermarket or the gas station. You collect the stamps, and before long, you can cash them in for valuable premiums, “everything from home furnishings to furs.”

Pocket Sized Cassette Recorders, 1973.

Fifty years ago this month, the April 1973 issue of Popular Mechanics highlighted the many miniature cassette recorders then on the market. Like their slightly older brethren like the one at the rear, all of these played standard sized cassettes. Even smaller models were available using smaller tapes, but the magazine noted that those were often hard to find, so it featured only the models using full sized cassettes.

Weight of all of these recorders were between one and two pounds. The playback sound was said to be limited, mostly because of the small speaker and underpowered amplifier. But the magazine noted that a recording made on one of the small units, when played back on the good player at home, sounded surprisingly good.

Prices of the sets shown started at about $65.

1963 Three Tube 6 Meter Receiver

Sixty years ago this month, the April 1963 issue of Popular Electronics carried the plans for this simple three-tube receiver for most of (50-53 MHz) the six meter amateur band. The circuit was unusual in that it combined a supereheterodyne front end, with a superregenerative detector. While unusual, this was said to provide extremely good selectivity and sensitivity for such a simple receiver. The intermediate frequency was 2 MHz.

1923 Crystal Set

A hundred years ago this month, the April 1923 issue of Radio Age showed how to put together this handsome crystal set. The plans were actually courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Standards, and the construction article was a reprint of a government pamphlet. The set was an upgrade from an earlier Bureau of Standards model, and featured greater selectivity. The total cost was said to be about $15.00. If the earlier set had already been built, the additional components would cost about $5.00.

The article describe the construction of the variable couple, the inner coil of which slid on a wooden base into the larger. However, it also noted that a commercially built unit could be used.

Readers considering duplicating this circuit will be able to find many of the required parts on our crystal sets parts page.

John Patrizi, Newark, NY, 1943

Shown here is the radio repair shop of John B. Patrizi, 115 West Sherman Avenue, Newark, NY. The small but efficient shop seems to be in Patrizi’s home, and he sent the picture to the National Radio Institute (NRI) to report his success.

According to the 1940 census, Patrizi was born in about 1900 in Italy. According to his letter to NRI, he had been working on WPA projects for two years and didn’t know how to get out of that kind of work. But one day, he saw one of NRI’s ubiquitous magazine ads and decided to take a chance by signing up for the course. After just the eighth lesson, he was already getting some work from friends, and poured every penny of those earnings into parts and equipment for his shop. By 1943, he was making $65-80 per week. He was getting business from towns as far as 25 miles away.

He credited his wife (according to the census, Amelia D. Patrizi, with much of his success, including taking phone calls, bookkeeping, and sales. The photo and letter appeared in the April-May 1943 issue of National Radio News.

1963 Revell Shortwave Receiver

Sixty years ago this month, the April 1963 issue of Popular Mechanics showed this two-transistor shortwave radio kit. It’s made by Revell, and if the name and logo look familiar, it’s because they’re the same company that made, and still makes, plastic model kits. You probably didn’t need any airplane glue to put this kit together, but you probably did need a soldering iron.

You can see a nice example of the set on WA1KPD’s QRZ page, where he gives some details of what was his first shortwave receiver.

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Radio in Plentywood, MT, 1923

A hundred years ago, radio was making itself known throughout the country, even in Plentywood, Montana, in the extreme northeastern corner of the state. L.S. Smith, the proprietor of the Plentywood Machine Shop, had constructed a radio which pulled in New York, California, Texas, and even Havana.

He took out this ad in the town’s newspaper, the Producers News, April 13, 1923, announcing that he had sets for sale at a reasonable price. You could write or visit, and he would arrange a demonstration in his home some evening.

1948 Philco 1401 Radio-Phono

This couple are getting ready to enjoy listening to a record on the Philco model 1401 radio-phonograph, which, according to the ad, played records by magic. You didn’t need to lift the lid, nor even look at the tone arm. You just inserted the record into the front, and it played automatically.

This ad appeared in Life magazine 75 years ago today, April 12, 1948. You can see a nicely restored specimen at this video:

1948: Homemade Mess Kit & Scout Signaling

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Today, if you buy a mess kit like the one shown at left, you can inexpensively take care of your cooking and serving needs for a camping trip of a few days. But if you want to economize even further, you can take advantage of the plans found 75 years ago this month in Boys’ Life magazine, April 1948.

A Scout is Thrifty, and the magazine showed those thrifty scouts how to make a similar mess kit out of old tin cans. With a few simple hand tools, the cans can be cut to size. The article showed a technique for smoothing the cut edge with a hammer. Handles are made with stiff wire. The author used a fly swatter handle, but a metal coat hanger would work just as well.

The article notes that almost any kind of can may be used, although it warned to never use a paint can. It warned that since cans back then were neither aluminum nor stainless steel, it was important to dry the items thoroughly after washing. However, modern cans are probably more forgiving.

Advanced scouts could construct from a one-gallon can the combination stove/toaster/frying pan shown at left. It’s pretty self-explanatory–the fire goes inside the inverted can. The door for putting in the wood fuel serves double duty, as it folds upward to provide a spot to snap a slice of bread in place for toasting.

While the idea seems novel, we suspect the inexpensive camping toaster shown at right is an overall better performer if you’re interested in making toast on a campfire or portable stove.

This issue of the magazine is also useful to scout historians, because it includes a removeable booklet section showing the Tenderfoot-Second Class-First Class requirements which had just been adopted. Many of our readers, of course, will be interested to know what the signaling requirement was back then. I recall that about the time I joined in the 1970s, the First Class requirement was that the Scout be able to use Morse Code or semaphore. I’ve been told, although I haven’t confirmed it, that at one point, Scouts had to know both Morse Code and semaphore. But in 1948, the requirement was for Morse code only, although it could be done with flags, light, or sound: