Seventy years ago this month, the August 1954 issue of Popular Mechanics showed how to put together this CONELRAD monitor for the ham. This one was more extravagant than most. It was hooked into the AVC circuit of a broadcast radio, and would trigger when the station being monitored left the air. In addition to setting an alarm, the author had it wired to automatically shut down the transmitter and switch to receive.
Seventy-five years ago, Cordes Electric Co., at the corner of Union and Natural Bridge, St. Louis, MO, discovered a great way to sell televisions–to rent them out. If a customer was on the fence, the store learned that the best way to close the sale was to enlist other family members to convince the customer of the need. To do that, they had to get the set into the house, and they did that by renting 10 inch sets for $10.50 per week. The rental fee could be applied to the purchase of a new set, although this was for a limited time, to encourage a quick decision. In most cases, the customers kept the set, or traded it for a larger model.
In rare cases, the customer decided that television wasn’t for them, and had it taken back. But even in those cases, the customer called back later to have it returned. Once again, it was the family members who clamored for its return.
The picture an accompanying article appeared in the August 1949 issue of Radio Retailing.
Eighty-five years ago, this happy homemaker is listening to a program while working in the kitchen, thanks to a four-tube TRF set described in the August 1939 issue of Popular Mechanics.
The set could be put together for only $4.75 (less tubes and cabinet), and would operate on 110 volts, either AC or DC. It put out two watts of audio power.
Canada is not friendly roaming territory for many U.S. cell phones. Some U.S. providers have excellent roaming in Canada, but in many cases, your cell phone is dead weight north of the border. In many cases, you can probably get roaming by calling your provider before you go. But there’s an easier way.
My plan doesn’t provide any coverage north of the border. My phone read “emergency calls only,” so I assume I could have called 911. And, of course, I could use it with a WiFi connection. But voice, data, and text service was unavailable. The problem was easily remedied. I stopped at a Walmart (in particular, the North Winnipeg Garden City store), and the helpful friendly staff quickly got me set up with chatr mobile, an affiliate of Rogers Communications. For about $33 Canadian (about US$24), they sold me a SIM card, installed it in my existing phone, and started my prepaid service for one month. I’m sure many other retailers could have helped me, but Walmart seemed the most convenient.
I now have my very own Canadian telephone number, and if I visit Canada again, I can simply use the same SIM card. You won’t be able to receive calls to your U.S. number, but all of your contacts will still be in your phone, and you can call or text, as well as make use of the generous data plan.
Keep your existing SIM card in a safe place, because you’ll need to re-install it when you get back to the United States. The Walmart employees will put in the Canadian SIM card, but you’ll be on your own putting it back. But watch them carefully, and you see that the swap is a fairly easy process. You don’t really need it, but it won’t hurt to get a SIM card removal tool.
You don’t have to change it immediately, since you will still have service in the United States with the Canadian card installed. Minutes after crossing the border back to the U.S., I received a text informing me that they had great roaming options and I should purchase one. However, the phone kept working, and it notified me that even without one, service was available, albeit at rather steep prices. Calls were $1.45 per minute, and texts were 75 cents each. I did use the service for a bit, and had a sufficient balance to do so.
Ironically, in the U.S. border town of Pembina, ND, I had service with my Canadian number, even though I didn’t have service there from my U.S. provider. So I was in no rush to change it. If you want to avoid the hassle entirely, you can bring a second phone with you (perhaps your old one, or a cheap unlocked phone purchased from Amazon). They can install the SIM card in that phone, and you can just use it whenever you go to Canada. Another option is to buy a phone there. They had Android phones starting for about $100 Canadian, although comparable phones would be cheaper in the U.S.
In Canada, the chatr service was extraordinarily good. I don’t think I encountered a single dead spot, even though I was further north than most Canadians ever venture. I drove from the border to Thompson, Manitoba, which is 473 miles (761 km) north of Winnipeg. But the entire highway had cell phone coverage, even though there were stretches where it was 200 kilometers between gas stations. Looking at the coverage map, I can see that even a few miles off the highway, there would be no service, but I was impressed with the service. Your best bet is to check with the local retailer, whether it’s Walmart or some other store, and get their advice on which service is best for where you will be going.
Prices will vary, but probably won’t be much higher than the $33 I paid. In fact, a few weeks earlier, my son had done the same thing for about $25, and received a $25 Walmart gift card as part of a special promotion. So in his case, the phone service was basically free. If you’re going to be there for more than a month, it might be worth shopping around for price. But for convenience, you can’t beat walking into Walmart and walking out with a phone that’s good for a month of prepaid service.
A hundred years ago, these dancers were getting their dance music courtesy of the airwaves. The image appeared on the cover of the July, 1924, issue of Radio Age.
If you built this replica of an old-time radio when it was published, then today, it really is an old-time radio. The plans appeared in the July 1974 issue of Elementary Electronics for this crystal set. According to the magazine, the set is very selective, in part because it relies upon a loop antenna, which can be rotated to null out interfering stations. It requires no external antenna or ground, which also reduces static, and means that you don’t have to worry about lightning.
It had a galena crystal and cats whisker on front. But if you got tired of searching the crystal for the sweet spot, you could cheat by moving the headphone to a different socket, which was hooked up to a germanium diode hidden inside the cabinet.
A hundred years ago, these girls, all students at a Chicago public school, are proudly holding the radios they made in a contest. The are shown in the July 1924 issue of Radio News, which noted that they would not let the boys outdo them. The showed superior workmanship and attracted the attention of local experts.
A hundred years ago, this father-son duo were entertaining themselves on an otherwise slow afternoon by tuning in a radio program in some distant city. They are pictured in the July, 1924, issue of Radio Age, which notes that no camping trip was complete without its radio equipment. No matter where you went, you couldn’t be so far as to not be able to pull in a broadcasting station.
Seventy years ago this month, the July 1954 issue of the British publication Radio Constructor carried the plans for this one-tube regenerative receiver for the “veriest beginner” to radio. The magazine noted that such a beginner may not yet know how to read schematics, and the the magazine thus carried Heathkit-style step-by-step instructions for wiring it up.
Future issues of the magazine would add improvements, which would ultimately result in a three-tube set.
A hundred years ago today, this unnamed woman was named the “most telephoned girl in the world.” The title didn’t come from her receiving the most calls, but by her image being transported over phone lines. The July 22, 1924, issue of the New Britain (CT) Herald noted that it was “this beauty that the research laboratories of the American Telephone and Telegraph company selected for experiments on ways of retaining clarity and loveliness in reprodcution and transmission of telephoned pictures.” He picture was on the cover of the instruction booklet for the AT&T Telephotography service.