Old Time A M Radio Memories

Discussion in 'Other Reminiscences' started by Faye Fox, Nov 3, 2019.

  1. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    @Hal Pollner
    One I restored in the 1990's.
    Sold it to a collector.
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  2. Jerry Adams

    Jerry Adams Veteran Member
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    Thanks, I thought Del Rio transmitted from Mexico. I believe the US limit was 50,000 watts at that time.

    With the right weather conditions we could pick up WHO 600 miles off the Carolina coast.
     
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  3. Lois Winters

    Lois Winters Veteran Member
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    In the 30s through the early 50s, there were terrific radio shows on AM radio for all ages. The comedies were absolutely hilarious and young as I was I do remember the Halloween airing of Orson Welles landing of Martians practically in my back yard in New Jersey. People were going absolutely nuts. During the war there were terrific disc jockeys out of NY who played all the swing and big band era music for the troops and us. Later, younger singers joined the likes of Sinatra and became well received. I still listen to those old songs on my internet radio 24/7.
     
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  4. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    I know it is not a girl thing'
    but as an only child my dad
    taught me what he knew about
    electronics and building radios
    The boys would get mad at me
    for entering my radio experiments
    that I designed myself in the science fair
    Sorry guys,
    Faye

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  5. Bess Barber

    Bess Barber Veteran Member
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    This station is still going strong!!! It still has the APE yell after they announce the letters. :D
     
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  6. Bess Barber

    Bess Barber Veteran Member
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    Youtube has a lot of the old radio programs on it. They have entire play lists for romance, mystery, detective and more.
    Here is one playlist with 118 programs on it. It would be fun to just listen to a few.

     
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  7. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    @Faye Fox, I'm surprised and delighted to hear of your education and experience in the noble field of Radio!

    You are probably no stranger to the terms "Percentage of Modulation", "Effective Radiated Power", "Antenna Gain and Directivity", etc.

    I was a loyal fan of AM Radio throughout the 1940's, and will always remember the evenings when the family gathered around the big Philco console in our Wheeling W. Va. living room, listening to "Amos & Andy", "Gang Busters", "Jack Benny", and many other shows.

    I also had a First Class FCC License during the years when I worked as a Lab Test Engineer for Boeing. I worked on outdoor "antenna ranges", where antennas were developed for various aircraft by building scale aircraft models and placing them downrange on a tower-mounted 3-axis positioner which was "illuminated" by RF energy from the transmitting tower several hundred feet away.

    As the model rotated in Yaw, Pitch, and Roll, it generated a Radiation Pattern of the antenna characteristics.

    It was really interesting work!

    Hal


     
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    Last edited: Nov 8, 2019
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  8. Lois Winters

    Lois Winters Veteran Member
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    I really love the old comedies. You Tube has so many of the Abbott and Costello videos and they are hilarious.
     
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  9. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    @Hal Pollner Modulation envelope from a 500 watt AM plate modulated experimental transmitter I designed and built modulated at 125%. I was thinking of building a small daytime AM station and playing oldies but goodies all day long. Maybe a small commercial shortwave station near 40 meters. It was a dream I couldn't afford. I don't really care about radio anymore other than reminiscing about the old days.

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  10. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    Yep...and there was also Laurel and Hardy!

    Hal
     
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  11. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    HEY FAYE...

    125% modulation? That represents Carrier Cutoff during a portion of the cycle, doesn't it?

    Did you use 6L6's in the Final? I didn't know they could be used at RF frequencies.

    We lived close to AM station KNX, and when I was building my first Crystal Sets, I found that due to the high local Field Strength, I could use a Razor Blade and a Needle as a point-contact Detector in place of the usual Galena Slug and Cat's Whisker!

    I was a Ham for a few years, but never was able to achieve 13 WPM, so I was satisfied with a Technician license, which allowed me to operate on 2-Meter FM in the Repeater mode.

    My call was N6CEY

    Hal
     
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  12. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    Yes, but I limited negative peaks so that no cutoff at 125% positive peaks. The modulation transformer always saw a load so no infinity leading to secondary winding burn out. I experimented with this system of 2 60KV 1A silicon diodes and a large 200 w wirewound resistor to always keep a protective load on negative peaks but would not conduct during positive peaks. It helped replace elaborate speech compressors and audio processing that kept the audio more level and suitable for broadcast. For best results, a simple speech compressor was necessary. Yes, 6L6's makes good low power transmitting tubes, but old TV tubes like 6DQ6 made better single tube transmitters. This transmitter was two 813's in parallel class C modulated by push pull 813"s wired as triodes for class B. It ran nicely at 500 watts input and 125% positive peak modulation.
     
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  13. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    Lady Faye, you sure know your Radio Theory and Practice!

    Hal
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  14. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    @Hal Pollner Beautiful equipment. Way to modern for me, but still what an awesome setup! I was never into the telescopes, but my dad loved them! Is the Icom just a receiver or a transceiver?
     
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  15. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    It's a GRUNDIG Communications Receiver.

    73...Hal
     
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