Post-WWII Ham Radio Photos
The US military had taken over most or all of the ham radio band allocations for the duration. The ham radio makers were devoted to making war materiel. In some cases this meant they just added a tag and some hardening to radios they were already makeing for hams. One example is the Hallicrafters HT-4 transmitter which became the basis for the famous SCR-299 and -399 division-level radio command centers. As the boys came home, competition became fierce–and we radio collectors were left with some of the most interesting equipment that a hobbyist could dream of. Here are pictures of radios owned by PARS members with ham gear in their collections.
18. Sketches from a Life in Electronics
Laten Fetters 2012 Autobiographical essays by Laten; biographical essays by others. Laten came home from the Second World War to a 37-year career with Westinghouse in general research, astro-nuclear research and work on transportation systems. He was a diagnostician...
19. Mr. Johnson Answers
William (Bill) Johnson, Jr. and others 2012 The Pittsburgh Oscillator ran a series of articles in the 1980's which asked questions about radio and invited readers to send in answers. The book reproduces 60 of those questions together with the responses. Also includes...
20. An Oscillator Reader
2013 An anthology of articles from the Pittsburgh Oscillator: Journal of the Pittsburgh Antique Radio Society from 1987 to 1995, during which time the journal was edited by David Kraeuter. Paperback, 168 pages, 6 x 9, $10.32.
25. The At Home Series
Rex Kraeuter 2018 Reproduces six articles from The Pittsburgh Oscillator about Rex's (a.k.a. David Kraeuter) phonograph records, Edison's cylinders, Edison's discs, etc. Also contains a surprise essay purported to be by Stormy Daniels. Paperback, 27 pages, 6 x 9,...
Top Secret! Collecting Military Radios Pt. 1
The most imortant skill you need to collect military radios is the ability to speak the lingo. "SCR"? "BC"? "TM?" Who or what was "COL"? The military had a huge nomenclature system that need not be mastered. But if you want to find parts for your "ATD" then it might...
Pittsburgh Area Ham Clubs
I've been using quarantine time to (among other stuff) go through my old stuff so that whatever wisdom there may be in history can be recovered from what I have. I was late to the local ham community party. But I quickly discovered that there were MANY active ham...
Glad Tydings
Prior to the war, "radio" stores sold mostly parts. The "Radio monopoly" led by RCA was trying to use their patents as bludgeons to make you buy RCA and the others. It wasn't working. But still, this 1940 Tydings catalog pictured features mostly parts with a good...
Notes From Ross Kilgore Related to Vladimir Zworykin
By Ross Kilgore - Westinghouse Engineer His experiences relating to Vladimir Zworykin (Contributed by PARS Past President Richard Brewster) At the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Corporation demonstrated a...
Re-Using PC Power Supplies
Re-purposing old PC power supplies has long been an inexpensive solution to our low-voltage power requirements. Lots of people must be doing this for various needs and so the market has responded with a way to make it easier,. To simplify re-using old PC power...
Buck/Boost Power for Your Bench
This "new" power supply design is worth looking at. I've put the word "new" in quotes to indicate that this design is probably much older than I realize. So the design is "new" only to me! I'm always the last to know! The nice part is that it seems to be becoming...