...The radios we'll always remember

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Ham and shortwave related historical items.

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Heathkit - An Employee Looks Back

Electronic Design magazine published an excellent interview in 2020 with Chas Gilmore W8IAI, former Heath engineer, manager, and executive.    Anyone with an interest in Heathkits will find this interview to be well worth the time to read. You can read it for free without registration here at the ELECTRONIC DESIGN WEBSITEThe photo below was borrowed from W8IAI's QRZ page, and shows...  READ MORE

W9RAN
11/332/2023
Looking Back
John Wells, Cliff Harvey, and the Harvey-Wells Electronics Company

Through the courtesy of the author,  Hamilton K.   Agnew,  it's a pleasure to share this history of one of ham radios pioneering companies - Harvey Wells Electronics.     The company was a very important contributor to world-wide electronics, both during WWII and many years after, as well as a substantial manufacturer of ham radio equipment.Download it from the link at th...  READ MORE

W9RAN
10/276/2023
Looking Back
The History of the Car Radio

Seems like cars have always had radios, but they didn't. Here's the story:One evening, in 1929, two young men named William Lear and Elmer Wavering drove their girlfriends to a lookout point high above the Mississippi River town of Quincy, Illinois, to watch the sunset. It was a romantic night to be sure, but one of the women observed that it would be even nicer if they could listen to music in ...  READ MORE

W9RAN
06/171/2023
Looking Back
History of the Car Radio

Seems like cars have always had radios, but they didn't.    Here's the story:     One evening, in 1929, two young men named William Lear and Elmer Wavering drove their girlfriends to a lookout point high above the Mississippi River town of Quincy, Illinois, to watch the sunset.  It was a romantic night to be sure, but one ...  READ MORE

W9RAN
06/171/2023
Looking Back
Your Future With Teletype

The 1950s were a time of high growth for many companies - especially those involved in communications and electronics.    So what young ham would not be tempted to think about working for one of the largest data communications companies in the world - a future with Teletype? Download the booklet at the attachments link below for a look at how Teletype sought to attract technicians, eng...  READ MORE

W9RAN
03/80/2023
Looking Back
Teletype Corp.

Download the document "The New Look At Teletype" which appeared in 1960 that offers a glimpse into the operation of one of the largest data communications companies of its time. The Teletype Corporation of Skokie IL,  a part of American Telephone and Telegraph Company's Western Electric manufacturing arm since 1930, came into being in 1928 when the Morkrum-Kleinschmidt Company changed its na...  READ MORE

W9RAN
03/75/2023
Looking Back
YASME - Exotic DX On the Air

Yasme is a storied word in amateur radio DX circles. DX stands for “distance” and the sailboats for which Yasme is named certainly covered their share of DX, crossing the oceans and dropping anchor at exotic islands some six decades ago. In turn, amateurs around the world, the “DX-ers,” would then try to contact the Yasme captain, Danny Weil, VP2VB, an amateur operator of...  READ MORE

W9RAN
12/351/2022
Looking Back
The Antenna Dilemma

While all new hams faced the question of what kind of antenna to put up - most had to quickly abandon dreams of a big tower with a huge beam for a number of reasons.     The challenge was to get some kind of antenna up that would radiate effectively on the desired bands but would not become a target for lightning - or equally energetic complaints from wifes, parents, or neighbors.&...  READ MORE

W9RAN
12/351/2022
Looking Back
The Knight Kit T-60 Transmitter

As the Novice ham license was closing on it's 10th anniversary and the number of new hams was growing as fast as the rockets taking off from Cape Caneveral,  the engineers at Allied Radio's Knight Kit division knew it was time for a replacement for the "T-50" which had only been given the official designator if "83YX255".     Of course no one called it a "T-50" until there was...  READ MORE

W9RAN
04/116/2022
Looking Back
The Boy Scout Radio Merit Badge

The development of the Radio Merit Badge over the years is quite fascinating. The original merit badge was titled the Wireless Merit Badge and was introduced in 1918.   The requirements have changed quite a lot over the years as radio evolved.  For example, 1922 requirements included being able to receive Morse Code at 10 words per minute. The 1930 Radio Merit Badge lowered the re...  READ MORE

W9RAN
04/107/2022
Looking Back
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