On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 20:26:59 -0400, dxAce wrote:



wrote:

On 03 Oct 2004 18:33:52 GMT, (Llgpt) wrote:

Subject: First Radio?
From: dxAce
Date: 10/3/2004 12:34 PM Central Daylight Time
Message-id:

What was your first radio?

I seem to recall that mine was a rocket shaped crystal set that I had back in
the 1960's.

Anyone else remember those things?

dxAce
Michigan
USA



A Hammarlund AACS variant of the Super Pro. Tuned from 300 kc to 10 mc.

My family had an old Philco upright (about four feet tall)
with a knob to change bands (BC and a few SW), The speaker was about
12 inches. There was a tuning knob with an inner fine tuning knob on a
concentric shaft. It also had a tube for tuning, whose name I forget.

Magic Eye?

Yep.



It was mounted with the top forward and the lower sector of the circle
widened and narrowed as you tuned past stations. I believe it operated
by cjanging the voltage on an element to shield more or less of the
electron flow to a cone shaped element just below the top.

The first I built had a germanium slug in a holder, which also
had a catwhisker mounted nearby in its own holder. The coil was made
of enameled wire mounted on a flat rectangular block;. To get it to
work just after construction, you had to wipe the slider a number of
times across the coil wires to break through the enamel, leaving a
shiny copper arc showing.

It was the first place I came across fahnestock clips -- for
the antenna and ground.

"dxAce" wrote in message
...
What was your first radio?

I seem to recall that mine was a rocket shaped crystal set that I had back
in
the 1960's.

Anyone else remember those things?

I'm assuming you mean shortwave radio. My first was a Sears ComTrek IX - it
actually belonged to my dad but I sort of "took it over" once I discovered
the SW bands on it. It had a flip down door where a little logbook could be
kept, and among the various AM and VHF logs was a sole entry for Radio RSA
South Africa. That was enough to pique my interest at 10 yrs of age.

The first "real" SW radio of my own was the Realistic DX-160 I received for
Christmas one year (c. 1978 or so).

DesignGuy wrote:

"dxAce" wrote in message
...
What was your first radio?

I seem to recall that mine was a rocket shaped crystal set that I had back
in
the 1960's.

Anyone else remember those things?

I'm assuming you mean shortwave radio.

No, not necessarily.

My first was a Sears ComTrek IX - it
actually belonged to my dad but I sort of "took it over" once I discovered
the SW bands on it. It had a flip down door where a little logbook could be
kept, and among the various AM and VHF logs was a sole entry for Radio RSA
South Africa. That was enough to pique my interest at 10 yrs of age.

The first "real" SW radio of my own was the Realistic DX-160 I received for
Christmas one year (c. 1978 or so).

DesignGuy wrote:

"dxAce" wrote in message
...
What was your first radio?

I seem to recall that mine was a rocket shaped crystal set that I had back
in
the 1960's.

Anyone else remember those things?


My first radio of any kind was a two-transistor "Hinode" AM radio.
That was replaced some months later by a 6 transistor Panasonic model
T-601. I still have that radio, and it still works!

My first shortwave radio (or at least shortwave capable) was a 1937
Zenith console, replete with "Magic Eye", voice/music tone controls, all
those standard old goodies. It worked fine, except that the main power
output was two 6L6GC's and you could only use one, as it badly needed a
cap job, and with both power tubes in, it hummed like a B-17.

Tony

"DesignGuy" wrote in message news:nu%7d.104922$wV.18788@attbi_s54...
"dxAce" wrote in message
...
What was your first radio?

I seem to recall that mine was a rocket shaped crystal set that I had back
in
the 1960's.

Anyone else remember those things?

I'm assuming you mean shortwave radio. My first was a Sears ComTrek IX - it
actually belonged to my dad but I sort of "took it over" once I discovered
the SW bands on it. It had a flip down door where a little logbook could be
kept, and among the various AM and VHF logs was a sole entry for Radio RSA
South Africa. That was enough to pique my interest at 10 yrs of age.

The first "real" SW radio of my own was the Realistic DX-160 I received for
Christmas one year (c. 1978 or so).



My first radio was like the crystal radios list on the site below.
Click he http://www.xtalman.com/

Postal97321

In article , says...
What was your first radio?

I seem to recall that mine was a rocket shaped crystal set that I had back in
the 1960's.

Anyone else remember those things?

dxAce
Michigan
USA



I had one of those, it was red with a blue nose cone. Only would get two
stations most of the time, a nearby one at 1560KHZ, and another one,
CKLW on 800KHZ. For some reason it almost always covered up WJR on
760KHZ. My first radio was a record player/AM combo deal that always
hummmed a little, and would zap the hell out of you if you touched any
of the chassis screws while you were grounded. My dad got zapped and got
me a new record player and gave me huge AM/FM portable(tubes)that really
sounded great. The new record player was as dangerous as the original
one.

BDK

In article , dxAce
wrote:

What was your first radio?

I seem to recall that mine was a rocket shaped crystal set that I had back in
the 1960's.

Anyone else remember those things?

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Here it is:
http://www.peeblesoriginals.com/vint...stal-radio.jpg

My Dad set it up for me. It had a sloping wire down the back of the
house from the second floor bedroom. A wire went to the cold water pipe
for ground from the upstairs bathroom. My radio was a light blue color.
The one in the picture looks to be a very dark blue or black but
otherwise looks just like it.

That slider was a metal marble that slid along the side of a coil making
it a variable tap.

I could pick up several local stations with it.

This radio was a marvel to me from the standpoint that it did not need
any batteries or need to be plugged in the wall outlet. It was powered
by the energy it picked up from the air. It was a magical self powered
thing.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

"dxAce" wrote in message
...
What was your first radio?

I seem to recall that mine was a rocket shaped crystal set that I
had back in
the 1960's.

Anyone else remember those things?

First radio that I bought was ye olde Realistic DX-440 (aka
the Sangean 803a). However, for about 6 months before
that purchase, I'd been listening to a Hallicrafters S-20R
Sky Champion that was parked in the lab that I worked at
as an undergrad. The real fun came when I stumbled on
a Hammarlund HQ-180A in another lab room, but I couldn't
talk the professor into giving that one up...

--Mike L.

dxAce wrote:
What was your first radio?

I seem to recall that mine was a rocket shaped crystal set that I had
back in the 1960's.

Anyone else remember those things?

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Hallicrafters S-120. It wasn't very robust or very good and my grandfather
took it back after a month and got me a used S-40B. Now that was a a radio!

--
Brian Denley
http://home.comcast.net/~b.denley/index.html

dxAce asked:


What was your first radio?


An "all-American 5" 5-tube AM table radio which got me hooked on DX when I
heard distant AM stations on it. It had a black plastic cabinet. The back of
the radio was a piece of cardboard with an air-core loop on the inside.

First SW radio was a Hallicrafters S-120.