RAN Technology

Posted By: Robert Nickels (ranickels)
Posted: 06/156/2020

Vintage Radio 06/156/2020

Postcard or Letter Radio

from the Boy's Fun Book

Seeing this article on Hackaday about how a guy in China made a crystal set using the diode in a chip credit card for the detector reminded me of the Postcard Radio. It was a project in the WWII-era "Boys Fun Book" that I had as a kid and although I remember it well I had no reason to build one because who would want to mail a radio to someone else? I did make many versions of the razor-blade "foxhole radio" from that book as described here previously.

I suspect today's mailing equipment would turn a letter radio into mush and might even get you a nasty reprimand from the USPS, but sending one in a padded envelope would certainly work. Who would have envisioned padded envelopes in the day when packages were wrapped in brown paper and tied with string?

Click on the image title or on the image itself to open the full-sized image in a separate window.

Mail someone a radio!

Postcard radio schematic

Posted: 09/267/2023
Category: Technical
Comments: 0

Hot to simulate vacuum tubes in LTSpice

LTSice is a powerful simulation tool that is provided free by Linear Technology Corp. It comes with a complete library of passive and common analog solid-state components but if you want to use it to simulate vacuum tubes, it doesen't work as-is. Even though triode and pentode symbols can be found in the "Misc" folder, they are just schematic symbols and... READ MORE

Posted: 07/208/2023
Category: Friends Remembered
Comments: 0

Merv Schweigert, K9FD (SK)

Comments from Robert Nickels W9RAN, July 27, 2023:There is nothing worse for a ham radio operator than to see a beloved friends callsign with the letters "SK" behind them. Yet sadly, that's what happened on July 23, 2023, when I learned of the passsing of Merv Schweigert, K9FD. While many of our ham radio interests were different - Merv was a... READ MORE

Posted: 01/19/2023
Category: Vintage Ham Radio
Comments: 0

"Winter Projects"

I know many of us who enjoy restoring and repairing vintage gear look forward to winter when there is less competition for time and energy, and a chance to really make a dent in our "to be fixed" piles. A couple of years ago I set time aside for "Heathkit Singlebander Week" and went through every one of them I had, with the result that they're all working ... READ MORE

Posted: 11/330/2022
Category: Vintage Ham Radio
Comments: 0

The Galaxy COMM2

Leo Meyerson had been in the ham radio retail and manufacturing business for over 25 years, and by 1970 he was ready to retire. His son took over the WRL distribution and retail business but the Galaxy Electronics manufacturing operation was sold to his long-time friend Andy Andros WØLTE, founder and president of Hy Gain Electronics in nearby Lincoln NE. The CB radio eleme... READ MORE

Posted: 10/304/2022
Category: Historic
Comments: 0

Don Taylor of the Yukon, and the Trappers Sched

Most of the articles on this site are about hams, or ham radio. This one is not about a ham but about a man who built as much a reputation through HF radio as any ham on top of the BPL ever did. Don Taylor is one of those rugged independent-minded people who thrive on a lifestyle most of us couldn't even imagine - as a trapper in Canada's Yukon wildernes... READ MORE

Posted: 09/252/2022
Category: Historic
Comments: 0

KYW-KFKX - Linking Broadcasting Stations by Shortwave

Most radio fans know the history of KDKA but maybe not "the rest of the story".In November 1920 the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company began operation of a radio broadcasting station, KDKA, in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, often described as the "Pioneer Broadcasting Station of the World." KDKA is generally considered to be the first commercially... READ MORE

Posted: 09/251/2022
Category: Historic
Comments: 0

AT&T Scranton LongLines tower

The microwave network constructed by AT&T Long Lines and other telecommunications companies in the past 50 years were engineering masterpieces using state-of-the-art technologies and some were designed to withstand nuclear attack during that Cold War era. This is a non-hardened site on top of a mountain in upstate New York that existed long enough for graffiti taggers t... READ MORE

Posted: 07/183/2022
Category: Vintage Ham Radio
Comments: 0

The Pioneer 530

made by JAARS for Wycliffe Bible Translators In 1917 a missionary named William Cameron Townsend went to Guatemala to sell Spanish Bibles. But he was shocked when many people couldn’t understand the books. They spoke Cakchiquel, a language without a Bible. He believed everyone should understand the Bible, so he started a linguistics school (the Summer Institute of Linguistics, known today as SIL) that trained people to do Bible ... READ MORE

Posted: 05/129/2022
Category: Historic
Comments: 0

The Elgin National Watch Company Time Broadcasts

the story of W9XAM Visitors to the Elgin National Historic area along the Fox River in Elgin Illinois may not realize they are at the site of a famous shortwave radio station - W9XAM - the time signal station operated by the Elgin Watch Company.Elgin was the only watch company maintaining an observatory that observed, recorded and broadcasted time from the stars correct to the hundredths of a second. Located a... READ MORE

Posted: 04/105/2022
Category: Vintage Ham Radio
Comments: 0

The Mosley Commando II

Made in England and scarce even there The Mosley CM-1 receiver is quite well known and not especially hard to find in the US even though it was the only radio produced by the company that has been well-known for antennas since 1939. Or is it...?A full-page ad (advert for you on the other side of the pond) appeared in the RSGB Bulletin in 1963 for a nice looking and very capable SSB transmitter called the "Commando II&... READ MORE