Recording - 50's style

History and Humor 08/11/2022

Posted By: Robert Nickels (ranickels)
Posted on 08/11/2022

Sound engineer Lincoln Grounds takes the viewer into Sugar Ray’s Vintage Recording Studio in the UK to find out why it’s still valid to record an entire band to tape, with one microphone. He also shows the effect of adding more microphones and describes the characterists of various vintage microphones. Most of the equipment used was made in America during the 1950s and long abandoned except for vintage studios like this.- Altec and RCA microphones, Altec vacuum tube mixers and compressors, Ampex tape machines, etc.


Historic Posted: 11/329/2023 Comments: 0	TV Duplexer Some things are interesting, even if totally useless nowadays. Such is the case with the Philco 426-3034 Crossover Kit for UHF TV. What the heck is that? Well, back in the late 50s, UHF television stations operating on channels 14-83 started to appear in many areas of the US where viewers had a VHF-only TV antenna, and in many cases an externa UHF converter was... READ MORE
Crystal Replacement Posted: 11/327/2023 Comments: 0	Replacing failed crystals For decades, quartz crystals were used everywhere a stable frequency source was needed, even in some applications that depended on overtone (harmonic) behavior into the VHF range. These crystals were less stable and more dependent on circuit parameters that fundamental types and thus more problematic. Such was the case with the 94 MHz crystal in the 2 meter converter ... READ MORE
Historic Posted: 11/315/2023 Comments: 0	My Own Ham Radio Story by W9RAN Everyone has a story of how they got involved in ham radio - this is mine. It started much earlier, including receiving a Knight Kit Span Master shortwave radio for Christmas in about 1963, at age 12. I'll never forget the night my dad and I finished building it and I wanted to try it out. It came with a 50 ft. antenna which was still coiled up - but ... READ MORE
Technical Posted: 09/267/2023 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
Friends Remembered Posted: 07/208/2023 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 - Me... READ MORE
Vintage Ham Radio Posted: 01/19/2023 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
Vintage Ham Radio Posted: 11/330/2022 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
Historic Posted: 10/304/2022 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
Historic Posted: 09/252/2022 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 fi... READ MORE
Historic Posted: 09/251/2022 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: 10/16/2023
Comments: 0

ALL ELECTRONICs is gone, but Aretronics is here!

All Electronics, a long-time parts supplier for hobbyists, has gone out of business, but employees have started a new company offering many of the same products and promising the same great service::"Aretronics is the new company, started by ex-employees of All Electronics.Together we have decades of industry experience.We aim to provide the same fast, reliable service as we did at All Electr... READ MORE

Posted: 03/12/2023
Comments: 0

Quantum Spectrum - a DSP add-on for low-end SDRs

As one who has been playing with small inexpensive SDRs since the days of the Softrock, I've been amazed by how well the simple yet very effective Quadrature Sampling Detector aka "Tayloe Detector" (named after it's inventor Dan Tayloe) actually works. Using calibrated equipment I've measured the Minimum Detectable Signal (MDS) at -122dBm using the same 3dB ... READ MORE

Posted: 06/08/2022
Comments: 0

WANTED: Bendix 3206

Power Supply/Mod/IF unit This is an odd and unusual piece of gear, it's got IF cans one one end and a dynamotor on the other! It's the back half of the receiver plus power supply and modulator for the Bendix 3801 HF system that was used on aircraft before the switch to VHF. The functions were split between the two units to save panel space. Click the image to e... READ MORE

Posted: 03/29/2022
Comments: 0

New droplet-based electricity generator

A drop of water lights up 100 small LED bulbs A team of engineers has figured out how to take a single drop of rain and use it to generate a powerful flash of electricity. The City University of Hong Kong researchers behind the device, which they're calling a droplet-based electricity generator (DEG), say that a single rain droplet can briefly generate 140 volts. Their findings were published in the latest issue of the highly prestigious ... READ MORE

Posted: 03/24/2022
Comments: 0

Russian soldiers uses Chinese portable radios

Baofung UV-82HP - unencrypted The Russian military has used civilian mobile phones and radios for their communications, including Chinese-made civilian handheld radio, during the ongoing Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.According to Defence-Blog.com, the Russian military is using the BaoFeng UV-82HP radios for communication within the frontline units currently stationed in Ukraine.The Ukrainian military manages to sei... READ MORE

Posted: 02/24/2022
Comments: 0

Amateur radio transmittting suspended in Ukraine

part of a 30 day emergency order Full information hereSee Feb. 27 update HERE.Some webSDRs now blocking the spectrum around UVB-76 to prevent monitoring of it. ... READ MORE

Posted: 02/04/2022
Comments: 0

Local IL Ham featured in newspaper article

W9JC, Freeport IL A former Honeywell work colleague and local ham friend was recently featured in a front-page story in the Freeport Journal StandardJohn does a nice job of explaining the relevance of Ham Radio in the 21st century:“Think about that little cell phone you carry around which is only a radio,” he said. “That all happened in the last 100 years. That’s one lifespan for many people... READ MORE

Posted: 02/02/2022
Comments: 0

This 22-year-old builds chips in his parents’ garage

the crystal set of the 21st century? In August, chipmaker Intel evealed new details about its plan to build a “mega-fab” on US soil, a $100 billion factory where 10,000 workers will make a new generation of powerful processors studded with billions of transistors. The same month, 22-year-old Sam Zeloof announced his own semiconductor milestone. It was achieved alone in his family’s New Jersey garage, about 30 miles ... READ MORE

Posted: 12/18/2021
Comments: 0

The Seasons Best Wishes

de KPH Yes, a holiday greeting card from the original KPH, Port Reyes CA. I don't have an exact date but I would guess late 50s or early 60s because it came from the estate of Roger Kaney (SK) who was W9AF when I knew him, but had been W9ZRU previously. Roger was a retired marine radio operator when I met him in the late 80s, and even then would "stand watch" at nigh... READ MORE

Posted: 12/14/2021
Comments: 0

Larry Sabella KA9BQR, SK

known for his trademark hat, a good guy Lawrence “Larry” Joseph Sabella, 84 passed away Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at Serenity Hospice and Home in Oregon, IL. Larry was born on April 26, 1937 to Daniel A. and Jean M. (Konieczka) Sabella in Chicago, IL. In 1961, he married the love of his life, Barbara N. Wise in Maywood, IL. Larry proudly served his county for 5 ½ years as a sergeant in the United States Army and Army... READ MORE

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ALL ELECTRONICs is gone, but Aretronics is here!

Quantum Spectrum - a DSP add-on for low-end SDRs