Gateway Fall

EnterEnter TheThe FascinatingFascinating WorldWorld ofof VintageVintage CommunicationsCommunications Marconi transmitter complex Poldhu, Cornwall, England Fall 2016 AWA Gateway The Awa F ROM THE D EPUTY D IRECTOR Hi Everyone, When I provide a tour of the Antique Wireless Museum for visitors, a frequent question is “how did you learn about all these wonderful exhib- The AWA Gateway is an electronic publication of the Antique its?” Well, it takes time and being with other more knowledgeable col- Wireless Association, downloadable without charge from the AWA website, www.antiquewireless.org. Its purpose is to lectors, historians, and technicians, it does begin to make sense and sink stimulate interest in vintage communications history, equip- in my thick skull. Membership and fellowship in AWA allows each of us ment, restoration, and collecting. the opportunity to meet, spend time, and just plain talk about our hobby. Volunteering as a docent or guide at the Museum provides a OFFICERS very special opportunity for quality time with other knowledgeable Director……………….Thomas W. Peterson, Jr. members. Listening to the senior docents tell their stories about the Deputy Director…..Robert Hobday artifacts and exhibits in the Museum for visitors makes the Museum Curator………………..Bruce Roloson “come alive” in a very special way and it is a fantastic way to learn more Secretary…………….William Hopkins about the history of communications. Treasurer…………….Stan Avery If you are interested in becoming a museum docent, AWA could use TRUSTEES help on Tuesdays and Saturdays. We will provide the training you need Stanley Avery, WM3D James Kreuzer, N2GHD and what a great way to increase your knowledge base. Please contact David Bart, KB9YPD Richard Neidich me at [email protected]. Lynn Bisha, W2BSN Thomas Peterson, Jr. Geoffrey Bourne Ronald Roach, W2FUI AWA has established Joint Membership Programs with Radio Club of Marc Ellis, N9EWJ Bruce Roloson, W2BDR Robert Hobday, N2EVG John Terrey, W5TDQ America, formed in 1909 and the oldest radio club in America, and Prof. William Hopkins, AA2YV Morgan Wesson Collins Collectors Association, fostering preservation and documenta- David Kaiser Roy Wildermuth, W2IT tion of the history and the equipment manufactured by Collins Radio Felicia Kreuzer, KA2GXL and Rockwell Collins. We are pleased to announce if you are a member of AWA and would like to join RCA and/or CCA, you can join and receive a 5% discount on your memberships. If you are a member of one of MEMBERSHIP SERVICES COMMITTEE these clubs, you can also receive a 5% discount on your AWA member- Chairman ......................... Richard Neidich ship. AWA Journal Editor .......... Marc Ellis, N9EWJ Membership Desk ............ Caroline MacMillen The lifeblood of AWA is volunteerism. If you have the time and skills that AWA Review Editor........... Eric Wenaas* Conference Chairman ....... Roy Wildermuth, W2IT could help AWA, please consider volunteering. Although the pay is low AWA Gateway Editor ........ Mike Rosenhouse, K2CDX* (well there is no pay), the opportunity to volunteer your talents to make * Ex officio members AWA grow and to interface with your fellow members is very rewarding. The current volunteers provide 1000s and 1000s of hours of their time VISIT US ON THE WEB and we have wonderful time together. Please don’t be shy and consider www.antiquewireless.org joining our merry band of volunteers by contacting me at [email protected]. Radio Club of America has announced that Robert Hobday N2EVG, AWA GATEWAY AWA Deputy Director, and James Kreuzer N2GHD, AWA Librarian and Editor ............................... Mike Rosenhouse, K2CDX Assistant Curator, have been elected Fellows in Radio Club of America COVER ART (by Will Thomson): for 2016. In addition, Marc Ellis N9EWJ, AWA Journal Editor, will receive Transatlantic electronic wireless the prestigious Radio Club of America 2016 Ralph Batcher Award for communication began on Decem- significant work in preserving the history of radio and electronic commu- ber 12, 1901, when three “dits” — nication. The recipients will be honored at the 107th Banquet and “s” in Morse Code — were trans- Awards Presentation Friday, November 18, 2016 in New York City. mitted from the complex pictured on the cover to Guglielmo Marconi, Today’s communication technologies define who we are as a at his St. John’s, Newfoundland, world society based on instantaneous news from all over the receiving station (pictured here). The towers shown on the cover globe. The basis of these technologies began nearly 200 years were successors to the antenna ago. AWA is dedicated to preserve and share the history of com- masts used on that historic occa- munication technologies. Please join us and share your knowl- sion (photo courtesy David Read). edge and talents in our goal of preserving and sharing. The Antique Wireless Association, is nonprofit historical society founded in 1952. Copyright 2016 —Bob Hobday N2EVG Antique Wireless Association Deputy Director, AWA Museum P.O. Box 421 Bloomfield, NY 14469 2 Contents Fall 2016 From the Deputy Director by Bob Hobday 2 The Development of Automobile Radios by Jim Cook, 4 W0OXX AWA Salutes Collins with DVD By Mark Erdle 7 AWA and Collins Collectors Sign MOU 8 Reflections of an Old-Timer by Harold Cheetham 9 From the Archives: WTAM - Voice of the Storage Battery 12 Other Clubs 14 About Us 16 3 AWA Gateway RADIO REFLECTIONS You Want to Listen to that Thing While We’re Driving? What a novel idea! The Development of Automobile Radios By Jim Cook, W0OXX Developing a radio receiver that would work reliably in a moving automobile proved to be a greater challenge than most people anticipated. Home radios were often carried in cars to provide entertainment at fixed locations, such as picnics. For these applications, an antenna wire could be thrown over the branches of trees. But how could an antenna be in- stalled on an automobile that would be effective? One early installation was illustrated on the cover of a Popular Ra- dio magazine published in June of 1923. 4 This. may have been useful for radio battery. To provide a plate power an age that had Victrola phonographs listening at a fixed location with the supply, some early car radios used and RCA Radiola radios, it was only engine off, but providing a suitable self-contained motor generators, natural for the Galvin Manufacturing antenna was not the only change that commonly known as dynamotors. Corporation to use Motorola as their was necessary for mobile operation. new corporate name after they But these were expensive, achieved success in selling radios for One of the greatest challenges to heavy, and unreliable. A better solu- automobiles. Philco, Zenith, and Gen- the development of the car radio was tion was to used an electro- eral Electric were also actively in- overcoming the radio noise produced mechanical vibrator to produce an volved in the car radio market. by the car itself. There was always alternating current to a transformer the problem of ignition noise. But that could be rectified by a vacuum Initially, car radios were not de- noise from the generator and voltage tube. Some vibrators used an extra signed to fit specific automobiles. regulator could be equally difficult. Static electricity generated by the tires and inner tubes could also be distracting, especially in cold, dry weather. To achieve satisfactory radio reception, a car radio had to be more sensitive, more selec- tive, and have a more powerful audio ampli- fier with a better speaker than most of the radios used in the home in 1930. Car radios typically had an extra stage of tuned RF amplification to allow operation without a long outdoor antenna and ground connection, and to Vibrators effectively increase the signal-to-noise ratio between the de- sired radio signal and the broad-band set of contacts to provide synchro- The large, heavy radio was usually radio noise generated by the car. Ex- nous rectification, but most car radios mounted on the firewall of the car. A tensive shielding was also used in used a vacuum tube such as the control head, mounted in the dash or automobile radio designs. To over- 84/6Z4 tube that was specifically de- on the steering column, was linked to come the interior noise level of a car signed for use in automobile radios. the radio with flexible cables similar in motion, a powerful audio system to speedometer cables to provide and better speaker were needed. In Most vibrators, including those tuning and volume control. If the addition, the radio had to be more shown here, plugged into sockets so speaker was not part of the radio, it rugged to provide reliable service in that they could be easily replaced. was sometimes mounted under the an automobile. dash as a separate unit. Sometimes Although car radios were expen- the control heads were customized to Early car radios used expensive dry sive accessories for cars in the 1930s, fit attractively in the dashes of certain batteries of the same type that were the demand was strong and major car brands. The ad included with this used in home radios. A more desir- developments occurred between article for a General Electric car radio able solution was to develop power 1930 and 1940. Many of the manu- appeared on the back cover of the supplies that would allow the car ra- facturers of home radios also manu- July 1936 issue of Radio-Craft maga- dio to operate from the car's six-volt factured radios for automobiles. In zine. It shows car radio packaging that 5 was typical for that time. In later but Ford used positive-ground designs. an old Buick car radio just because he years, automobile manufacturers It is unclear why this situation devel- enjoyed the sound. worked with radio manufacturers to oped, but car radio manufacturers had In the 21st century, the collector's design radios that were custom built to incorporate flexible designs to ac- market for vintage automobile radios for their automobiles.

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