The Jersey Broadcaster

NEWSLETTER OF THE NEW JERSEY ANTIQUE CLUB

October 2013 Volume 19 Issue 10

MEETING/ MEETING NOTICE ACTIVITY NOTES The next NJARC meeting wil take place on Friday, October 11th at 7:30 PM at Princeton's Bowen Hall (70 Prospect Ave.). Directions may be found at the club's website (http://njarc.org). This month's program will include a talk by Steve Klose on the Armstrong plaque project that was reported in the July 2013 Reported by Broadcaster. Marv Beeferman

The ON-LINE Broadcaster Robert's B2 was contained in an unob- Guiet had accumulated during his service. The New Jersey Broadcaster is now on trusive leather suitcase that allowed an Robert also talked about another mem- -line. To date, over 120 of your fellow agent to travel inconspicuously. It con- ber of the group, Violette Szabo. She was NJARC members have subscribed, sisted of a receiver, , power employed as a courier on the assumption saving the club and your editor a sig- supply, a box of spares and a key. The that a woman would be less likely to be nificant amount of money and work. crystal operated transmitter produced an suspected of illicit activities. She nor- Interested? Send your e-mail address RF output power (CW only) of approxi- mally moved about on a bicycle, but was a to [email protected]. Be sure mately 20 watts. The full frequency cov- passenger in a car that raised the suspi- to include your full name. erage was divided over 8 ranges, using 4 cions of German troops at an unexpected tank coils with a reversible A and B side. roadblock. A brief gun battle ensued Last month's meeting featured a talk by The transmitter circuit was based on two where her Maquis minders escaped but member Robert Forte on the MKII-B2 tubes, an EL32 for the oscillator and a she was captured after running out of am- Type 3 spy radio (sometimes referred to 6L6 for the PA. munition. She was interrogated and tor- as the B2) and his friendship with Jean Robert pointed out that the SOE was tured during the following months and Claude Guiet, a member of the British highly dependent upon the security of executed about February 5th, 1945 at the SOE (Special Operations Executive). The radio transmissions. The radio normally close of the war. SOE was formed to conduct espionage, used AC power but could quickly The consignment auction organized by sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied switched to DC when the Germans would Ray Chase (see the September Broad- Europe and to aid local resistance move- selectively cut power to a neighborhood caster) resulted in some nice items going ments. Robert originally presented his to locate a transmitter when the signal to good homes at reasonable prices and a talk at InfoAge's WWII Symposium and died. In another example, codes were little extra income for the club. The West- again captivated his audience at our Sep- printed on silk. Unlike paper, which inghouse RA/DA (RC) receiver sold for tember meeting. would be given away by rustling, silk $100, the Thompson horn speaker for would not be detected by a casual search $105, the Radiola 18 for $40 and the RCA if it was concealed in the lining of cloth- 143 tombstone for $300. Considering ing. what is being paid on the , tube Through a serendipitous meeting, prices were fair. Eight ST 45's, tested Robert became friends with Jean Claude good, went for $50. Guiet who actually operated a B2 out of occupied France during the war. He parachuted into France with three other team members with orders to prevent the 2nd SS Panzer Division from reinforcing German troops at the beaches of Nor- mandy on D-Day. They siphoned off the axle oil from the division's transport rail cars, replacing it with abrasive grease. The team also worked with the French Resistance, eventually forcing the surren- der of more than 75,000 German troops in Limoges. Following the death of Mr. Guiet, Robert obtained copies of many of the artifacts and forged documents that October 2013 Volume 19 Issue 10 Page 2

Following the installation of a new caster and a video, courtesy of Bob Ben- transformer and a walkdown of the sys- net, can be found at his "Radiowild" on THE JERSEY BROADCASTER is the newsletter of the New Jersey Antique tem, full power was returned to InfoAge YouTube. Radio Club (NJARC) which is dedicated on Friday, September 6th and all went In the June 2013 Broadcaster, we ran to preserving the history and enhancing the well. This is just in time to support the an article by Robert Forte on a visit to the knowledge of radio and related dis- "Camp Evans Base of Terror" which is home of Hugo Picciani of Brooklyn, New ciplines. Dues are $25 per year and meetings are held the second Friday of resurrected each Halloween to provide York. Hugo is an 85-year-old master me- each month. The Editor or NJARC is not significant funding to the InfoAge mis- chanic who has one of the best and oldest liable for any other use of the contents of sion. The theme is an abandoned military collections of early and artifacts in this publication. base that has been taken over by creative the metro area, some going back to 1915. and sick individuals who love bringing His collection was originally up for sale, PRESIDENT: Richard Lee your inner child to tears. The "base" is but Ray Chase has received a call from (914)-589-3751 open every Friday and Saturday night in him indicating that he wants to donate it October and NJARC participation in- free and clear to our museum. Although VICE PRESIDENT: Sal Brisindi cludes a "mad scientist" laboratory that all the details have not been finalized, let's (732)-308–1748 energizes the undead with arcs and hope that this very significant contribu- sparks. If you're interested in volunteer- tion pans out. Although we presently SECRETARY/EDITOR: ing to help with the club's display, con- don't have the room to display most of the Marv Beeferman (609)-693-9430 tact Ray Chase at 908-757-9741. Info- items, our future expansion in a few years Age could also use some extra ghouls, will easily accommodate some exciting TREASURER: zombies and ghosts or behind the scenes new pieces. Harry Klancer help with makeup and effects; if inter- (732)-238-1083 ested, please contact Dan Lieb at Bits and Pieces

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS (WEST) : [email protected]. Darren Hoffman With the help of New Jersey Natural · A video of the new AWA museum may (732)-928-0594 Gas (NJNG), InfoAge is also planning be found on YouTube at http://

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS (EAST): steps to significantly increase its energy www.youtube.com/watch?v=J76X|45yrfc. Rotating efficiency and reduce energy costs. With · "A Journey to the Center of a Tube" on the assistance of the Environmental De- YouTube is a look through a microscope TRUSTEES: fense Fund, opportunities have been iden- Ray Chase (908)-757-9741 at all the pieces inside a vacuum tube. It Phil Vourtsis (732)-446-2427 tified for lighting retrofits for four of the can be seen at http://youtube/ Walt Heskes (732)-205-9143 main InfoAge buildings to reduce energy WnZRJjmCZb8. load and carbon emissions. Retrofits · The storage unit auction of radios men- TECHNICAL COORDINATOR: have been planned to upgrade older fix- Al Klase tioned in last month's Broadcaster has (908)-892-5465 tures to new electronic ballasts and super- been moved to October 19th. Photos of efficient 28-watt lamps which are ex- the collection may be found at http:// TUBE PROGRAM CHAIRMAN: pected to save between 10 to 20 percent reidgreene.homestead.com/index1.html. Al Klase in annual energy costs. [email protected] On Friday, September 20th, member Upcoming Events SCHEMATIC PROGRAM: Steve Rosenfeld and I attended the Kutz- Aaron Hunter town radio meet. As usual, vendors filled November 2nd: Repair Clinic at InfoAge (609)-267-3065 both pavilions and buying seemed brisk November 8th: Monthly meeting at Info- CAPACITOR PROGRAM: but Steve and I didn't come home with Age - Talk by Joe Taylor on the history of Matt Reynolds much. I saw a few early battery sets but the moon bounce project (tentative) (567)-204-3850 nothing struck my fancy...perhaps most November 23: NJARC Winter swapmeet of the deals were done on Thursday and RESISTOR PROGRAM: at Parsippany Walt Heskes early Friday morning. Photos of the December 7th: Holiday Party at InfoAge (732)-205-9143 event are provided in this month's Broad- (no meeting this month)

WEB COORDINATOR: Dave Sica Winter (732)-382-0618 http://www.njarc.org Blues

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY: Marsha Simkin (Courtesy of 33 Lakeland Drive Popular Com- Barnegat, N.J. 08005 munications, (609)-660-8160 January 2011) October 2013 Volume 19 Issue 10 Page 3

REDISCOVERED which is screwed a crystal cup with the its front edge projecting. Contact is made pyrites crystal held in with Wood's metal. on this edge by a U-shaped silver spring, DETECTORS In front of the pillar is a silver, U-shaped pressed towards it by means of an adjust- spring carrying a little gold point. The ing screw. If the detector becomes insen- spring is pressed forward by means of a sitive over time, its molybdenite face By screw until the gold point makes sensi- could be lightly cleaned with sandpaper to Marv Beeferman tive contact with the crystal. A pointed expose a new sensitive surface. This de- crystal of antimony may be used to make tector was described as "suitable for short In 1998, I attended the Henry Ford de- contact instead of the gold point and sen- range work, for strong signals and for use accession auction with Ludwell Sibley. sitivity is said to be increased by this with portable outfits." Ninety-nine percent of the items were out means. The detector is fitted with plug of my price range, but I did manage to contacts so it can be easily connected to capture a box lot of interesting variable or replaced in a receiver. capacitors and three brass cylinders, each about an inch and a half in diameter with a hard rubber base and two brass pins. I let these sit for a few months but my curi- osity finally took over. With a little diffi- culty, I was able to remove the cylinders from their bases and discovered that they covered three different, expertly ma- chined mineral detector assemblies. In 1999, I gave two of these detectors to our crystal set guru Al Klase for examination and he eventually wrote an article for the Broadcaster. Al came up with some in- FIG. 132 (to the teresting conclusions regarding vintage right) illustrates the and construction but I was still curious Perikon detector, where the detectors were used. We'll get "much favored by back to Al's article in a little. amateurs because it Fast forward to last month's NJARC is exceedingly sensi- meeting where Ray Chase was offering tive and easy to ad- some of the duplicate books from his col- just, though it re- lection for half-price. I was attracted to quires continual Rupert Stanley's Text Book on adjustment." On from 1917 and brought it one of the ends of home. While thumbing through its pages, the two I was surprised to discover exact line brass plug drawings of all three of the detectors and contacts is a descriptions of their construction. Since cup with a the preface to Stanley's book is dated small piece of tellurium. The 1914, the detectors probably date to about other plug is extended to a pillar this time. I also learned that the design which carries a spring arm; on its was typical of Telefunken detectors and extremity is mounted a zincite they were not specific to a particular ap- crystal in its cup. The adjustment plication; more likely, they could be used of the crystals is made by means and were interchangeable with various of a screw which carries a steel receiver designs of the period. (Note: spring. like all things in a collection scattered Contact between a crystal of here and there, I could not locate the two zincite and one of tellurium was detectors that Al reviewed so some of the found to give better results than photos included in this article are from the original form of the Perikon Al's original article.) detector. This consisted of a crys- In the first detector (shown in the at- The second molybdenite detector was tal of zincite in contact with a crystal of tached FIG. 133 "a"), a gold point makes also made and used by the Telefunken copper pyrites, bornite or chalcopyrite. contact with a selected crystal of iron Co.; it was not as sensitive as the iron The Perikon detector is very sensitive pyrites. The 1-1/4" base is made from pyrites detector but was "very reliable and does not require a potentiometer volt- ebonite. It is described "as made and and robust." As shown in FIG. 133 "b", age in series with it. Unfortunately, it is used by the Telefunken Co." Mounted on a flat piece of molybdenite is firmly held easily made insensitive by transmitter the base is a brass pillar into the top of by screws between two brass plates with discharges close to it. October 2013 Volume 19 Issue 10 Page 4

THE BC-138: develop commercial tele- graphy. A CAMP VAIL The camp ultimately prepared several ARTIFACT battalions for war. A total of about 1,000 officers and 9,000 enlisted men served at the post in 1918 alone. But in addition to By wartime training, the Army conducted Marv Beeferman research and development work at the radio laboratories and associated airfield One of the buys that I came home on the post. The particular demands of with from this year's Antique Wireless tank and aerial warfare in World War 1 Association conference was a BC-138 necessitated a special Army laboratory . I'm usually not interested in col- devoted exclusively to developmental lecting military electronics, but the mark- work. This laboratory would be entirely ings on this item intrigued me: independent of the commercial laborato- ries. It would be a place where trained specialists could focus their energies on So how did Al Klase do in his 1999 problems in wireless communication. evaluation? Pretty close to an A+. Al Thus, Camp Vail became a focus for pio- quickly identified the perikon detector neering work on air to ground radios and "showing the unmistakable red-orange direction finding by radio. It was at this color of zincite." (Al also noted that zin- Camp Vail radio laboratory that the SCR- cite is a rare mineral except in the Frank- 132 (a 100-mile transmitter/ lin area of New Jersey.) He also identified I'm quite familiar with "Brooklyn, New receiver with an 80-foot, portable, col- the molybdenite detector, "an early favor- York" since I was born there but "Camp lapsible mast) and its associated BC-138 ite of the Telefunken company." Since Alfred Vail" and its associated radio tuner were developed. the screw threads are standard SAE types, laboratories did not strike a note. Al- The purchase of Camp Vail was au- Al guessed that the detectors may have though it was a little pricey, my curiosity thorized in 1919 and the Signal Corps been made in the United States. got the best of me and I bought the tuner. School relocated to the camp from Fort Al also cleaned the contact surfaces of Aided by further research, my interest Leavenworth that same year. The school the detectors with isopropyl alcohol and in the BC-138 was rewarded with some was designated "The Signal Corps School, checked them out in his laboratory crystal interesting history. On the other hand, it Camp Alfred Vail, New Jersey." The set. He found the perikon detector's per- may have initiated a journey that I might Signal Corps Board followed in 1924. formance to be just OK - "but not nearly not be ready to begin (more on this later). The installation received permanent status as sensitive as Galena or a modern germa- In any case, let's begin with Camp Alfred and the name "Fort Monmouth" in August nium diode." He found that the molyb- Vail. 1925, just three months after order No. denite detector just worked until he pro- At the outbreak of World War I, the 132080 was placed with the Allen D. vided a little DC bias with a potentiome- Army recognized that Signal Corps Cardwell Mfg. Co. of Brooklyn for serial ter across a pen-light battery. Then, per- strength was insufficient to furnish the number 50 of my BC-138 tuner. formance was about on par with the communications this larger Army perikon unit. needed. The search for land for addi- Finally. Al noted the following: tional training camps led the Army to a site in New Jersey formerly home to the "Detectors of these kinds were used in Monmouth Park Race Track (closed by a commercial applications because of their "moralist movement") and luxury hotel. ruggedness. A galena detector requires a Notwithstanding the desolation of the very delicate touch from the catwhisker, site in 1917 - largely overgrown and in- making it a poor choice for use on a vi- fested with poison ivy - it afforded the brating ship in rough waters. Also, the Army significant advantages; proximity rectifying junction of a galena detector to Hoboken (a port of embarkation), Camp Vail inductees from Iowa can be easily destroyed by a distant light- proximity to the passenger terminal in receive their vaccinations. ening strike or RF from a transmitter." Little Silver, some good stone roads, and access to water. The Army leased 468 Next step is to find a photo of one of acres on May, 1917 with an option to The BC-138 is the tuner for the SCR- these detectors in actual use. Any help buy. 132, a ground telephone and telegraph set out there? The Army originally called the instal- designed to provide "telephone" commu- lation "Camp Little Silver," based merely nications up to 100 miles and telegraph on its location. It was renamed "Camp communications up to four or five times Alfred Vail" in September 1917 to honor that distance. The set was originally in- the New Jersey inventor who helped tended for use with the SCR-135, October 2013 Volume 19 Issue 10 Page 5 mounted in bombers. But since the SCR- connected at the upper right. 135 became obsolete, the 1931 manual I wish I could include a picture of the indicates that "it is contemplated that ra- integrated receiver with all its components dio set, type SCR-132, will be used in but the poor quality manual I'm working army and corps nets, and will be issued to from would not do it justice. But one infantry division signal companies, to could dream to someday join the remain- operation companies of signal battalions, ing components together to replicate the and to certain units of the Coast Artillery original. Considering that the BC-131 Corps and the Air Corps." receiver is a version of the SE-1420 and The transmitting equipment of the SCR the rarity of the BC-118-A, you could -132 consisted of a BC-127 transmitter, a imagine the cost of such a project. But GN-32 motor generator, and PE-40 power one never knows and it's always good to unit. It provided C.W., M.C.W. and tele- have a little hope. For the present, I'll be phone operation over a range of 150 to content to merge my BC-138 tuner with 350 kHz. The receiver consisted of a BC- an , detector and perhaps an am- 138 tuner, a BC-118-A amplifier and BC- plifier from the same vintage and see how 131 receiver (Signal Corps version of the it does on the broadcast band. Whatever SE-1420) with a range of 100 to 1,000 the outcome, hats off to Camp Vail. kHz. The receiver components were in- stalled in a chest that mounts on four legs and probably accounts for the excellent condition of my tuner. The BC-138 tuner is very simple in design. It consists of a fixed condenser, a variable condenser and variable induc- tance. The lower control varies the capac- ity of the condenser, the upper left con- trols varies the inductance of the coil in steps and the upper right control places grid bias on the first tube of the amplifier. The binding posts at the left are for a counterpoise and antenna. Those at the lower right are connected to the receiver's amplifier input and the biasing battery is

WILL AM RADIO other hidden agenda - the support of con- ers as vital in emergencies and in rural servative talk shows and religious pro- areas. (Not to mention col- BE LOST IN gramming? You be the judge...Ed lectors and DXers...Ed). THE STATIC? One of the points made by Mr. Pai is In his recent New York Times article, that, because of its longer wavelength, it Edward Wyatt states that the digital age can be heard at greater distances in emer- Edited by is killing AM radio. Long surpassed by gencies. He cited Fort Yukon, Alaska Marv Beeferman FM and more recently cast aside by satel- where the AM station KZPA broadcasts lite radio and Pandora, he notes that AM inquiries about missing hunters and trans- is now under siege from a new threat; mits flood alerts during the annual spring The following is based on the article "A rising interference from and ice breakup. "When the power goes out, Quest to Save AM Before It's Lost in the consumer electronics that reduce many when you can't get a good cell signal, Static" by Edward Wyatt that appeared in AM stations to little more than static. when the Internet goes down, people turn the "NY Times" on Sept.9, 2013. The lone Except perhaps for members of the to battery-powered AM radios to get the Republican member of the F.C.C. that Mr. NJARC and other vintage radio clubs, its information they need." (Think hurricane Wyatt refers to reminds me of past at- audience has sunk to historical lows. Sandy...Ed). tempts by his party to defund National However, it may have at least one, Let's look at some numbers. By 2011, Public Radio. Although the argument albeit lonely, savior. Ajit Pai is the lone AM listenership had fallen to 15 percent used was that government had no place in Republican on the F.C.C. and is on a per- of all radio listening. Although five of the getting involved in a function that had no sonal quest to save AM. He is urging the top 10 radio stations in the country, as constitutional basis, there was probably a F.C.C. to undertake an overhaul of AM measured by advertising dollars, are AM hidden agenda of not supporting what was radio, which he calls "the audible core of (WCBS, KFI, etc.), the remainder only considered a "left leaning" organization. our national culture." He sees AM, accounts for 21 percent of the wealth. Is the value of AM radio really being de- largely in the realm of local news, sports, Nearly all English-language AM stations fended here, or we again looking at an- conservative talk and religious broadcast- have given up playing music, and a third October 2013 Volume 19 Issue 10 Page 6 of the 30 Major League Baseball teams DANGERS OF portions of the wire. This is particularly now broadcast on FM. applicable to cheaply made products. AM, however, remains the realm of ELECTRICAL Before using an extension cord wound conservative talk radio, including roughly STORAGE SPOOLS on a reel spool, check carefully to see if 80 percent of the 600 radio stations that there are any cautions indicating its proper carry Rush Limbaugh. Talk radio has use. You might find something like helped keep AM alive. Mr. Pai says he By "Caution: Unreel cord before use." Un- was not promoting AM to advance con- Marv Beeferman fortunately, this is not the case with all servative talk radio, but part of his pre- reels. I checked out one I recently pur- scription treads a traditional Republican chased from Home Depot. Its tag had Whether it is for radio restoration or path. For example, he wants to eliminate numerous warnings but none relating to repair work or around the house activi- outdated regulations like one that requires unreeling all the cable. ties, an extension cord is a basic tool that AM stations to prove that any new equip- Although most of us try not to exceed gets the power to where it's needed. ment decreases interference with other the rating of extension cords and ensure However, based on a posting on the stations, a requirement that is expensive, they are UL rated, it's probably best to AWA website by K2OEQ linked to cumbersome and difficult to meet. work with them with most of the cable safety expert Chris Loomis, we might Other considerations by Mr. Pai in- unreeled. Better safe than sorry. want to think twice about how we use clude: extension cords that are kept on storage · Examining a relative new technology spools. known as HD (not high definition) which The problem arises when only enough has allowed some stations to damp static cord is unrolled to reach the item you by transmitting a along with need to power. Most people do this to their usual analog wave. prevent a tripping hazards and to keep · Mandating that all AM stations convert things looking neat. However, electrical to digital transmission to reduce interfer- cords are rated by their insulation factor ence. Such a conversion, however, would and are designed to be used in environ- cost consumers who would have to re- ments without extreme temperatures. By place hundreds of millions of AM radios. not unspooling the entire cord, the tem- · Have the F.C.C. consider FM transla- perature that the cord is exposed to is This cable reel has overheat protec- tors which send duplicate AM broadcasts altered. This can lead to a temperature in tion; it will switch off power if it gets over FM airwaves and help reduce inter- the center of the cord bundle to become too warm. ference. hot enough to melt all the insulation from Why try to salvage AM? Critics say its decline is simply natural selection at work, and many now support converting the frequency for use by other wireless I noticed this radio as part of technologies. But the F.C.C. says it is a French advertisement at behind Mr. Pai's ideas but is a long way member Ray Chase's table from committing to a major overhaul. during last month's Kutz- In reality, even if the F.C.C. reduces town swapmeet. "Trois in- regulation and provides compensation for struments de précision: Pen- AM stations, it cannot repeal the laws of dule, Thermomètre, Ba- physics. Nearly every recently manufac- romètre" That's right - not tured electronic consumer product emits just a simple radio, but one signals that can interfere with AM broad- housing three precision in- casts. An increase in the construction of struments; a clock, a ther- tall buildings in suburban areas and be- mometer and a barometer. yond continue to block AM signals. Fi- Le Météo translates to some- nally, the F.C.C. requires most stations to thing like "weather fore- turn off or greatly reduce signals at night. caster." Mr.Pai says that unless the problems This six tube (two 78's, a with AM radio were fixed, people would 6A7, a 77, a 43 and a 25Z5) keep fleeing. With plenty of other op- superheterodyne runs off AC tions, "they will switch the dial to some- or DC. Although the date is thing else." (Since most people rarely not stated, it appears to be of give much thought to or actually care how about mid-thirties vintage. a signal gets to them, it probably will in- The advertisement prices the volve device switching instead of any dial radio at 2.490 Fr. but it is switching...Ed). offered at a reduced price of 1.060 Fr. October 2013 Volume 19 Issue 10 Page 7

Kutztown - September 2013

A very early quack medical device offered by Waves.

This Fisher 500C brought back Another memory grabber; my first memories of my first amp purchase. CB radio made locally in Brooklyn. October 2013 Volume 19 Issue 10 Page 8