Moving NBC’s Flagship Station, 1940
By John F. Schneider W9FGH
In 1927 WEAF, NBC’s flagship station in New York City, was one of the first stations in the US to operate at 50,000 watts. But the station was required to move outside the city to avoid overloading receiving sets of the day. Then it was discovered that the distance required also made it harder to receive in the city. It was a classic Catch-22. John describes the process engineers had undertaken to be heard.
Panoramic Radio and the Hallicrafters SP-44 Skyrider
By Rich Post KB8TAD
Having a spectrum display on a radio today is taken for granted, but in 1938 in the run up to WWII, such a luxury was unheard of, until the Panoramic Radio Corporation developed a device that showed an oscilloscope display on a range of frequencies in the radio spectrum when hooked to the converter tube of a companion receiver. Rich explains how this works as he describes the restoration of this combination.
Demons, Fields and the Great Unifier: James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)
By Georg Wiessala
Georg Wiessala sketches the life and work of James Clerk Maxwell, the often overlooked 19th Century Scottish scientist, and his essential contributions to the creation of the 21st Century hyper-technological age, in which we live.
The Forgotten Pioneer of Radio Communications: Mahlon Loomis, a “Mad Dreamer”
By Scott A. Caldwell
The question, ‘Who invented wireless telegraphy?’ is usually answered, “Guglielmo Marconi.” But Scott presents the case for Mahlon Loomis, an American inventor who first achieved mobile communications between two ships separated by two nautical miles in the Chesapeake Bay, four years before Marconi’s birth.
TSM Publications Review
‘QSL How I Traveled the World and Never Left Home’ by Ronald W. Kenyon
‘The Radio Historian’s’ 2021 Radio History Calendar’ by John Schneider W9FGH
Reviewed by Ken Reitz KS4ZR
Two new publications available this month make great gifts for radio fans in your family or a nice treat for the radio historian in you. ‘QSL’ is an homage to the golden era of shortwave listening, from post-WWII to the collapse of the Soviet Union. With carefully preserved QSL cards and letters, Ronald Kenyon shows what it was like when nearly every country in the world was on the air and propagation couldn’t have been better. ‘The Radio Historian’s 2021 Radio History Calendar’ is John Schneider’s annual tribute to some of the most influential radio stations in the US. Curated scenes from various eras of US radio broadcasting history give more than just a snapshot of the times—styles, fashions, celebrities of the times and technology of the day are a feast for radio fans’ eyes.
Scanning America
By Dan Veeneman
Florida SLERS; Cape May, New Jersey
Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
Texas Scanning Updates
Milcom
By Larry Van Horn N5FPW
Milcom Guide to Radio’s Basement Bands
Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman
2020 Year-End Wrap-up
Shortwave Utility Logs
By Mike Chace-Ortiz and Hugh Stegman
VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch N6CL
Arecibo Radio Telescope: Lost to the World
Digitally Speaking
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV
Digital Voices and Digital Visions
Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
A Lot of Work for a Little Gain and Directivity!
Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
DIY Antenna Connections
The World of Shortwave Listening
By Rob Wagner VK3BVW
Japan’s Private Shortwave Station
The Shortwave Listeners
By Fred Waterer
Seasonal Shortwave Programming
Amateur Radio Satellites
By Keith Baker KB1SF/VA3KSF
Amateur Radio Satellite Primer (Part VIII)
Spotlight on the UK’s HamSats
The Longwave Zone
By Kevin O’Hern Carey N2AFX
Longwave Q & A
Adventures in Radio Restoration
By Rich Post KB8TAD
The Motorized Hallicrafters: R45-AN/ARR7
Antenna Connections
By Robert Gulley K4PKM
Antenna Shortcuts? Not Always Wise!