|
 We have been told that rock music's Buddy
Holly perished in an Iowa plane crash in 1959 - "The Day the Music Died." I'm thinking
maybe it was a ruse in order to fulfill Mr. Holly's secret ambition to design
amplifiers for the Marantz electronics company, under the alias of Richard Sequerra.
Marantz, founded in 1953, is still in the business of designing high quality receivers
and amplifiers. But I digress... This 1963 article in Radio-Electronics
magazine called upon industry leaders to comment on the deleterious effects which
multipath can have on the reception of stereo FM ( frequency modulation) radio.
Commercial FM stereo broadcasting was still in its infancy at the time. Left-right
channel separation was made more difficult when multiple signals are present in
the analog decision making circuitry, and acceptance by the public depended on successful
operation. Stereo was a big selling point for a new paradigm in musi
 Here are another trio of vintage
electronics-themed comics from Radio-Craft magazine. Two are part of illustrator
Frank Beaven's "Radio Terms Illustrated" series, where readers would write in
with suggestions and Mr. Beaven would put the ideas in ink. These two are "Poor
Reception, and "Regeneration." If you look at the bottom of the page, you will
find a big listing of other comics, with many of the other "Radio Terms
Illustrated" instances ("High Potential," "Signal Generator," "Overload
Capacity," "Amplitude," "Transmission Loss," etc.) labeled. Enjoy!
 "Under the heading of radiated susceptibility
(RS) testing is the category of
High
Intensity Radiated Fields, or HIRF. What is HIRF and why does anyone need to
test to these high levels? NASA/TP-2001-210831, In-Flight Characterization of the
Electromagnetic Environment Inside an Airliner[1], has this definition: HIRF encompasses
man-made sources of electromagnetic radiation generated external to the aircraft
considered as possibly interfering with safe flight. The easiest way to distinguish
HIRF from other types of EMI is to state what it is not. HIRF does not include interference
among on-board systems; this type of interference is referred to as an Electromagnetic
Compatibility or EMC issue..."
 Consumer grade
thermoelectric coolers have been around for so long now that most people probably
assume there is nothing wondrous about the discovery that makes them possible. I
still marvel at the process that allows the application of a current through physical
junction of two dissimilar metals (certain types) to produce a cooling effect rather
than the I2R heating normally associated with conductors. This 1961 Electronics
World magazine article from a scientist at Westinghouse Electric's research
laboratories provides a nice introduction to the subject of thermoelectricity from
both electric current generation based on the application...
 When I was in high school, if someone placed
me in a classroom where
imaginary numbers (whatever they were?) were to be taught - and I was expected
to learn about them - I likely would have gone into an anxiety-induced stupor. My
plans were to be an electrician, and I was pretty sure electricians didn't need
to know about imaginary numbers. By the time I began taking courses toward an electrical
engineering degree, I quickly gained an immense appreciation for the power of complex
numbers. Anyway... in this second installment of a three-part series, the author
educates George (whether real or imaginary - see what I did there?) on the virtues
of manipulating complex numbers when dealing with electric circuits...
 "The perfect
squelch" was a popular concept in the 1950s. I know because I've seen it in
a few different magazines from that era. In fact, The Saturday Evening Post ran
a regular inset feature by that name. As you might guess, it has to do with making
a short statement that has the effect of cutting out the "noise," whether it be
from the background of a radio reception or from an obnoxious person shooting off
his mouth (which was the case for the SEP). BTW, the "Squegg" part of Sunspot McSquegg's
name comes from the radio term "squeg," which refers to oscillations due to excessive
feedback, like what happens when a microphone is placed too close to the speaker.
This Christmastime tidbit...
 Hedy Lamarr, born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler
on November 9, 1914, in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, is widely remembered as one of
Hollywood's most glamorous stars of the Golden Age of cinema. Her remarkable beauty
and talent earned her roles many hit films. Lamarr's journey to Hollywood fame began
with her breakout role in the controversial 1933 film Ecstasy. However, behind the
glamour and fame lay a brilliant and inquisitive mind that would contribute profoundly
to the field of telecommunications, particularly through her co-invention of
spread
spectrum communication technology. Hedy Lamarr's story truly bridges the worlds
of art and science in a way that resonates with the engineering community. The inspiration
for Lamarr's groundbreaking idea emerged from a combination of her early exposure
to engineering concepts...
 Transcat | Axiom Test Equipment, an electronic
test equipment rental and sales company has published a new blog post entitled "The
Role of Temperature Calibration in Protecting Food Safety" that covers how temperature
calibration tools such as dry blocks and calibration baths are precise, accurate
tools for measuring temperatures during food production cycles. Complying with food
temperature safety regulations helps deliver safe foods with long shelf lives, while
noncompliance can result in health issues with serious legal consequences. Dry blocks
and temperature calibration baths are both capable of measuring wide temperature
ranges with high resolution and accuracy although they work in much diverse ways.
A temperature dry block heats or cools a metal block to a precise temperature...
 My long-established collection of soldering
aid and tuning wand tools still gets a fairly regular workout - but not necessarily
for soldering tasks. Most are non-metallic, meant for bending and poking, and are
very strong and heat resistant. The metal types are still required for direct contact
with molten solder. One of the best tips offered in this 1959 Electronics World
magazine article is for when
replacing a leaded component on a PCB. If possible, rather than heating the
landing pad and plated through-via to remove the leads, just clip the leads far
enough from the PCB surface to create a post or loop to solder the new component
to. Doing so creates a mechanically sound solder joint without undue risk of damage
to the PCB metal or laminations. Interestingly, the PCB in this article contains
a vacuum tube plug-in socket...
 "Multichannel light highways for communications
are still far from realization. But with continuous sources of coherent light available,
it becomes possible to explore the problems of modulating, transmitting, detecting,
amplifying and, in general, controlling light for possible communications applications."
That claim was made in a 1962
Bell Telephone Laboratories (Bell Labs) info ad in Radio-Electronics
magazine. More than six decades later, the job is being handled by microcircuits
with integrated laser transmitters and receivers. High quality optical fiber provides
information transport across the neighborhood, city, state, country and world. A
big list of other Bell Labs innovations is at the page bottom. Created a century
ago in 1925, Bell Telephone Laboratories' name has been Nokia Bell Labs...
 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, a luminary in the
field of physics, was born on March 27, 1845, in Lennep, a small town in the Rhine
Province of Prussia, now part of Germany. His father, Friedrich Conrad Röntgen,
was a cloth manufacturer, while his mother, Charlotte Constanze Frowein, hailed
from an affluent and distinguished family of Dutch descent. Wilhelm spent his early
childhood in Lennep before the family moved to Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, when
he was three years old. His education began at the Institute of Martinus Herman
van Doorn, a technical school in Utrecht. However, Wilhelm was expelled at the age
of 18 after being falsely accused of sketching a caricature of one of his teachers,
an injustice that deeply affected his academic trajectory. Röntgen's early academic
path was unconventional...
 Shortly before Christmas, 1947, the experimental
work of Bell Laboratories scientists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William
Shockley resulted in the world's first
semiconductor transistor. With proper biasing, the germanium transistor demonstrated
an ability to produce signal gain. The signal fed to the base resulted in a higher
amplitude signal at the collector. Voila, the device which would ultimately replace
the vacuum electron tube had been invented. The rest, as they say, is history. Aside
from a few high power applications, the only new equipment produced that uses vacuum
tubes are retro things like audio amplifiers and simple receivers. Of course, there
is still a large cadre of vacuum tube users in the Amateur Radio real and vintage
equipment restorers...
 In Compliance magazine has an article entitled,
"The
Growing Use of Generative AI Will Generate More E-Waste." I queried ChatGPT
about whether the claim is true. Summarizing its reply, ChatGPT admits is is a polluter.
To wit: "Yes, the growing use of generative AI has the potential to contribute
to an increase in electronic waste (e-waste). This stems from multiple factors related
to the infrastructure and hardware required to support AI development and deployment.
Here's how generative AI contributes to the problem and the broader implications: •
Hardware Demand • Shorter Hardware Lifespan • Increased Energy Consumption • Consumer
Devices • Recycling Challenges. To mitigate the e-waste impact of generative AI
include designing hardware with a longer lifecycle, improving recycling technologies,
adopting modular designs for easier upgrades, and using energy-efficient models
that reduce the need for frequent hardware replacements. Additionally, promoting
circular economy practices and enforcing e-waste regulations can help address the
issue. Generative AI offers immense potential but addressing its environmental footprint,
including e-waste, is essential for sustainable development."
• U.S. Pressures
Japan for Selling Chip Kit to China
• Record
September IC Exports for Korea
• FCC Issues Notices to
Pirate Radio in NYC, Miami
• TSMC
Posts Sharp Rise in Q3 Net Profit
• Nearly
40% of SMBs using AI
 FM radio noise immunity testing. 1940 was
a big year in the commercial broadcast industry because it was when the FCC began
licensing stations for FM operation. Amazingly, that was only four years after Edwin
Armstrong first came up with his frequency modulation scheme - fast moving for the
government. Simultaneously, equipment manufacturers were cranking out transmitters,
receivers, antennas (new frequencies), writing installation and operation guidelines,
training servicemen, and doing scores of other vitally important tasks. The advent
of FM was considered a very significant technical improvement because of immunity
to electrical noise interference. If for no other reason, you should look at this
National Radio News magazine article...
 During the early era of color television,
much editorial ink was spilled on the topic of
x-radiation emitted from the high voltage power supplies within. This 1967
Radio-Electronics magazine article appeared toward the end of the problem.
Those of us who were around for the excitement remember being told as children "Don't
sit so close to the TV; it'll ruin your eyes." The ignorant among us thought the
admonition was because focusing so close-up would be bad training for eye muscles.
The real reason was danger of absorbing too much ionizing x-radiation from the high
voltage vacuum tubes. Achieving bright, vibrant color with early tri-color cathode
ray tubes (CRTs) required blasting the red, green, and blue phosphorescent dots
on the back of the display...
 "A research team headed by Prof. Karl Leo
at TUD Dresden University of Technology have developed an innovative, nature-inspired
solution that could revolutionize the electronics industry:
Leaftronics." This innovative approach leverages the natural structure of leaves
to create biodegradable electronic substrates with enhanced properties and offers
a sustainable, efficient, and scalable solution to the global-waste problem. These
findings have now been published in the journal Science Advances. Electronic devices,
from toys to smartphones, consist of circuits. Specific substrates are used to manufacture
these circuits..."
 San Francisco Circuits, a premier provider
of leading edge technology printed circuit boards, has published a new article on
ENEPIG (Electroless Nickel Electroless Palladium Immersion Gold) PCB Surface
Finish. ENEPIG is one of the most popular PCB surface finishes due to reduced palladium
prices and its advantages over finishes like ENIG. Composed of four metal layers
- copper, nickel, palladium, and gold - ENEPIG offers excellent protection against
corrosion and the infamous "black pad" issue. ENEPIG: Ideal for Demanding Requirements
ENEPIG supports various package types, including BGA, SMT, wire bonding, and press
fit. With a thin gold layer (0.05μm - 0.1μm), it simplifies assembly and provides
improved reliability...
 On a whim, I did a search for the earliest
appearance of Nikola Tesla's name in U.S. newspapers included in the NewspaperArchive.com
database. This story from Mr. George Grantham Bain appeared in multiple newspapers
within a few days of this March 5, 1896 edition of The Warren Times in Warren, PA,
which coincidentally is not far from me here in Erie. The article reports on the
role that Tesla's high voltage generators played in the development of x-ray images
on fluorescent displays and on film (which Tesla termed "cathode photography").
It mentions how the term "cathode" is relatively new to the general public even
though it had been around since 1832 when Michael Faraday introduced it in his work.
Wilhelm Röntgen made the world's first x-ray image - of his wife's hand...
 Michael Faraday, one of the most revered
experimental scientists in history, was born on September 22, 1791, in Newington
Butts, a small village near London. His humble beginnings were in stark contrast
to his towering achievements. Faraday's father, James, was a blacksmith of modest
means, and his mother, Margaret Hastwell, managed the household despite financial
difficulties. The family belonged to a small Christian sect known as the Sandemanians,
whose values of humility, simplicity, and a focus on practical service profoundly
influenced Faraday throughout his life. Faraday's early education was rudimentary,
consisting mostly of reading, writing, and arithmetic. At the age of 14, he was
apprenticed to a London bookbinder named George Riebau. This apprenticeship proved
transformative, as it allowed young Faraday...
 A neighbor approached me the other day regarding
a strange occurrence with the electrical supply to his workshop, which is not attached
to the house. The overhead lights were dim, and his small refrigerator was straining.
Turning on or off various tools and lights caused changes in everything else. This
guy is one smart cookie (and an excellent woodworker), and has handled all his own
household electrical and plumbing issues for many decades, but he had never experienced
such a situation. Fortunately, I have. Upon hearing his description, I immediately
recognized it as a case of an
open neutral in the circuit breaker panel. I have seen that before. Understanding
what is happening can be made simple by realizing that once the neutral reference
is gone, the two "legs" (phases) are in series with each other rather than in parallel...
A neighbor approached me the other day regarding
a strange occurrence with the electrical supply to his workshop, which is not attached
to the house. The overhead lights were dim, and his small refrigerator was straining.
Turning on or off various tools and lights caused changes in everything else. This
guy is one smart cookie (and an excellent woodworker), and has handled all his own
household electrical and plumbing issues for many decades, but he had never experienced
such a situation. Fortunately, I have. Upon hearing his description, I immediately
recognized it as a case of an
open neutral in the circuit breaker panel. I have seen that before. Understanding
what is happening can be made simple by realizing that once the neutral reference
is gone, the two "legs" (phases) are in series with each other rather than in parallel...
 Three more
electronics-themed comics here, these from a 1962 issue of Radio-Electronics
magazine. They represent a good spectrum of consumer electronics service issues
of the era. The page 41 comic scenario is not likely to occur with a television
today; it's more likely with a Li-Ion powered cellphone sitting in your pocket.
The page 60 comic, on the other hand, is more likely to happen today with all the
anti-theft devices used on in-dash devices like radios, GPS navigation units, and
Ham (Amateur) and CB radios. Even without the anti-theft devices, good luck getting
the dashboard apart enough to service the device. I recently replaced an in-dash
air vent valve motor in my daughter's truck...
 "A team of scientists from the Korea Institute
of Materials Science (KIMS) has developed the world's first ultra-thin film composite
material capable of
absorbing over 99% of electromagnetic waves from various frequency bands, including
5G/6G, WiFi, and autonomous driving radar, using a single material. This novel electromagnetic
wave absorption and shielding material is less than 0.5mm thick and is characterized
by its low reflectance of less than 1% and high absorbance of over 99% across three
different frequency bands..."
 Part 1 of this "All About IC's" series titled,
"What Makes Them Tick," author Bob Hibberd introduced the concept of semiconductor
physics and doped PN junctions. It appeared in a 1969 issue of Radio-Electronics
magazine. In Part 2, he discusses methods used to
fabricate monolithic, integrated circuits (IC's) on silicon chips. Transistors,
diodes, resistor, capacitors, and to some extent, inductors, can be built using
a combination of variously doped junction regions, metallization, and oxidation
(insulators). Technology has come a long way since 1969, including mask techniques,
3-D structures, doping gradients, feature size, dielectric breakdown strength...
 As was customary for U.S. businesses,
Hallicrafters ran a Christmas advertisement in the January issue
of magazines where they appeared. The January edition, as is common even now, is
typically mailed in early December, getting it in the hands of readers in time for
Christmas. This "Here's to a Good Old Fashioned Christmas" (which many state governors
want to end beginning this year) message appeared in the January 1942 issue of
QST magazine. Halli(gan) and (hand)crafters was founded in Chicago in 1932
by William J. Halligan. The company designed and manufactured radio equipment for
hobby, commercial, and military applications and quickly became very popular amongst
their users...
|
 Thank God It's Friday (TGIF) again. What
better way is there to wrap up a week than to get a good laugh at these
electronics-themed comics from a few of my vintage Electronics World magazines
from the 1960s? If you still need more to help recover from the past five days and
prepare you for the weekend, a huge list of other webpages with similar comics is
at the bottom of this page. They would make good additions to in-house presentations.
 Germanium was "the" semiconductor of
choice in 1959 even though advances were being made with silicon. Most of the newer semiconductor
devices were being fabricated with germanium as the central transducer element. Temperature
sensors, strain gauges, "sensistor" variable resistance units, Hall effect sensors and
gyrators and circulators, torsional (twist) transducers, displacement sensors, and even
neutron detectors were done in germanium. Even though silicon is referenced as being
applicable to all the devices, it was not until the 1960s that silicon began to dominate
semiconductor fabrication. This paper titled ,"From Germanium to Silicon, A History of
Change in the Technology of the Semiconductors...
RF Cascade Workbook is the next phase in the evolution of RF Cafe's long-running
series, RF Cascade Workbook. Chances are you have never used a spreadsheet
quite like this (click
here for screen capture). It is a full-featured RF system cascade parameter
and frequency planner that includes filters and mixers for a mere $45. Built in
MS Excel, using RF Cascade Workbook is a cinch and the format
is entirely customizable. It is significantly easier and faster than using a multi-thousand
dollar simulator when a high level system analysis is all that is needed...
 In 1960, futurists were predicting that within
10 years it would be possible to beam television signals between continents and directly
into homes. It was the eve of Project Echo, which boosted a 100-foot-diameter inflatable
metallized plastic ball into low Earth orbit to reflect signals efficiently back through
the atmosphere. Engineers and scientists were already planning the next best thing -
a satellite that not only reflected, but also amplified, possibly frequency converted,
and would even steer signals that impinge upon it. Envisioned in this article is hundreds
of satellites being available for relaying signals between all regions of the Earth on
then-standard VHF channels. We now have successful
satellite television systems, but they operate at Ku-band due to bandwidth
requirements and need special converters to interface with a television...
 Betatron particle accelerators date back
to 1935 with the one built by Max Steenbeck in Germany. The name is a portmanteau
of "beta" + "electron," which is sort of a superfluous redundancy. This news piece
is about the world's biggest betatron having been built, with dimensions of 9 feet
high, 6 feet wide and 15 feet long, and 24,000 volt energizing coils. Strangely
(it seems to me), the article interchanges the terms "xxx-volt electrons" and "xxx
electron-volts. I suppose its fundamentally the same thing, but just unusual to
see it that way. Note the robustness of the machine as required to rigidly contain
such powerful magnetic forces...
 Unless you are into restoring and/or repairing
radios with
dial cords, you probably can't fully appreciate the humor in this short piece
from a 1953 issue of Radio-Electronics magazine. Dial cord is a type of string that
does not stretch when put under tension. It is wound around the shafts of two or
more components to keep them in step with each other. Since the advent of LED and
LCD readouts for displaying the tuned frequency, there was no need to mechanically
synchronize a sliding or rotating pointer with the position of a (usually) multi-plate
tuning capacitor. If you are/were lucky, the path of the dial cord simply wrapped
around the shaft of the tuning element (capacitor) and around the axle of a circular
tuning dial, with no pulleys or bobbins for changing the direction...
 Prior to the advent of personal computers
and handy-dandy antenna design software like EZNEC, determining the effects of varying
parameters - element spacing, angles and length, ground plane distance and extent,
feedpoint impedance, the presence of conductive structures, etc. - it was necessary
to make a series of often complex mathematical calculations and ultimately perform
real-world measurement. Huge amounts of time would be invested in the design and
verification process. It has been know for a long time that the distance an antenna
sits above a ground plane has a significant effect on the radiation pattern - particularly
the vertical pattern. The information provided in this 1954 Radio & TV News
magazine article undoubtedly required many hours to assimilate and required someone
(author William Harrison) with a lot of knowledge in the science/art of antennas.
While some empirical testing is still needed for critical applications, in most
cases these days the results of computer simulations suffice...
 "Modern" used in the title of anything has
always bothered me since it is utterly ambiguous unless you know the era of the
authorship. There are plenty of books using "Modern Medicine" in the title that
describe bloodletting as a treatment for various diseases or swallowing mercury
to cure constipation (and just about everything else). Accordingly, apologies to
anyone searching for 2021-modern television information who might have wandered
in here hoping to find useful information. However, if you are looking for historical
data regarding the evolution of broadcast television, then you might be in the right
place. As usual when reading this kind of article from a 1939 issue of Radio
News magazine, I am amazed to see accounts of the very first thoughts on the
path technology takes toward where we find ourselves in 2021.
There are basically two types of "visionaries" - those who first come up with
a new idea and those who actually implement the vision. Often the same person qualifies
for both categories. Being the first person to think up the idea of sending voice
signals or images through the air to a remote location...
 According to Electronics
magazine editor Lewis Young in mid-1964, the industry was entering into a slump
in business opportunities. The boom times provided during the war years of WWII
and Korea had resulted in, according to Mr. Young, a lax attitude toward operational
strategy that led to wasteful spending and poor accountability for project results.
It wasn't just the defense contractors' fault because government bureaucrats - from
relatively low ranking military personnel to elected lawmakers - had (have) a habit
of making sudden changes to contract requirements. Maintaining the resources needed
to keep up with ever-evolving demands necessitated a lot of the excess. Fortunately,
the military-industrial complex, as President Dwight D. Eisenhower dubbed it,
was on the verge of being thrown another huge monetary bone - the Vietnam War. President
Kennedy was already pumping lots of equipment and manpower into it, and LBJ would
follow suit with vigor ...
 While
FM broadcasting (frequency modulation) began in the United States in the late
1930s, it was not until after World War II and even the Korean War, in the
1950s, that the major shift to FM took place. It took even longer for FM to get
a foothold in Europe mainly due to the emphasis on rebuilding essential infrastructure
and manufacturing destroyed by the war. As this article points out, the newer FM
radio features allowed it to thwart some of the propaganda efforts of the Soviets
in East Germany who would be stuck in technologies that lag two or more decades
behind the free world even to this day (ain't Communism / Socialism great?). The
"medium-wave band" referenced herein is AM (amplitude modulation), so replacing
dominant radio broadcasting with FM systems would effectively cut off AM propaganda.
FM radios were being produced so inexpensively in the U.S. that they were very affordable
in Europe was well. There is no mention of whether the West German government subsidized
the purchase of FM receivers by citizens...
 Here are a few of my favorite
Christmas music
videos. They include an eclectic mix of Cloverton, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra,
an unlikely duet sung by Bing Crosby and David Bowie, and Casting Crowns. Watching
the instruments being played really enhances the effect of the song. I used to have
the videos embedded in this page for easy viewing all in one place, but each year
on some of them I have to go find new hosting location because the previous year's
had been removed. This time I am just linking to the YouTube (and other) web pages.
The U.S. Air Force Band performance at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is my
newest addition for 2020...
 Before the current generation began destroying
its hearing with smartphone earbuds, their parents and grandparents (that includes
mine) destroyed our hearing with ridiculously
powerful loudspeakers, often in boom boxes perched on shoulders
right next to the ears (not me). The "concert hall" - or concert auditorium - experience
has been long sought-after since recorded music has been available, which has only
been about a century. As evidenced by the sudden increase in articles and advertisements
in my growing collection of vintage electronics magazines, the early and mid 1950s
saw a sudden swell of articles promoting the equally swelling supply of high fidelity
(hi-fi) recording and playback equipment hitting the markets. Subjects ranging from
homebuilt projects to reports of top end commercially products filled the pages
each month. Television saw the same treatment in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
All, of course, relied on vacuum tubes - with just enough relatively expensive semiconductors...
RF Cascade Workbook is the next phase in the evolution of RF Cafe's long-running
series, RF Cascade Workbook. Chances are you have never used a spreadsheet
quite like this (click
here for screen capture). It is a full-featured RF system cascade parameter
and frequency planner that includes filters and mixers for a mere $45. Built in
MS Excel, using RF Cascade Workbook is a cinch and the format
is entirely customizable. It is significantly easier and faster than using a multi-thousand
dollar simulator when a high level system analysis is all that is needed...
 Triacs are not a component often used in RF
and microwave circuit design, but being conversant in its operation could make you
popular at nerd parties. A triac is basically the equivalent of two SCRs connected
back-to-back, allowing it to conduct on both the positive and negative half-cycles
of an AC connection. Both devices are most commonly used in switching applications.
The unique feature of an SCR and triac is that once the gate voltage is sufficiently
high to begin conduction between the anode and cathode, it can be removed and conduction
will continue until the anode-cathode voltage is removed ...
 Always a good way to end a busy week, here
is a collection of
electronics-themed comics that appeared in a 1967 issue of
Popular Electronics magazine. A few of the artists you will recognize if you
are a regular reader. Some drawing styles are immediately identifiable, such as
those by Dave Harbaugh (of "Hobnobbing with Harbaugh" fame). Others, at least to
me, are not quite so familiar. Frank Tabor, George White, Stan Fine, and JAS (I'm
sure I know those initials, but can't place them) are amongst the others. I have
to admit to not really knowing what the gag is in the comic with the guy in his
pajamas. The party guy is cutting a wire to his ear buds ...
 Each week, for the sake of all avid cruciverbalists
amongst us, I create a new
technology-themed crossword puzzle using only words from my custom-created
lexicon related to engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, physics,
astronomy, etc. You will never find among the words names of politicians,
mountain ranges, exotic foods or plants, movie stars, or anything of the sort.
You might, however, see someone or something in the exclusion list who or that
is directly related to this puzzle's theme, such as Hedy Lamarr or the Bikini
Atoll, respectively - Enjoy...
 This might be my oldest copy of
QST, being Vol. XIII, Number 6. Up until a few decades ago, authors
commonly appropriated themes and characters from familiar fairy tales and
fables for use in articles of instructional nature. Some publications even
used comic book style formats for teaching to beginners. The term 'wabbulation'
(aka "wobbulation" and "wobulation") is spoken to Uncle Jimmy by the fabled
Piper, and I have to admit not being familiar with the term. According to
W2PA's story, 1920s era QST technical editor Robert Kruse coined the word
to describe inadvertent modulation of the carrier frequency during CW or phone
operation. Per the Wikipedia entry, "wobulation is Hewlett-Packard's term
for a form of interlacing designed for use with fixed pixel displays...
 The early 1950s was a time when people worldwide
were making a shift from radio to television as the primary form of in-home entertainment.
There was an aura of awe associated with TV with its ability to send recorded movies
and live shows over the air without any physical connection (although it can be
argued that an electromagnetic wave is "physical," since it is part of the study
of physics). Of course often times the feeling of awe was replaced by a feeling
of rage when the blasted thing went on the fritz. Then, the television repairman
became the objet d'awe (I just made up that phrase, a la objet d'art). Two of these
three
tech-themed comics are typical of the era. The other is timeless and could be
a modern comic if something other than vacuum tube equipment was shown in the scene.
Enjoy!
 That would be President Ford in the background
atop the platform, behind where the
OSCAR ground station was set up. He was there as part of the dedication of the
new National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C., in 1976. The event was
part of the nationwide series of bicentennial celebrations marking America's founding
with the signing of the The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States
of America. Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins directed the event. The Space
Race was in its heyday and most people were still in awe of anything related to
spacecraft - both manned and unmanned. Just about anyone other than a Ham radio
operator believed communicating with a satellite was the exclusive domain of governments,
so the presence of AMSAT...
 If you have seen many of the articles I post
from vintage electronics magazines, you know I often compare prices from the magazine's
era to today's prices. The online Inflation Calculator from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) is as good as any, so it is used. This RCA advertisement in a 1946
issue of Radio-Craft magazine boasts of how drastically the
cost of
vacuum tubes has come down since 1923. It claims a $9 tube in 1923 costs a mere
80¢ in 1946; that is about 1/11th of the original price. Prior to around 1965, inflation
was very low, so the inflation-adjusted price for the $9.00 tube would be $9.80
in 1946 - a full 23 years later (a 9% increase, per the BLS). Therefore, the 80¢
price is an even better deal. Let us compare that to what a $9 item 23 years ago
(1998) from today (2021) would cost now. Per the BLS Inflation Calculator, it would
take $15.06 in 2021...
 This is another example of one of those
advertisements you likely would not see in a modern electronics magazine. There
is nothing fundamentally problematic about its content or message, but politically
correct standards would condemn any depiction of a woman expressing such excessive
appreciation for a man's efforts. It might, after all, convey the idea that all
television antenna servicemen should expect such treatment from all women. It also
implies that only men can be TV antenna servicemen / servicepersons. If that sounds
nutty, well, what can I say. It's the world we live in as evidenced by news items
of late. Keep firmly in mind that what is accepted as a social norm today might
be considered to be a crime in a few decades, so exercise caution in all you do
in the presence of witnesses be it written, videoed, spoken, or acted out... |
