Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles
from Popular Electronics,
published October 1954 - April 1985. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged.
Here is a little electronics
hobbyist humor in the form of a comic series titled "Hobnobbing with Harbaugh,"
compliments of Dave Harbaugh in the March 1970 issue of Popular Electronics.
Citizens Band radio and dirty hippies were the topic of the day in the 1970, so
that's what you see in a couple of these comics. The marriage proposal comic can
be considered as "amateur" in more ways than one! You don't need to be an amateur
radio operator to appreciate these comic strips.
Hobnobbing with Harbaugh
by Dave Harbaugh
I'd like you to marry me later. Right now, DX conditions on 21
MHz are too good.
Madam!
Sorry, Nancy, I'm going steady with WPE6XPN.
No, but I had a CB license.
Posted September 13, 2021 (updated from original post on 1/28/2014)
These Technically-Themed Comics Appeared in Vintage Electronics Magazines. I
personally scanned and posted every one from copies I own (and even colorized some).
275 pages as of 5/13/2026.
RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools"
in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide
me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing
my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet)
was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity.
Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line,
and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...
