Radio and Electronics Magazines from Yesteryear

[W1RKW]

One of my favorites when I was growing up was Popular Electronics and Radio Electronics.  They've either morphed into something else or then disappeared.  I was disappointed when PE morphed and vanished.  It seems like some of the good magazines from years back have never been replicated. Everything we get is high level generalities when it comes to subject matter.  You have to dig for specialty stuff. This even applies to ham rags.

What was your favorite?

[Carl WA1KPD]

Pop E
QST
Electronic Illustrated

[k4kyv]

In 1929, west coast RADIO magazine turned into a broadcast receiver trade publication.  Amateur radio rags included QST and a new west coast upstart, R-9, which was started up hoping to replace RADIO.

Then, in late 1933, RADIO returned to being a predominately amateur radio publication, and was now in competition with R-9.  For a couple of years both amateur radio publications were published from the west coast, but in January, 1936, R-9 and RADIO merged into one magazine to be called RADIO.  For the next six years, the new RADIO gave QST a run for its money.  When amateur radio was shut down at the beginning of WW2, RADIO turned into an industrial electronics trade publication.

At the end the war, the people at the old RADIO set up shop in NYC and restarted it, but since RADIO was still in publication as the trade publication, they had to choose a new name, so they called it CQ.

For many years following the end of the War, the two primary amateur radio publications were QST and CQ, just as it was QST and RADIO before the War.  Then 73 and eventually Ham Radio started up and for a while we had four amateur publications.  But eventually 73 and HR folded, and now we have come the full circle, with only QST and CQ remaining, both of which are but shadows of what they once were.

[W3RSW]

My favorite was "73" until Wayne started his FM era.  I sure enjoyed his rants. Many times in college I'd have to decide between eating well or mags and parts.  The college probably supplied most of my war surplus iron.
Kind of felt like one of the family after reading '73' for years.

[K3ZS]

There is a magazine now called "Nuts and Volts" that our local library carries.   I think it replaces Popular Electronics.   It is more for the nuts who still build microprocessor circuits and program in machine language.

[WQ9E]

My favorite was Radio News which evolved into Radio and Television News and then devolved into Electronics World.  My father had a bunch of issues from the early 50's into the early 60's which I discovered when I became interested in radio in 1973 leading to my novice ticket in '74.  A lot of good construction articles, interesting news on all phases of electronics (like the Russian kerosene lamp which also served as a cooking device AND powered a small radio through conversion of heat into electricity) and those great old full page radio ads including Walther Ashe and large sections of Heathkit products.  I am lucky my Ph.D. studies in business didn't get derailed when I discovered the engineering section of the library at Texas Tech had a complete set of bound issues from start until end-far more interesting than some of the business monographs I actually should have been reading.

Rodger WQ9E

[W1AEX]

Yah, Popular Electronics was great fun to flip through. It always seemed to offer some project that would get you thinking about taking apart something your little brother had spent his newspaper delivery money on. I liked all the weird crap that started to appear in the advertising section in the back: anti-gravity scams and x-ray glasses. Yup, that was great stuff.

Rob W1AEX

[W3RSW]

that guy's playing a theramn (sp?)  that sure brings back memories.
- Hand capacity audio oscillator.
First I realilzed electronics could do more neat stuff than short wave and audio amplifiers.

[John K5PRO]

I always liked the articles on building tesla coils, in the old mags. Great stuff, sometimes it actually worked. Seems like there was another kind of TV shop magazine in the 1960s, that had Whites Radio Log in each issue. What was it?

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I always liked the articles on building tesla coils, in the old mags. Great stuff, sometimes it actually worked. Seems like there was another kind of TV shop magazine in the 1960s, that had Whites Radio Log in each issue. What was it?

Radio-TV Experimenter

[k7yoo]

I was digging through my collection the other day and came across 2 volumes of R9 . These were from the early thirties and had an article on SSSC (SSB). This wasn't a theoretical article--it was a construction article--the real deal. I am very partial to the RADIO (later Orr) handbooks and left coast Radio magazines. The handbooks had far more useful information than the ARRL books and tended to be less "stuffy". My favorite is the line in the 13th or 14th edition that describes a single 4-1000 class C rf deck. "This article describes an amplifier that is capable in excess of legal amateur power levels, but the information provided is of academic interest ....." or something to that effect.
5KV 750 ma---works for me

[W1AEX]

that guy's playing a theramn (sp?)  that sure brings back memories.
- Hand capacity audio oscillator.

Hey Rick, isn't that what they used to make "space" sounds in the old Sci-Fi movies? 

[Carl WA1KPD]

My favorite was Radio News which evolved into Radio and Television News an

Rodger WQ9E

Roger
Do you have the rest of that xmtr article?
Thanks
Carl /KPD

[k4kyv]

I was digging through my collection the other day and came across 2 volumes of R9 . These were from the early thirties and had an article on SSSC (SSB). This wasn't a theoretical article--it was a construction article--the real deal.

I have that complete set of articles.  I have thought about if I ever had time on my hands, to build a slopbucket rig exactly duplicating what was in that article.  Most hams think SSB is something that wasn't invented until after WW2.

One change I might make would be to let it transmit more low frequency response.  The rig in the article runs 500-3000~ to maintain a 2500~ bandwidth.  The balanced modulator operates at a carrier frequency just barely above audible range, and runs LSB at that!  They use small laminated core power supply filter or audio chokes as the inductive elements in the sideband filter.  The circuit uses a double conversion scheme to heterodyne the signal into the amateur band.

[W2XR]

that guy's playing a theramn (sp?)  that sure brings back memories.
- Hand capacity audio oscillator.
First I realilzed electronics could do more neat stuff than short wave and audio amplifiers.

Rick,

Yes, it was called a Theramin, and  it did produce a lot of the "music" that was used in the soundtrack of numerous B-grade sci-fi flix of the '50s.

The Theramin was named after the Russian inventor of this device.

There was a fairly famous Mexican musician in the late '50s who recorded on RCA Living Stereo ( I have the record here somewhere) who recorded a lot of music using the Theramin. His music enjoyed a fairly short-lived renaissance a few years ago among certain members of the Gen-X generation.

73,

Bruce

[KL7OF]

Citizens Radio Magazine

[WA1GFZ]

I bought my first PE in fall 1963 and the big project was a solid state vibrator eliminator.
I like early "Ham Radio" the best with the Rohde RX articles on dream RX circuits and ideas. It later turned into crap and was bought out by ARRL QEX which is a good rag.

[Carl WA1KPD]

Frank
The "Radio Tart" is listening on 3885 to see if you will be at Nearfest in May
 

[W4RON]

Frank
The "Radio Tart" is listening on 3885 to see if you will be at Nearfest in May

I like her, she's been in my "Radio Girls" photo collection for a couple of years.

73, Ron W4RON