1926 "The Transmitter" Magazine? (Photo)

[W1UJR]

I came across a very intriguing publication entitled "The Transmitter".
Wonder if anyone has heard of this publication before?
I have issues Sept 1926 #1 to July 1927 #10.

Interesting publication, like a mini QST, in fact the same form factor
as the early issues of QST, just not quite as lengthy.

Published by:
The Transmitter Publishing Co.
Sub. Floor, Wright Bldg.
Tulsa, OK

L.A. Sims, Editor and Business Mgr. (no call listed)
G.B. Small, Technical Editor (no call listed)

Sept 1926 appears to have been the inaugural issue, not sure when
they stopped publishing.
Standard line up of brand name advertisers one would expect to see in that era,
not quite the range of QST, Cardwell seems to have really been one of the heavy hitters in the early editions.

Interesting articles, was just reading one on "Lunar Influences On Radio Reception"
in the September 1926 issue!
Really, but then again, all kinds of theories back in the day,
right?

Does this sound familiar with anyone, any info on the background of this company,
this has really gotten me quite interested.

Thanks!

Cordially,
Bruce J. Howes W1UJR
www.W1UJR.net

[W2PFY]

Very interesting Bruce. Rare indeed! I did about 1/2 hour looking on ebay for that magazine and found nothing.

[KA0HCP]

I haven't heard of it either.  However I was perusing 1928 QST's this week and found an article on lunar effects on propagation as well.  It had graphs and such, but the author was a bit skeptical and felt that much more data collection was required! 

[W1UJR]

Interesting! Perhaps lunar effects were indeed a real consideration back then, seems to make sense if both QST and this mag had it listed.  I thought the Heaviside layer was pretty much accepted fact back in the early 1920s.

From the limited reading I've done in the early issue, it appears that Sims and Small were the primary authors. I'm thinking that this was more of a regional than national publication. Also found it odd that the two principles of the publication did not list call signs, most hams take pride in their calls.

I've also posted this on the AWA reflector, we will see what the fellows dig up there!

- Bruce

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Very interesting Bruce. Rare indeed! I did about 1/2 hour looking on ebay for that magazine and found nothing.

Took me less than 2 minutes.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TEN-TRANSMITTER-1926-HAM-RADIO-MAGAZINES-ANTI-QST-/160488749241

By the stains, they appear to be the same magazines. I have a stack of these boxed up somewhere with some old R9 Radio mags. Very similar to QST and the other "wireless" mags of the day.

[W1UJR]

Not too much so far, did hope someone from the 4th or 5th district might remember and chime in, but given the age of the publication, most of those OTs may have gone onto their reward. Ideally I'd like to, if I can scrounge up enough info, develop this in an article for my Transmitter column in the AWA Journal. So appreciate if you could pass the word. Tnx!

From the AWA boys:

I have the Oct. 1926 issue. It's remarkably QST-like, down to the
typography.

"The Transmitter" is not listed in the feature "Dates of Publication: Early
U. S. Radio Journals" ("OTB," Feb. 1990 and Feb. 1992).

Ludwell Sibley
-----

Good find Bruce. I have just the October 1926 issue. Back in 1998 (via
the email archives) I posted a similar request. I got one reply from Ed
Sharpe (SMECC Archivist) saying he had three issues, but knew nothing of
it's history.

I'm afraid this is going to need the "History Detectives" Bruce. I wish
you luck as I'm sure it would make a great article. You might try the
district reports in QST that cover the Oklahoma area in that time frame.

73

Don N9OO

[W1UJR]

This is the best I can do without rigging up something to hold the set on the scanner, may have to try that tomorrow. The challenge is that all 10 issues have been bound together, makes it very tough to properly lie flat on the scanner glass.


http://gallery.me.com/brucehowes#100610&view=mosaic&sel=0

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Took me less than 2 minutes.

Todd, when your hot, you hot

Nuthin' gets by me. Most days, anyway. 

[W1UJR]

Thanks OM, even more pieces of the puzzle, great tip about the building!
Wonder if it is still there, may be worth a Google Street View search, did that with the old Gross Radio store, all I saw was a big hole in the ground where the WTC used to be. :-(

Not sure if I'll have much luck with the folks with the early calls, suspect most are now gone onto their reward. With the initial publication date of 1926, and life of the publication being only about a year, that means anyone who read it off the press did so some 84 years ago! Even a very young JN of say 12 would be 96 years old today. I think the best I can hope for at this point is something already written down, some note or comment in another publication. I've put out feelers via my AWA contacts and such, including this site, so guess we will just have to see what rolls in. I sure wish the old QSTs on CD were searchable in all the text, not just the title and author. Actually I have a number of wishes about improving the scanned QST images and index, but that's for another time.

I do appreciate your suggestions, and anything you can do on your end. 

Some odd things about this publication, I'll mention again:

1) Seems to be very uncommon, no one has yet shown up or emailed a photo with a complete copy or set of issues. Much not have been much of a commercial success.

2) The editor and publishers don't list their ham call signs, one would think if they were licensed they be happy to let others know, most of us are proud to share ours.

3) In the past I have seen some small regional radio magazines like this, but they were in actuality a clever way for a commercial company to advertise. Thinking of my old "Ham News" magazines which were really published by a radio supply vendor. This publication is pretty much devoid of self-serving ads. 

4) Lots of photos, somebody spent some real money and time to put so many photos in that publication, almost wonder if it were an offshoot of some other magazine company looking to cash in on the hams?

In any case, thanks to all for the info, the search continues. :-)