Back When Radio Was A Work of Art

[W1UJR]

Just take a look at the gorgeous studio and transmitter layout, and decor.
When was the last time you saw a leaded glass skylight in a broadcast studio?
Or crown moulding on the walls?
Or a Parquet floor?
Or station personal dressed in suits and ties?
Makes you long for the good old days!

http://fmamradios.com/RCA-50B.html











1UJR Broadcast Studios

[n3lrx]

It's been quite a while.. All the studios these days are broom closets!

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Don't have to go to far:

[Herb K2VH]

W1UJR said:  "Makes you long for the good old days!"

THOSE WERE THE DAYS - 25/09/1968
6 weeks at #1 - 21 weeks on chart

Once upon a time there was a tavern
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
And dreamed of all the great things we would do

Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way

La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la, la la la la la la la

I love that song!  Reminds me of the great pictures you've posted here, Bruce.  And of course, the great shot of Vortex Joe posted by Pete.  Thanks guys, for making my day a good old day!

K2 Vintage Ham

[KB2WIG]

 "the great shot of Vortex Joe "


I guess VJ gets the equipment by making offers the sellers can't refuse?            klc

[WB2RJR]

Don't have to go to far:

And off to Joe's right is a stained/leaded glass basement window and off to his left a large plate of assorted pierogi, both out of the picture frame.

We may never see broadcast days like this again.

Keep the light alive!

[W3SLK]

Wasn't one of those transmitters from the INR studios? Pete, everytime I go to Joe's place I hear those 'bowing shelves' in the background groaning ever so loudly!

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Radio is art every time I'm on the air.

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

Why does everybody pick on my poor shelves? OK, I removed all the toobs I used to have on there in fear of them crashing to the ground. What did I replace them with? Oldbuzzardly audio output transformers, microphonium impeadance matching transformers, and all kinds of stuff. It just happens, what can I say?

Maybe it's time I build sturdier shelves?

Bruce - Absolutely terrific pics! Those transmitters give me major wood! You have one incredible looking shack OM!

If you want to see another real kewlbeanerz broadcast transmitter, do a google search for a Western Electric 1A. They date to 1922.

Very Best Regards,
                         Joe Cro N3IBX

[n3lrx]

The good news is Joe, toobs won't fall off and flatten your foot like a steam roller! LOL (Unless they're large ceramic/steel tubes!)

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

The good news is Joe, toobs won't fall off and flatten your foot like a steam roller! LOL (Unless they're large ceramic/steel tubes!)

Randy,
        I LOVE your signature message about "I live in my own little world", etc. You're definitely a man after my own heart! When I'm down in my basement shack I get lost in the smells of warm transformers, hot vacuum tubes, old electronic equipment, old books, etc etc. For all I know I could be back in the early 1930's. It's different from the rest of the house, and the XYL complains of that "basement smell" and "garage smell".
There's a certain "aura" about being around old tube gear that I particularly crave.

BTW, I'm still unearthing possible caps for you and hope to find something you can use soon. I just have to make sure it can take the KV's.

Very Best Regards,
                         Joe Cro N3IBX

[WA1GFZ]

nothing says STRAP like a rig in a rack.....even if it has FETs.

[k4kyv]

I love the art of radio as illustrated in those old pictures and magazine articles.  But I can certainly do without the neckties.

[w3jn]

Time was, Don, when you had to don a coat, tie, and vest to build your rig... or so the old magazines of the 30's would have us believe 

[KL7OF]

1935

[WBear2GCR]

WOR

I'm still trying to find a picture of WOR's Carteret transmitter room.

So far nothing. If you find it, please let me know.

Apparently it was a Western Electric rig.

As I mentioned before the thing was pure Art Deco, black glass and chrome. Black gloss floor with white inlay around the border. About 30ft to the ceiling, two walls were "transmitter".

Stunning. Simply stunning.

I regret to this day not having taken any pix when I was there.
There's a story online that the fellow who was in charge of WE's xmitters went to the site just before it was demolished and pulled a couple of output tubes. I was there as a guest of W2UO (sk) probably a few years before that time and could have had "NIB" tubes if I had wanted them - which I considered. But they were VERY BIG and I was afraid of the consequences if they were broken by accident, so reluctantly declined the offer.

Fact is that I could have pretty much carted off anything and everything that was still there... and really really wish I had gotten more...

The image of that place is strikingly vivid in my mind. Stunning actually.

                         _-_-WBear2GCR

[KB2WIG]

Back in my days of drinking beer, comming home at 3AM and only 12 cable channels to watch ....  Here is MY memory of WOR.

[W9GT]

That Art Deco styling was really great.  There was a real class and feel to those old transmitter rooms and the gear that filled them.  Also, perhaps, a bit of the same feeling that you got with shivers up and down the back of your neck when you watched those old Frankenstein movies with all the sparks and arcs and the beautiful blue and pink glow of the rectifier tubes.  There is a sense of wanting to view that stuff, albeit from a safe distance, and appreciate the beauty of it all.  DANGER HIGH VOLTAGE!!  Wow....cool!!  There was a "feel" to radio that is one of the things that many of us may try to recapture in our collecting and restoring of old tube-type boatanchor stuff.  A lot of our home-brew stuff is really heading in the right direction....with the viewing windows for those big transmitting bottles, rows of panel meters, and zillions of knobs.  That's REAL RADIO!!!  Ain't it grand?  
 


73,  Jack, W9GT

[WBear2GCR]

Phil - cool.

If you look at my QRZ pic, that mobile unit came out of the storage "locker" in the main xmitter room, high up the wall, on the left, if you were facing the transmitter.

I have seen a picture of the transmitter room shot from that spot (naturally) in a book at some time in the past. Other than that, nada.

That old picture I saw, being halftoned and in B&W doesn't do complete justice to the place, but it did give an inkling... the only thing that comes to mind is that when they put that in they spared no expense at a time when money was dear (guess it was built in 1934?) and this was a very very state-of-the-art thing.

Did I mention the room was oval, eliptical,  not rectangular?

                 _-_-bear

should have been preserved as a museum... towers and all... too bad.

[WA1GFZ]

Radio is still a work of art if you want it to be, just ask KC2FXE..........

[Carl WA1KPD]

1935

What a great pic, Hammarlund Comet Super Pro with a Patterson Pre Selector.

OK to use this in the free KPD Old Tyme Radio Calender for 2008?

[n3lrx]

Where do I apply for a Grant as a starving Artist??

I could live with a couple of million dollars to preserve the art!

It may, or may not work when I'm done with it, But it will certainly be a work of art! LOL

[flintstone mop]

I like then transmitter site of WLW when they were 500,000 watts. The mod tranny was 9 feet tall.
They could replace rectumfryers while the tx was on the air.
Fred