Any Radio Buffs in the crowd?

[rp2813]

Just this week the 100th anniversary of the first radio broadcast was celebrated by AM station KCBS in San Francisco. They are the successor to the original station KQW in San Jose, where the first broadcast in history was made in June of 1909, and have a bureau in the building that stands on the site of the original building where the broadcast took place.

Interesting that in the space of the same week, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of a technology that is still being used, and saw the end of analog television broadcasting after 81 years.

Ralph

 

[j2400]

I don't know anything about wire recorders, but I'd be a bit cautious with any old line out to make sure that it would work electrically with a modern line in. A number of standards have changed since that radio was made. A good example is with the turntable--records of the 78 era have many differences from modern LPs, and not just the speed.

 

[alr2903]

I just posted in another thread the other day, never think something NEW will not come up on this site. I have never heard of a Wire recorder. i truly enjoyed everyones pics. thanks

 

[jakins]

1935 Crosley

Hi Guys
Just happened upon this thread. here is a pic of my 35 Crosley. It has been restored and plays great. The AM stations in the Orlando area has gone the way of most areas, Talk Talk Talk. I am also a big fan of OTR ( Old Time Radio )and have a great tool for this that many do not seem to know about. It is the Talking House. This broadcaster is an AM transmitter that is easy to use. it will broadcast over any am frequency. 530 thru 1700. It will record up to 5 min message and is used by realtors to give info on houses they have listed. However it also has a LIVE INPUT that you can play your ipod, mp3 player, cd player, or any audio through it. The only problem I had was my computer gave a strong buzz when I plugged it directly into the talking house so I transmit from computer with a fm transmitter to a radio and plug the talking house into the earphone jack. a little more work on the setup but I now have a very clean signal. The Talking House can be found on ebay almost any time you log on. and what fun to listen to what you want over your antique radios.

 

[jakins]

Talking House

The talking house

 

[tolivac]

Right now at my workplace I am running short wave AM transmitters over 60yrs old.Its a job keeping them going--rebuilt tubes and parts made up by a machine shop.Like the idea of a "talking House" transmitter being used to broadcast shows to your older radios-some YOU would want to hear.
Wire recorders are the forerunners of modern analog tape recorders-wire recorders work on the same principles as tape recorders-but use the steel wire as a recording-playback medium.Up to WW2-BBC used machines known as ribbon recorders to record and playback their shows.These machines can be dangerous-the transport was in its own room and operated by remote control.The medium was steel ribbon instead of wire or tape.The edges of the ribbon are sharp enough to cut-esp if the machine was in Fast forward or rewind mode.And if the ribbon broke in the fast modes-it was like a flying bandsaw blade!Somewhere at home I have pictures of these machines in a book.They were very large-the reels of ribbon were a couple feet in diameter.The playback and record speeds were faster than modern tape recorders that use plastic oxide coated tape.

 

[jbuscemi]

INteresting that there are so many different collections other than washers on this site. That's what makes it so interesting. I have a Victor Radio with ELectrola from 1929. It really is a great radio /phonograph combination with AMAZING tone and clarity. I also hitched in an FM receiver to enable me to play FM stations through the system. I am able to get some pretty wonderful stations...one being Radio Classique , Montreal. The horseshoe magnet electric pick up ( while I am sure it eats the records as it is very heavy and unes steel needles which must be changed after every record! ) allows one to really hear how the first electrically recorded discs sounded...and they are pretty impressive.

 

[whirlaway]

Radiola with Electrola

I have one also,it still has a few of the original blank recording discs with the jackets.Mine has the orignal oil in its balsa wood container.I paid 130.00 dollars for it 25 years ago at an estate sale,that was alot of money then.Still works well with no repairs other than rebuilding the horseshoe magnetic pickup.Thanks Bobby