Project Radio
My first battery-powered radio â a ten-transistor Realtone â came from my Aunt Ina when I was about seven. I used to think I was ten, but the songs from 1973 would be wrong: I distinctly remember hearing âLookinâ Out My Back Doorâ by Creedence Clearwater Revival being played as a current hit on KGBS (now KTNQ, 1020 AM) while listening to that radio. That would put it around 1970.
Regardless, it was one of many I would own over the years. Unfortunately I destroyed it in a fit of uneducated experimentation ⌠I thought I could get better reception by adding a longer antenna, so I cut the internal ferrite bar antenna out, and it never worked again ⌠it didnât help that I had no clue how to solder at the time.
Recently while looking through eBay, I found one. I am not sure it is exact, as I canât remember if mine was black or white â they came in both. But itâs the same design with the same cool âslide ruleâ tuning dial.
Unfortunately, this one doesnât work, at least not yet. I definitely need to change the battery connector, as the wires are broken somewhere along the negative side, so without a jumper wire it doesnât turn on. But even with power, it will play nothing more than static.Â
So Iâm adding this to my project bench along with a few other radios, including various transistor and âall-American fiveâ tube â and similar â models. The bench is getting full; I better start really working on these. Before my wife Jean gets even more annoyed.
Wish List
One radio I would like to add to the bench is somewhat of a mystery from about 1967, I believe. Known as âThe Astronautâ by Realistic, it is a four-band portable transistor radio listed as a Radio Shack model 12-1377 in one of their catalogs. My dad originally bought it new, and like the Realtone mentioned above, it was eventually broken by me âŚÂ in this case when I sprayed something into the FM tuning capacitor as I tried to âimprove it.â
What makes it even harder to find than its general scarcity â I donât think it was available long â is the fact that from all of my research, there is no model number on the radio itself. So even if offered, it may not show up in searches. But it was cool ⌠AM (listed as BC for Broadcast), FM, Marine and Aircraft bands. And from my memory, pretty good sound. Maybe some day âŚ
Heart and Soul
One of the great things about our growing â both in stature and number â local low powered community FM stations is the ability to find programming you canât find elsewhere. Case in point: the new âHeart and Soul Oldiesâ show on Long Beachâs KLBP (99.1 FM and at klbp.org).
The show is hosted by Mike Anthony, who once played oldies as a DJ at The Hop in Lakewood and Bill Medleyâs club in Fountain Valley. A longtime fan of the old KRLA (now KWVE, 1110 AM), Anthony counts as his influences the many KRLA DJs from the âHeart and Soulâ era of the station: Wolfman Jack, Art Laboe, Dick âHuggy Boy” Hugg and The âBurnerâ Humble Harve Miller.
Just like KRLA did, Anthony plays hits from the 1950s through the â70s. Hear it for yourself Saturday mornings from 10 to noon ⌠and get more information at HeartAndSoulOldies.com.
HD Changes
Saul Levineâs Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters is making some changes to the digital HD lineup of streams available at 105.1 FM. You need an HD-capable radio to hear them, but many such radios are available, especially among newer cars.
The HD1 will, as required by law and common sense, be a digital simulcast of Go Country 105. But beginning March 31, there will be two classical music stations available, with the HD2 being more modern and current classical music and the HD3 being what Levine describes as âmore baroque and old-school Mozart and Bach.â The HD3 will also feature some Grand Opera and other features, which Levine hopes will make it feel more local and specialized than the HD2. âWe want to offer a solid choice for listeners,â he explained.
So what happens with the HD4? As of now the plan is to keep LA Oldies on the air, moving it back to its old HD4 home. This means that the Go Country Gold simulcast currently heard on HD4 will be no longer be an HD stream, and the format will stand alone on 1260 AM as far as broadcast radio goes. Of course you can also hear the country oldies on various apps, which are superior in many ways to HD streams. What I have found is that 1260 covers well ⌠with the right radio.
///