We've come a long, long, long, way from the old days of "recreational radio".

[Omega-TI]

We'll be heading into spring and summer soon. It'll be time to figure out which radio to take camping, either in the RV, trailer, or tent

Of course if you go backpacking it's probably not going to be a huge radio, but you'll still want one that has a chance of receiving something way out in the toolies. Heck, a few of you might even be up for charging the batteries with a solar panel.

So, what kind of camping do you prefer, and what kind of radio do you plan to take with you?

One thing's for certain, it'll probably be easier to tag along than the so-called "portable" pictured below...

 

[bearcatrp]

When I go camping in my 5th wheel, my Icom R30 always comes along. Now that I picked up a 436, it will join the trip.

 

[4nradio]

I prefer tent camping in the Northwest USA, and like to take along vintage portables for fun (a Satellit 700 and RF-2200 will probably come along on my first camping trip of 2022 in June). It brings back memories of what got me into the hobby in the first place-- tuning around on a Wards "Airline" portable while camping with my family in the 1960s.

In the past I've camped with multiple SDRs and various Wellbrook antennas, but it gets a little old hauling along all the related gear like laptops, cords, batteries, and even heavy deep cycle 12v batteries and power distribution blocks. Ugh! Too much stuff for a tenting trip to the mountains.

Now I save my DXing with modern gear like SDRs for my regular trips to the WA coast for DXpeditions, where I usually stay in cabins or "yurts" that have furnishings, heat, and power. For camping trips though I've come to the conclusion that "less is more", for me at least.

During the days I like to do some hiking, and plan to take this new combo with me on the next trek:
CountyComm Exoskeleton for GP-5 SSB, GP-7 SSB, PL-368 Models

 

[mikethedruid]

Here is a "recreational radio" from just before WW2, a Philco 41-81T I restored. It had an original batter in it, which I actually rebuilt with new AA cells for the B battery section, and 4 D cells for the A battery section...

 

[mikethedruid]

Here's another "recreational radio" in my collection, a Trav-ler model 5028-A from just after WW2.


Here is a link to the schematic : Trav-ler 5028 schematic

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

Love those B-Batteries !

An aunt once told me that her brothers used to torment each other on bath nights by rushing into the bathroom and chucking a 90 Volt B Battery into the tub -- then delighting in the torture that ensued. But when they tried it with her (only once) they got their heads handed to them- but royally ! .


Lauri

.

 

[mmckenna]

Love those B-Batteries !

An aunt once told me that her brothers used to torment each other on bath nights by rushing into the bathroom and chucking a 90 Volt B Battery into the tub -- then delighting in the torture that ensued. But when they tried it with her (only once) they got their heads handed to them- but royally ! .

We used to charge up a capacitor with a megger. Touch it to someone feet when they are sleeping (and supposed to be going on watch) and they jump out of the rack pretty quickly.

 

[mikethedruid]

Another radio in my collection, which I restored and works beautifully, is my RCA model RMZ 195E GRAY. In its day, around 1970, it was RCA's top of the line transistor portable radio. It has six tuning bands:
Longwave : 150 - 400 KC
AM Broadcast : 540 - 1600 KC
Shortwave 1 : 1.6 - 4.8 MC
Shortwave 2 : 4.8 - 13 MC
Shortwave 3 : 13 - 30 MC
FM : 88 - 108 MC
It can operate either from batteries, 6 C cells, or from 120 VAC line using a built in line cord. It was manufactured in Japan. I have owned several Zenith Transoceanic radios, and this radio beats any of them.

 

[wa8pyr]

We used to charge up a capacitor with a megger. Touch it to someone feet when they are sleeping (and supposed to be going on watch) and they jump out of the rack pretty quickly.

I used an old ringer generator from a field phone for that sort of thing. Give that thing a spin and whoever the electrodes were touching would jump a mile.

 

[mmckenna]

I used an old ringer generator from a field phone for that sort of thing. Give that thing a spin and whoever the electrodes were touching would jump a mile.

Working late one night in a cable closet. Back in the 1990's, so all analog/TDM phone lines. It was hot, I was sweating, I was tired. I was leaning against the board, and I guess I leaned forward enough that my nose touched a 66 block. A little blue flash on the tip of my nose woke me right up. -48 volts will do that to you. 20hz/90 volt ringing voltage will light you up. Sealing current on a T-1 circuit will teach you a lesson.

 

[wa8pyr]

Working late one night in a cable closet. Back in the 1990's, so all analog/TDM phone lines. It was hot, I was sweating, I was tired. I was leaning against the board, and I guess I leaned forward enough that my nose touched a 66 block. A little blue flash on the tip of my nose woke me right up. -48 volts will do that to you. 20hz/90 volt ringing voltage will light you up. Sealing current on a T-1 circuit will teach you a lesson.

I used to work on a railroad doing all sorts of communications and electrical stuff; someone took the handle off a high voltage switch once to prevent people turning that circuit on (600 volts through the switch to a resistor grid which knocked the 600vdc down to 32v for a headlight circuit).... but they didn't blue tag it. I reached for it and got a nasty surprise; then I went medieval on the idiot who did what he had done.

Other times when working on telephone circuits, people would crank a ringer generator or otherwise use something I had blue-tagged, usually out of sheer stupidity (but sometimes "just to be funny"). Needless to say, I went medieval on them, too.

Old radio and telephone stuff is so much fun, isn't it?

 

[bearcatrp]

I used an old ringer generator from a field phone for that sort of thing. Give that thing a spin and whoever the electrodes were touching would jump a mile.

We did that to newbees in the army with the old army crank phones.

 

[morganAL]

I leaned my arm across some 66 blocks one time and it just happened to be the one with radio tie lines. Little did I know that one of the DC remotes was disconnected at the far end. 120 VDC on the soft underside of my forearm. Never leaned across the blocks again.

 

[mikethedruid]

I'm very confused. For some reason I thought this thread was about
"We've come a long, long, long, way from the old days of "recreational radio" ". It seems to have become a thread about first , how to shock people using "B" batteries, and from there to being a discussion about people being shocked by vatious permutations of the old land line telephone system. I, for one, would enjoy seeing more posts about antique or vintage portable radios. Heck, even transistor radios from the 1950s, '60s, and early '70s would be welcome, and more to the point of the thread.

 

[Omega-TI]

I'm very confused. For some reason I thought this thread was about
"We've come a long, long, long, way from the old days of "recreational radio" ". It seems to have become a thread about first , how to shock people using "B" batteries, and from there to being a discussion about people being shocked by various permutations of the old land line telephone system. I, for one, would enjoy seeing more posts about antique or vintage portable radios. Heck, even transistor radios from the 1950s, '60s, and early '70s would be welcome, and more to the point of the thread.

Ah, it's all in good fun. As the OP I don't mind a little diversion from the topic. But, I'll do both in this post. Back when I was a kid in 3rd grade I built a one tube AM radio kit (a P-Box from Radio Shack) for the school science fair, it was powered by a Mallory 22-1/2 volt battery. You should have seen the kids heads snap back when they put the terminals between their lips!

Anyway back to the radio, it was surprising how many stations it picked up, sadly I did not get to use it much since as a 9 year old I couldn't afford to beep buying batteries for it. HOWEVER... I've had plans to build another similar radio when I get the time, maybe in a couple more years. I've been collecting stuff to do the future project with. I already have the modern version of the P-Box base (as shown in the video below).

 

[W0VNE]

Here is a "recreational radio" from just before WW2, a Philco 41-81T I restored. It had an original batter in it, which I actually rebuilt with new AA cells for the B battery section, and 4 D cells for the A battery section...

View attachment 123993

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Oh man that is great! I agonized over how I was going to obtain 90volts for an old radio project when I was still a kid living at home with my parents. An older kid "Kenny" said I was such a dummy. Just take 10 9 volt batteries plug them together in series and solder two wires for the output and tada! 90 volts!!! Well you know how we used to put an unknown 9 volt battery on our tongue which if dead did nothing and if good gave you a little zing to see if it was any good? Genius Kenny put the two wires on his tongue. I bet the scream is still echoing in space. OUCH! Oh and nothing (except burning hair) is worse then burnt tongue smell.

 

[mmckenna]

I bet the scream is still echoing in space. OUCH! Oh and nothing (except burning hair) is worse then burnt tongue smell.

Oh my God, you killed Kenny! You B$*#(^^!

 

[mikethedruid]

Oh man that is great! I agonized over how I was going to obtain 90volts for an old radio project when I was still a kid living at home with my parents. An older kid "Kenny" said I was such a dummy. Just take 10 9 volt batteries plug them together in series and solder two wires for the output and tada! 90 volts!!! Well you know how we used to put an unknown 9 volt battery on our tongue which if dead did nothing and if good gave you a little zing to see if it was any good? Genius Kenny put the two wires on his tongue. I bet the scream is still echoing in space. OUCH! Oh and nothing (except burning hair) is worse then burnt tongue smell.

This is a picture of the guts of the A-B battery. There are 41 individual cells the size of AA cells which make up the B section, and provide 61.5 volts. I used AA cells in series to make this section of the battery, hot gluing 2 strips of 14 together one + up, the next + down so they could easily be connected in series, and one strip of 13 the same way. The A battery section is 4 cells in a size larger than D sells which is no longer made, so I used 6 D cells in parallel to make the A battery section, providing the 1.5 volts for the filaments. When soldering to the + and - ends of AA and D cells use of a good liquid flux made from violin rosin dissolved in isopropyl rubbing alcohol is HIGHLY recommended, as it facilitates the solder adhering to the metal terminals.

 

[VK3RX]

Well, it is portable .......

 

[W0VNE]

Oh my God, you killed Kenny! You B$*#(^^!

I did say "Kenny! Wait... I'm not sure that is such a good idea" but... Its just 9 volt batteries right? SIGH... Poor Kenny it took quite a while before he could talk without sounding like someone had hit him in the head with a brick.

Guess I should fess up. Kenny wasn't the only "Genius" in the old neighborhood. So here is my own story of dumbness. Around this time I was given an (WWII - B17 Bomber) ARC 5 Transmitter for 40 Meters. I asked the gent who gave it to me "How do I make it work?" He told me this was the best part of Ham Radio / electronics. Making stuff. *True! There was a library book about modifying war surplus for Ham radio and it had an ARC5 project to make it work which was to build it a power supply. I knew very little thinking that I had to have CAPs that were the exact value and got discouraged. Then a nice guy who had been into Ham Radio for eons told me I could parallel Caps and increase their value. I really was green. Then asked me what I needed (Which was for the B+ supply of? 900 Volts? (Guessing this is long ago) In his amazingly cool " junk box" were these huge big square caps with two screw tops that he figured would do the trick (It was quite a few) so I took a pop can and cut it up to make some wide strips to connect them together. Drilling holes in the strips.... Not easy when you only have two drill sizes and spinning pieces of pop can are SHARP. Ouch ouch ouch. Anyway I had two long strips attached to these caps and they were all tied together with (Of course) black tape. Everything was build into an upside down cake pan (Mom never missed it) and I gouged out the holes for the rectifier tube and voltage regulator used for a lower voltage supply. *You know - drill 15 hundred holes in a circle them use a rat tail file to make a sort of round hole? Well This thing was certainly NOT UL approved. The voltage (Whatever it was for an 807) was exposed on those square caps. My mom informed me that having this thing on the floor was unsafe (True) as the basement could get damp so she instructed me to put it on a shelf. The shelf I used to put my stupid feet up on when talking on the phone. So the phone rang and with my stupid bare feet placed firmly on the top of the caps, jerked kicking the rectifier tube breaking it (Thank God) and while my foot was jerking the Phone handset crashed through the window. I think had the tube not broken and popped the fuse I would have been dead. It knocked me senseless for a second but I could hear this faint noise from the phone outside on the lawn which I dragged back through the broken window. Never found out who it was but they said "What are you doing? Having a party?" Well I hung up unplugged my power supply and ride my bike to get yet another fuse. Ha...

I don't know if I should admit this but.... I fixed the power supply and got the ARC 5 working. First by using a 75 Watt light bulb as a dummy load. Then on a fan dipole I sent out my first and last CQ with it. It ummm wasn't designed with the concept of there being TV sets... TV wasn't a thing in WWII except for Germany and England (I think) So for several miles away it apparantly blanked out the picture every time I sent. Fortunately a guy at the east end of town copied my callsign (By the TV blanking out on and off) - Knew me. Called and explained how bad an idea this was unless I was going to design a proper bandpass filter. Seeing as 90 volt batteries were beyond me and my safety record with homebrew power supplies wasn't so hot I figured this project was out of my league. *Plus I had a total of 4 or 5 tools and an old (Even then) VTVM. *Which I still wish I had! ha... I actually do have that ARC5 still. Ahh first radio. And if I had not been alerted so quickly probably a FCC fine to boot!