Early Radio

[Old Boy]

Hi All,

I was born and brought up in a terrace house in Small Heath. In the back garden we had a tall pole with a wire attached that led to the window(Through the frame) and then to the radio or wireless as it was called then. Almost all the houses in the road had the same set up. I am now wondering how folk without a garden managed. In particular back to backs. Were they unable to have radio at all?

I cannot remember if the aerial in the garden was for radios powered by an accumulator or were they for the early electrically powered radios. Perhaps someone can enlighten me?

Old Boy

 

[rosie]

Re: Early Eadio

Hi Old Boy,

My Husband is a retired radio and television engineer. Apparently if you couldn't reach a pole you could use the bedsprings as the aerial!! Some houses had a metal pole fixed up the side or a wire up up the loft if you had one. It was used for both types of radio. Accumulators were still in use around the '60s in rural areas.
Bedsprings were also handy for users of crystal sets, I don't remember about mine though!
rosie.

 

[ChrisM]

Ours certainly fed a mains wireless, Old Boy. A Zenith with a large round dial which lit up and showed all sorts of continental stations with exotic names which you could no longer dial into. Any sign of a thunderstorm prompted the urgent throwing of an isolating swith on the inside of the window frame.

Chris

 

[ColinB]

Early radios needed a long wire aerial of about 50 feet to cover the frequencies in use at the time, many had a Aerial Tuning Unit (ATU) which enabled the wire to be tuned to the right length for better reception, in later radios this was replaced with a length of wire wound around a small diameter tube to make a wire wound aerial, this meant radios didn't need to be connected to a long wire so, could be positioned anywhere in the house. As a radio ham I have seen curtain tracks, cast iron gutters, a wire fence used to receive and transmit signals using a ATU to tune it to a correct length.

Colin

 

[ChrisM]

In fact, there IS ours! On the right of this 1935/6 picture of our newly created back garden in (then) rural Streetly. Rather higher than I remember it. The wire sloped downwards and was attached to the back of the house, then down and through a window frame. Can't recall when the mighty pole came down but via it came all the BBC news bulletins, ITMA and the voice of the Ink Spots throughout the war.

Chris

 

[jukebox]

Any sign of a thunderstorm prompted the urgent throwing of an isolating switch on the inside of the window frame.Chris

My grandma's house had this arrangement - the isolating switch (see picture although this is a modern one!) was to disconnect the aerial from the wireless and connect it to earth in case the aerial was struck by lightning. The wireless normally needed an earth connection as well as an aerial. In my parents house, built 1939, there was a round 2-pin aerial and earth socket in both downstairs rooms, the aerial pin being connected to a wire strung across the loft and the earth pin to an earth rod stuck in the ground just outside the front door.

 

[wam]

Ours certainly fed a mains wireless, Old Boy. A Zenith with a large round dial which lit up and showed all sorts of continental stations with exotic names which you could no longer dial into. Any sign of a thunderstorm prompted the urgent throwing of an isolating swith on the inside of the window frame.

Chris

A lot of the continental stations weren't so much "no longer" as too far away. Luxembourg was about the only one with enough power to get this far. Others would have been in range from the south coast or East Anglia.

 

[ChrisM]

In addition to the range problem, I'm not sure which, if any, were broadcasting during the period I remember, or whether they were on the original frequencies. Hilversum and other exotic names like that, all as remote and as inaccessible as the moon. The countries they were in were of course all under German occupation at the time. Certainly all I can recall being able to pick up were the BBC and strange noises on shortwave which were, so I was told, high-speed morse.

Don't remember, to my disappointment now, if I ever heard Lord Haw-Haw. I assume that German propaganda broadcasts could be picked up OK in Brum. I have no doubt that my parents would have listened in out of curiosity. Perhaps they thought such activity unsuitable for a small boy.

Had forgotten the earth connection - remember it now and the logic of having it.

Chris

 

[Radiorails]

My interest, and permission to do so, in listening to wireless programmes (note the description used at the time) started after WW2 when BBC and continental stations became more widespeard and of course were not concerned so much with war and propaganda.

Continental stations were weak and still are - during the daylight hours but as evening fell their signal strength increased dramatically. There were many to be heard but of course the UK generally listened only to stations in the English language. The great thing about foreign stations, transmitting in their own countries language, was that not only did you hear about that country but it helped get the correct pronunciation with any non English langusge that you might be learning or have learned.

I often wonder how foreigners to the UK manage these days with the plethora of heavily accented regional speech. Scottish accentuation is very prevalent nowadays. The dialects of Greater Glasgow and the NE of England are often akin to an unknown foreign tongue to me. :friendly_wink:

Regarding wireless reception it was often a help to coil a copper wire from the aerial socket and immerse it in a lemonade bottle full of water. The wire was, of course, secured into the bottle by that wonderful thing - sadly scarce these days - of the screw top cork.

Listening to the programmes presented from many countries world wide allowed me to enter their competitions - usually about the counrty of the transmission - and win books, LP records and other items. The former Soviet and Iron Curtain countries were good with that.

 

[oldMohawk]

My earliest radio was a crystal set which my dad bought me from Chas Young's shop in Corporation St. I connected it to a long aerial wire and earthed it to a water pipe and after finding the 'sweet spot' on the crystal with a 'cat's whisker' I listened to radio. Later when I was old enough to use a soldering iron I moved on to building simple radios with valves, and even built them for radio controlled model aeroplanes carrying large batteries needed for valve radios.

Then transistors appeared on the scene and the early types had wires which I could solder and I made a few transistor radios. However integrated circuits (silicon chips) became available and soldering these to a circuit board was difficult with the expensive chips easily ruined. Later the complete radio was built into one chip and the 'fun' of making a radio and knowing how it worked had virtually disappeared.

 

[cookie273uk]

In 1943 my Mother died and I went to live with my Nan in Queens RD Aston and one of my weekly chores was to take the accumulator to the local electrical shop and change it for a fully charged one, paying a few pence. I think it also used a 'dry' battery but that lasted quite a long time. My Nan was frightened to handle it as she was informed if she spilt any acid it would burn holes in her, quite unlikely as the sulphuric acid was considerably diluted.

 

[paul stacey]

#5 the garden looks wonderful, and the setting so rural for Brum, though when we lived in Hasbury Road, Bartley Green, our garden was full of flowers, and very rural too, mid 50's.Paul

 

[Old Boy]

In addition to the range problem, I'm not sure which, if any, were broadcasting during the period I remember, or whether they were on the original frequencies. Hilversum and other exotic names like that, all as remote and as inaccessible as the moon. The countries they were in were of course all under German occupation at the time. Certainly all I can recall being able to pick up were the BBC and strange noises on shortwave which were, so I was told, high-speed morse.

Don't remember, to my disappointment now, if I ever heard Lord Haw-Haw. I assume that German propaganda broadcasts could be picked up OK in Brum. I have no doubt that my parents would have listened in out of curiosity. Perhaps they thought such activity unsuitable for a small boy.

Had forgotten the earth connection - remember it now and the logic of having it.

Chris

Hi All,

The point about Lord Haw Haw was that you did not tune in specifically to listen to him but he broke into broadcasts in the UK. You could be listening to a popular show such as ITMA (Its that man again) when his voice came over the program spouting his German prpaganda. The BBC engineers would get rid of him but it usually took several minutes during which time he would come out with all sorts of rubbish. But he usually told us which towns had been bombed the night before when our government only let the BBC broadcast an area such as West Midlands or North West. As I remember he was particularly busy in the period after Dunkirk when Germany was in the ascendancy and the Battle of Britain and the Blitz had started.

Old Boy

 

[tim eborn]

Never heard Haw Haw on ITMA but I do remember Fumph, "I come! I go".

 

[norfolk brummie]

On the subject of 'early radio'. Now almost forgotten is the time when we needed a wireless licence if we had a radio in our car. To not have one was an offence.

Eddie

 

[Astonian]

Hi Eddie
Do these laws still exist regarding having to have a radio but must buy one of these old laws
Regarding you have to get a licence,
No/one ever mentionioned these things no/more do they
But you have to get one for a TV, regardless they say even if you have no got a T V, but using a coputor
Of any discription ,listening devise, its observed,
Speaking of old licences in the old days you had to get a licence for a dog ,
It Cost four and a tanner old money ,,4/ 6d as I recall and a fishing licence to fish even in those days in
Aston resovoir parkie came around and checked
Best wishes Astonian,,,,,,Alan,,,,





s I call in the fortys, do those old dog licences still exist do the police asked have they got one

 

[pjmburns]

In answer to the question asked - dog licence abolished in 1987 but new law to ensure all dogs are chipped came in very recently.
Radio licence went in 1971.

Janice

 

[Astonian]

Hi Janice ,
The big question is thou, will the dog wardens carry out the law on such a thing
How will they trace the owners on the stray dogs they pick up
Will the RSPCA do it or what or is it the case there as to be an incident for police involments
A dog that attacks people or car accident , or mauls a child to death in warranty for police
To take the incident and then get the RSPCA to prosecute
Its habit like these litter patrols we hear about on foot within certain areas
Over here in word I have only ever heard of one case of prosecution for dropping a drinks can,
Never no more but we have plenty of cigs end butts or as I call them dog ends
It Scotland they have these fag patrols they seem to do well in catching and prosecuting
People but this business regarding the law for having your dog micro chipped by a certain time
Is not being carried out as I see ,so how will it be implemented l would like to know
After all there is more dogs on this planets than humans
Best wishes Astonian,,,,,

 

[blackcountrymuse]

My Uncle, now long gone, listened to the first broadcasts of 2LO in 1922. This was the start of the BBC. During the War, he served in the Royal Navy as a Radio Operator, and was proficient in Morse Code, and a Licenced Radio Ham. He built and maintained all his own equipment, and supervised me in the construction of a crystal set, made from all sorts of odds and ends and wire. We had no electrical supply at the house I lived in, so the Radio was powered by an accumulator, or the more expensive multi-celled dry battery. Our yard wasn't very big either, but uncle solved that, by stringing up a long wire antenna, in a series of loops, that was almost 120 feet long. I could then, and did, listen to hundreds of broadcasts around the world when conditions were right. ( I have the QSL Cards to prove it ) Needless to say. I have been doing that ever since, and have been a licenced operator for over 30 years. Although I no longer build my own gear, I still use a long wire antenna.

 

[cookie273uk]

I was also a wireless operator (RAF 1948-56) and because of this you were exempt from taking the Radio Ham's exam when applying for a Licence. Learning Morse Code is like riding a bike - you never forget it. Eric

 

[Astonian]

On the subject of early radios my oldextbrother spent all his time as a kid trying to make
A radio and morse code contrapsion with wires
Whilst we was all down stairs gathered around the table with the mother and father
Listening to the old fashioniond radio we had ,co,s we couldnot afford a TV
I do not know why the old man could not afford a Tele , co,s he was working full time
And a part time behind the bar at thecross
We was the only family up the terrace with out a TV,
And the Trowmans had a colour when tney first came out, wel they was posh people
But getting back to the radio we all used to listen to Dick Barton
We all had to be very quite as the old man would shout at us
And horray eventaly the old man bought went down to Boyds on Aston Cross next to the libary
And rented us a Television ,but i really thought the reason was for his self to watch randolf turpin
Fight that night and rocky marsoni fight on the saturday night

 

[Pedrocut]

On the subject of early radios my oldextbrother spent all his time as a kid trying to make
A radio and morse code contrapsion with wires
Whilst we was all down stairs gathered around the table with the mother and father
Listening to the old fashioniond radio we had ,co,s we couldnot afford a TV
I do not know why the old man could not afford a Tele , co,s he was working full time
And a part time behind the bar at thecross
We was the only family up the terrace with out a TV,
And the Trowmans had a colour when tney first came out, wel they was posh people
But getting back to the radio we all used to listen to Dick Barton
We all had to be very quite as the old man would shout at us
And horray eventaly the old man bought went down to Boyds on Aston Cross next to the libary
And rented us a Television ,but i really thought the reason was for his self to watch randolf turpin
Fight that night and rocky marsoni fight on the saturday night

We missed Dick Barton, Billy Cotton and the Bach Recital. But we may catch Strictly!

 

[sospiri]

In 1972 they remade 10 of the original episodes and they can be downloaded from here:-
https://archive.org/details/otr_dickbartonspecialagent

Maurice

 

[wam]

Listening to the old fashioniond radio we had ,co,s we couldnot afford a TV
I do not know why the old man could not afford a Tele , co,s he was working full time
And a part time behind the bar at thecross
We was the only family up the terrace with out a TV,
And the Trowmans had a colour when tney first came out, wel they was posh people
But getting back to the radio we all used to listen to Dick Barton
We all had to be very quite as the old man would shout at us
And horray eventaly the old man bought went down to Boyds on Aston Cross next to the libary
And rented us a Television ,but i really thought the reason was for his self to watch randolf turpin
Fight that night and rocky marsoni fight on the saturday night

As I understood it nobody much had TV before the coronation (1952) and, at least 'round our way, they weren't in every home until the 60s so either your terrace was pretty lucky or you've screwed the dates up somewhere because it sounds like you had TV before 56.

 

[sospiri]

Certainly there was very little TV before the Coronation, which we watched on one specially purchased to the occasion by our relatively rich neighbours next door. I remember going there quite a lot the following year to to watch The Quatermass Experiment, which was staged in the summer of 1953. We were very poor and my father died in early 1952 when I and my brother were still schoolboys.

However, despite my widowed mother having to do three part-time jobs to feed us and pay the mortgage, we had certainly rented one by the time I came out of the RAF in May 1957, may be even before I went in two years earlier. Few people owned them in those days as despite the capital cost, they were deemed expensive to service, even though this amounted only to bottle and panel swapping.

Maurice

 

[jukebox]

My parents didn't have a TV until the mid '50s but eventually rented one from a company called Good Listening. Getting one was largely due to pressure from me as several of my school pals had sets and would discuss the previous evenings programmes during breaks and of course I couldn't join in. We had to go to my Grandparents in Wales to watch the coronation (1953). They had a large set with a 12" screen and a 12" speaker made by RGD (Radio and Gramophone Developments) which was the only one which worked there as the signal was not good. Many cars then were not fitted with suppressors and every time a suppressorless car went past the TV crackled and the picture went all haywire.

 

[Pedrocut]

My parents didn't have a TV until the mid '50s but eventually rented one from a company called Good Listening. Getting one was largely due to pressure from me as several of my school pals had sets and would discuss the previous evenings programmes during breaks and of course I couldn't join in. We had to go to my Grandparents in Wales to watch the coronation (1953). They had a large set with a 12" screen and a 12" speaker made by RGD (Radio and Gramophone Developments) which was the only one which worked there as the signal was not good. Many cars then were not fitted with suppressors and every time a suppressorless car went past the TV crackled and the picture went all haywire.

I wonder how many people kept giving their television a bang on the top?

 

[sospiri]

Interference from cars continued for many years until the onset of UHF TV and by then most vehicles had suppressors as standard anyway! I think TV was something that many of our parents could not really afford TV and the fitting of coin meters because of arrears of monthly rental was a common occurrence, particularly with the larger rental companies such as Radio Rentals & DER, who could afford to employ people to empty meters. For the small one and two man businesses, arrears were a pain and they tended to be a bit more lax about fitting meters.

Bashing the set on top was a temporary fix for loose or dry joints - this was long before the onset of surface mount components. Rentals of older sets tended to be lower, as did the reliability, and they would always try to talk you into increasing your rental and having a more modern set, it being uneconomical for them to keep being called out to fix the old sets.

Maurice

 

[nickcc101]

Had our first TV for the Coronation. Remember being scared out of my wits watching Quatermass, something about silos and melted down bodies if I remember correctly.

 

[wam]

Had our first TV for the Coronation. Remember being scared out of my wits watching Quatermass, something about silos and melted down bodies if I remember correctly.

Quatermass II not the first series.