My First Transistor Portable

        It was in 1964 that my interest in shortwave radio listening began after receiving station DZH8 on the 25-meter band on my then shiny brand-new National T-350 transistor portable. Dad gave me the radio as a gift for getting good grades in school.  I had actually asked him for a pocket portable as this was the craze in school, in like manner that today’s kids sport iPods and mp3 players.

Dad was already quite familiar with electronics as this was his hobby then and he reasoned that the pocket radios would not last because of the way they were constructed – with so many parts crammed into very little space.  And their performance, with only a few transistors inside and small speakers was markedly inferior to the big sets.  But it was up to me really – he would buy me whatever type I decided on.

            I was already beginning to become interested in ham radio, and none of the pocket sets sold then had shortwave coverage where hams communicated with each other.  It was 1964, I was only 12, and of course I couldn’t bring a big set to school.  I would become the laughing stock then.  That summer we were to vacation in Manila and Dad planned to buy the radio there. In the days that followed, I began to draw up some criteria or specs for the radio and in the end, they called for a big set.   I did the selection when we shopped in Manila at a store named Oxford at the Escolta, at Raon St.

            As my eyes scanned the many radios on display, the National T-350 kind of stood out from the rest because of its twin speakers and it was labeled “Hi-Fi”, or high fidelity.  It also had an attractive nice looking slide rule dial covering three-bands, fine tuning (bandspread), a tuning and battery life meter, external antenna and ground inputs, tone control switch, and external speaker outputs.  Just what I wanted!

            Here’s a proud 12-year old me posing for a self-portrait with the National T-350 and the QSL (reception verification) card from DZH8:

 

 I'm a bit blurred as the focus was set on the radio and the card!

 This station is now defunct, so this card has become a collector's item.

            

 

 

The reception verification at the back of the card,  11.85 Mc/s. (25-meter band). 

July 23, 1964 at 5:13 PM - 5:25 PM (Phil. Time)

Additional materials sent by the FEBC station served to spike my interest in the hobby

 

 The illustration on the cover page depicts the radio signals reflecting off the ionosphere and returning back to earth beyond the horizon which is what makes long-distance reception possible on shortwave.

                  The Overseas Programming Guide, aside from having a comprehensive listing of broadcast schedules in different languages and times, also had a page explaining how shortwaves work and how to get good reception.  These instructions really helped as I began setting up my long-wire rooftop antenna.  A time calculator was also included.  I learned that time was different in other countries, depending on where on the globe they were located.

            With regard to the National T-350 which is now 48 years old, I still have the radio to this day and which I use regularly even though I also have other receivers.   Here are some photos of it:

 

Complete with its instruction book.  At the left of the radio, partially hidden is the leather carrying case. The set also came with a shoulder strap on which was a small pouch containing an earphone and a length of orange wire.  Even the external antenna wire was included!. 

 Here the radio is all dressed up.

 The nameplate at the rear.  The phono jack below it is a later addition and is a tuner output port for connection to an external amplifier.  I also used it to record broadcasts on tape.

 

           The radio had been a companion at home and on out-of-town trips.  Dad had since passed away, but time has proven that he was right.  None of my classmates’ pocket radios have survived, yet my T-350 is still here and continues to reliably receive stations from all over the world for almost half a century now. 

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