The Starting Point

I just stumbled upon a photo of my humble setup way back in the mid-1960s.  I had just graduated from the elementary years and this was my corner of the world where I studied and did my homework.  It also served as my entertainment center and listening post for several years.  I did much electronics experimentation here – essentially, the starting point of my hobby.  

            On top of the table on the left is the National T-350 three-band portable radio Dad gave me in 1964 on which I had my first shortwave reception one sunny afternoon after coming home from school, from a station that had the call letters DZH8, broadcasting on the 25-meter band.  Fed by an aerial antenna on top of the roof, in time I was also able to receive stations from all over the world on this set.

            In the center was my first serious radio project – a five-tube receiver I assembled from a diagram in an RCA Tube Manual.  A six-inch speaker housed in the box at the right was used for better fidelity.   This set was for listening all day to local stations around town and also from neighboring islands.  At night, stations from faraway Manila could also be heard.  My favorite then was station DZMT. Although the transistor set also had an AM band, I used it mainly for shortwave listening.

            The ambitious looking project at the left of the desk was an experimental radio Dad assembled when he was learning about electronics.  He later found that the hobby was not for him and gave this to me.  This was a great sounding radio and this was where I listened to music on AM with a quality that almost rivals FM of today.  The speaker box on which it sits used a Philips AD9750M eight-inch full range driver in a ducted bass-reflex enclosure  I did not use this set often as it consumed a lot of electricity due to its many tubes and it also generated a lot of heat.   

            Sigh.  I sure miss those good old days.