Wireless Technology
(Harris note:this is the one section in this Booklist which neither I or any of my staff can discuss technicalities on - sorry, but we can't know everything. Most of the books come from "Lindsay Publications". Tom Lindsay is a short wave enthusiast and I trust him to produce quality books on the subject; here they are!)
The Radio Handbook
1936 • Jones • £ 3.85 • (H)
In fact what you get here is not the complete 1936 Radio Handbook, only the chapters covering receiver construction. The bulk of this is on design, but there are also sections of receiver testing and measurements, crystal filters, circuits and characteristics of receiving tubes. Useful stuff for SW radio builders. 48 pages. Softcover. Lindsay Publications
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How to Build Your First Vacuum Tube Regenerative Receiver
Lindsay • £ 8.25 • (F)
Tom Lindsay has reprinted loads of books on old wireless building, and even in this transistorised age we sell lots. Now he has gone the whole hog and tells how you can build a Vacuum Tube Regenerative Receiver yourself, where to look for parts etc. As to why you should use vacuum tubes, he admits that solid-state parts work better, but the aesthetics of building this incredibly simple sculpture out of metal, plastic and glass are very satisfying. Fancy trying to build an old fashioned receiver? This looks good. And I have to admit that Lindsay writes well, so it is easy reading. Consider this if radio building turns you on. 128 pages, heavily illustrated with drawings, diagrams and photos. Paperback. Lindsay Publications
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How to Build the Twinplex Regenerative Receiver
Lindsay • £ 6.75 • (G)
A “Bonehead to Genius in One Step” book from Tom Lindsay (his words) which he says needs to be viewed as an addition to the two titles above. Details how to build near replicas of the 1934 Doerle Twinplex, the 6SL7 Twinplex, and the Solid-State Twinplex. Instructions, circuit diagrams and Tom’s words of wisdom (?) all here in this 63 page paperback. Lindsay Publications
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Crystal receiving Sets and how to make them
Jones • £ 7.95 • (E)
An Amateur Wireless Handbook from the early 20s, this reprint of a British original is a straight-forward and simple guide to building a crystal receiving set. Even I began to understand it! Good, clear and British (even if the reprint comes from America). 124 pages illustrated with good drawings and some photos. Paperback. Lindsay Publications
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1934 Official Short Wave Radio Manual
£13.10 • (C)
If you built a crystal set in your youth, this book will bring back memories, and put you in contact with the world again. Lots of designs for simple, but high performance, short wave radios and whilst these feature tubes, Tom Lindsay has added an extra chapter showing you how to use transistors to replace hard to find tubes. A great old time radio book - treat yourself! 260 page large format paperback. Lindsay Publications.
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The Voice of the Crystal How to build working radio receiver components entirely from scratch
Friedrichs • £10.95 • (F)
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Instruments of Amplification Fun with homemade tubes, transistors and more
Friedrichs • £14.65 • (E)
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Tom Lindsay is a whiz on wireless (but useless on steam), which is why we sell his radio books. Whilst these two are not his, Tom recommends them highly and, on looking at them, I can see why - indeed I can more or less understand them! The first book is, as its name implies, about building essentially crystal sets completely from scratch, in particular not using any commercial electronic parts of any kind. Pete Friedrichs describes the way in which he approached this in an easy-to-follow way. The fact I largely understood it may have something to do with his approach being as much mechanical as electrical - although there are some horrible equations and formulae at the back of the book.The second book follows on this theme, involving the construction of amplifiers, microphonic relays, transformers etc., all from scratch. What really interests me about these books is not so much the fact they tell you how to make a radio and listen to sounds from the other side of the world, but the intellectual curiosity and pig-headedness that the author used to make the parts, when everyone told him it couldn’t be done. These books stir up the brain box in a very satisfying manner! 185 & 297 pages respectively, full of drawings diagrams and photographs. Paperbacks, published by the author.
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Experimental Crystal Set Receivers
1911 & 1912 • £ 4.85 • (H)
Here are hints, tips and secrets extracted from the "Experimental Department" of Modern Electrics magazine, all sent in by builders of crystal sets pre the First World War; items include A Galena Detector, How to Make an Exhausted Coherer, Leyden Jar Condenser, How to Make a Sensitive Galvanometer, A Loose Coupler, A Silicon Ticker, Variable Condenser (lots on those), A Flame Audion, Perikon Detector Stand and more - 74 in all, most illustrated. This looks great stuff, rather like Pete Friedrichs' "Voice of the Crystal" if it had been written nearly a hundred years ago! 48 landscape format pages. Softcover. Lindsay Publications
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Amateur Radio - a Beginner’s Guide
1940 • Fortune • £ 7.70 • (F)
Yes - you too can be a red-hot radio amateur! Well.... 1940s style. Published by Thordarson, there really is a huge amount of information here for the newer radio builder in particular. Lindsay reprinted this because “it slowly and carefully explains the theory and practice behind the operation behind receivers, transmitters and power supplies. This little book was aimed at getting raw beginners into the ham radio field so that the publisher could sell them parts!”. Whilst it won’t answer all your questions, neither will any other single book, but this one will get you started. Good reading, well illustrated and great plans if you want to build an old time radio station (and many people do.....). 155 page paperback
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Wireless Telephony
1908 • Fessenden • £ 4.25 • (H)
Marconi is the official ‘father’ of wireless transmissions, but Reginald Fessenden, author of the paper reproduced here, has an equal claim, and for a better system; his system was so free of distortion, the listener could hear people breathing in, and walking round in the transmitting room - all this before 1908! I don’t claim to understand the technicalities explained here in some detail, but I strongly suspect Mr. Fessenden could have put Mr. Marconi and Mr. Tesla in their places technically, but was perhaps just too nice to do so. Read this, and see what you think! 48 well illustrated pages. Softcover. Lindsay Publications
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The Impoverished Radio Experimenter
Vol. 6 • £ 4.95 • (H)
It has always seemed to me that all the historic books here are fine, but they nearly all depend on being able to find old, and often fragile bits. The same thought clearly occurred to Tom Lindsay, because this series is intended mainly to show how you can substitute bits. In Vol. 1 there are notes on Vacuum Tube Substitutions, Inexpensive Tube Power Supply, Grid-Leak Detectors, a Regenerative Receiver and more! Vol. 2 subjects include a Grid Dip Oscillator, a Shortwave Converter, a Slow-Motion Dial Drive, Space-wound Coils whilst Vol. 3 include Building an Impedance Bridge, a One-Tube SW Receiver, a Headphone Amplifier, Old-Time Radio Cases etc. Vol. 4 includes: Building a TRF receiver, a One Tube Crystal Converter, Versatile Power supply and a Slide rule Dial. Vol. 5 includes: building a Superhet Receiver, a Coil Winding Machine and a simple Alignment Oscillator, plus all sorts of tricks, tips and secrets. Vol. 6 covers building a Loose-Coupler, an Active Long Wire Antenna, a Regenerative Loop Receiver, transmitter experiments and the like. Useful stuff! Well produced 48 page booklets. Lindsay Publications
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