Geoff Hawkes

In process of gathering information about Colin Reid, his daughter told me that he heard about jobs at the BBC from an ad in Wireless magazine in the late fifties. I’m assuming it was “Wireless World” as that’s the name I know, but was there also a magazine called “Wireless”?

 

Dave Mundy

There was “Practical Wireless” but BBC ads. were far more likely in “Wireless World”.

 

Cliff White

Actually I joined in October 1958, along with about 50 other eighteen-year-olds (Junior PTA/PTO Course Number 1), after answering an advertisement in "Radio Times".

 

Alan Taylor

The site World Radio History contains an archive of scanned technical magazine dating back for more than a century. Amongst them are copies of “Wireless World” and “Practical Wireless” from that period.

The scans are not computer searchable, so you would need to download them and read them in the normal way to look for such an advert.  Some magazines have not been scanned in their entirety, they occasionally truncate the adverts, which is a shame as the adverts are often fascinating.

 

Dave Newbitt

Several times when “Wireless World” and “Practical Wireless” magazines have been mentioned I’ve wondered whether anyone remembers “Radio Constructor” with any affection? In format its size lay between the other two and it was on rather glossier paper as I remember. It used to feature particularly good articles for home construction projects which, as many will remember, began with flat sheets of 18g /16g ali with all cutting and folding shown in proper engineering drawing fashion together with the exact size and placement of all apertures and drillings. Much nicer when constructed than designs utilising the ‘universal chassis’ which became commonplace utilising multiple sizes of sides, tops and bottoms.

From that magazine I built what proved to be an excellent FM tuner to a design by V E Holley (how on earth have I remembered his name?). It utilised a tuning head (I think it was a Gorler) obtainable of course from TSL in Goldhawk Road. I remember also building a crystal generator and the simplest possible form of a medium wave tuner which didn’t have the bandwidth restriction of superhet radios and which amazed me by its quality. Hard to imagine now that inductance coils were home wound to spec on formers (bought or improvised), and the range of different SWG copper wires one accumulated.

 

Alan Taylor

“Radio Constructer” has also been scanned and is on that same site. They appear to have all editions between 1947 and 1981. They also have many other technical  magazines which I can remember, such as “Practical Electronics”, “Elektor” and early computing magazines such as “Byte”.

 

Dave Newbitt

Found the FM tuner design in June 1963 edition, though my memory played me false in one respect. The original design did not employ a pre-built tuning head but a circuit built RF stage – why I chose to meddle with things that a far more competent constructor had detailed I know not.

What a fabulous resource you have pointed out here!

 

Keith Wicks

I remember “Practical Wireless” ("Camm’s Comic") and “Wireless World”, but don’t think there was a magazine called just “Wireless”, although there was the early “Wireless Magazine”, which may have ceased publication by the 1940s. “Wireless Age” was published from 1913 to 1925. I have seen BBC job adverts in “Wireless World” and also in “New Scientist”. I joined the BBC in 1960 after replying to an advert in “New Scientist” in 1959.

There are hundreds of old wireless and TV magazines to read at World Radio History.

David Newbitt wondered if anyone remembers “Radio Constructor” with any affection. Well, I certainly do. I read it in the 1950s and 1960s. Well I remember Dick and Smithy in their workshop. And I particularly liked articles by Sir Douglas Hall, which described some more unusual circuits. I remember he was keen on reflex receivers, using the same few valves to process the signal in RF then AF form. 

I never did build a chassis from aluminium sheet as, ideally, that seemed to require a sheet metal bender, and I couldn’t afford one at the time. But I was always content to use a ready-made chassis. I remember buying then at one of the three Smiths electronics shops in Edgware Road. Someone told me that it was a good place to go because, if you had problems with a “Radio Constructor” circuit, the magazine contributor G. A. French worked at Smiths and was always willing to discuss circuit problems. But I’ve since learnt that there was no such person as G. A. French. That was one of several names used by J. R. Davies — the magazine’s technical editor. He also wrote the Dick and Smithy column. I don’t know whether or not he sometimes worked at Smiths.

I, too, built a simple TRF medium-wave receiver and, because of its wide bandwidth, was amazed at its quality. Apart, that is, from an annoying whistle that interfered with the station I usually listened to. As they say, "The wider you open the window… "

 

Mike Giles

I responded to an advert in the “News Chronicle”, if you remember that! My mother noticed it and said “That should suit you ~ you’re always taking things apart!” This was true, but I couldn’t always put them back together again!