Underground bomb shelter radio in 1961

[venivdvici]

It's 1961 and you're in an underground bomb shelter. You have a battery-operated radio. Do you get reception in the bomb shelter?

What would you need to get television reception underground? I guess they didn't have battery-operated teevees then, so how would the television be powered?

Sorry to be so ignorant, but I'm like the German sergeant on Hogan's Heroes. I know nothing!

Thanks.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by venivdvici

It's 1961 and you're in an underground bomb shelter. You have a battery-operated radio. Do you get reception in the bomb shelter?

I would hope one would be able to hear the local Conelrad alert station on 640 or 1240 kHz and at least one local broadcast station (the latter to advise when to tune to the Conelrad station), even if he or she heard nothing else.

[venivdvici]

Thanks, Jeff. That makes sense. I'll do a search on Conrelrad and see if I can confirm that.

[Electronic M]

There was battery operated TVs in 61'. The first genuine portable was mabe by philco in 1959 more info on it can be found here http://www.earlytelevision.org/philco_safari.html Other companies may have gotten into the batery operated portable game soon after. I know Sony entered that game at least as far back 1964 because I have one from that year, and from reasearching it I learned it was the smallest production TV set in the world up to that time (which blew me away as it was a childhood impulse buy long before I collected TVs).

[venivdvici]

Wow. That's great. Perfect! Now I just need to make sure the battery-operated
radio and teevee get reception underground in a bomb shelter. In my story, there won't be an atomic incident. They'll just be underground.

You know what would work for my story? The small bunker is accessed from a ground trap door and you need to climb down a metal ladder. If something heavy was on the trap door, the people inside couldn't get out. If the portable teevee/radio could be made to explode up by the door, thereby opening it, without harming the people inside down below, that would help my story. I know that's not likely. If it depends on having some other stuff in the bomb shelter, I can arrange that. I can always use something like dynamite (I think), but it would be cooler if the portable teevee or radio did it.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Electronic M

There was battery operated TVs in 61'. The first genuine portable was mabe by philco in 1959 more info on it can be found here http://www.earlytelevision.org/philco_safari.html Other companies may have gotten into the batery operated portable game soon after. I know Sony entered that game at least as far back 1964 because I have one from that year, and from reasearching it I learned it was the smallest production TV set in the world up to that time (which blew me away as it was a childhood impulse buy long before I collected TVs).

[dieseljeep]

Motorola came out with the " Astronaut" 19" portable around late 1960. Like the Philco, it was considered to be a hybrid, because it had a HV rectifier tube. Sony came out with a 8" metal cased portable around the same time. It was the one that had the three push buttons, on the bottom front. That too, was a hybrid design.

[venivdvici]

Thanks. I'll look those up, too. What do you mean by "hybrid" design? I know what the word hybrid means but not in the context of televisions.

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

Motorola came out with the " Astronaut" 19" portable around late 1960. Like the Philco, it was considered to be a hybrid, because it had a HV rectifier tube. Sony came out with a 8" metal cased portable around the same time. It was the one that had the three push buttons, on the bottom front. That too, was a hybrid design.

[venivdvici]

At this link, it says to test radio reception in the bomb shelter, so it looks like it's possible!
http://www.atomictheater.com/familyfalloutshelter.htm
I guess if radio reception is possible in this 1960 film, television reception in 1960 might have been possible, too! This is way cool.

[Sandy G]

"Hybrid" meant it had both tubes & transistors.

[venivdvici]

Doh! Thanks. I should've figured that out, huh?

Originally Posted by Sandy G

"Hybrid" meant it had both tubes & transistors.

[Sandy G]

Not necessarily, but it is obvious once its explained. But how else would you learn if you didn't ask ? "Hybrid" construction lasted in color TVs til about 1975 or so.

[venivdvici]

1975? Wow. I thought once "solid state" came into being the tubes were gone.

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Not necessarily, but it is obvious once its explained. But how else would you learn if you didn't ask ? "Hybrid" construction lasted in color TVs til about 1975 or so.

[bgadow]

Tubes were cheaper than transistors at that time, so there was some overlap. The top of the line sets would be solid state and the cheap ones would have tubes.

I haven't come up with a perfect idea to blow up a TV/radio. Will keep thinking

I have a sealed can of crackers on the shelf from about '61, put out for civil defense. They were made by Sunshine Biscuits. The guy who I got them from bought several cans, and opened one (this was about 15 years ago). Him & I tried them and I guess the best thing I can say is, they were edible!

[Electronic M]

The last few years of hybrid sets were wierd. For instance I have a 71' Zenith Chromacolor that uses several tubes, a bunch of transistors, and one IC chip (these later replaced individual transistors). I've also read about a Sharp set that uses tri-generational technology like my Zenith only it had a freaking OSD (On Screen channel Display)!

I recall some 50's electronics magizine that ran a section on TV DX(DXing is long distance reception) where they claimed that some european stations had enough power that under the right conditions they could/were be recieved in a basement with only the blade of a screw driver as an antenna! VHF stations would be most plausible for extreme reception situations as UHF stations were on higher frequencies, and the higher a radio frequency gets the more it behaves like light, and starts to require a line of sight to the transmitter.

My college is using a large CD can as a recycle bin in one room, and has a fallout shelter sign at one stairwell. It is so cool to go to an older school!

[Sandy G]

1961, huh ? I'm blasting out to the Club in my pale-yellow '61 Lincoln convertible sedan, w/black/white leather interior...Si Zentner's "Up a Lazy River" is on the TRANSISTORISED radio, there's this young guy JFK in the White House, the Sixties look like they're gonna be a GREAT decade...