DK5BK Manfred Bittner
Locator: JO32xe - DOK: I27 - ITU Zone 28
Review
In 1950,
when I was just 12 years old, it all started with this: Strictly speaking, it was like this:
For Christmas in 1950, my brother and I got a book together.
"THROUGH THE WIDE WORLD VOLUME XXIV - A book for every boy"
Ein Buch für jeden Jungen - Franckh`sche Verlagshandlung Stuttgart.
We have read the book for the umpteenth time. KOSMOS TEACHING TOYS were offered on the last few pages. I was most interested in RADIOMANN. Price DM 28.50 plus that for the remote receiver (Audion) Double grid tube (5-pin European socket) for DM 9.50.
At that time, my parents were still close to the absolute economic level zero point. We had to leave the MÄRKLIN-HO model railway, stable construction kit and steam engine behind in Silesia.
But I had a friend in the neighborhood whose parents owned a movie theater.
I soon convinced him and we had a RADIOMANN.
The study of the instruction book (50 pages, 74 illustrations) was actually reserved for me.
One experiment in the book was a detector receiver. From now on I built detector receivers on my own.
The chassis was made from plywood with a jigsaw.
Medium wave coil and variable capacitor delivered disused DKE (German small receiver, also called Göbbelsschnauze).
Only the "crystal" (see figure on the right), actually a germanium diode, had to can be purchased for DM 1.50. With plenty of antenna wire, we then went outside to listen to the radio.
Was it the cramped living conditions or the train?
Outwards? The urge to be in nature has remained to this day.
In a strange way I came across some old copies of the “Funkschau” vintage 1949.
In the advertising section I came across the company Radio RIM in Munich and ordered a craft yearbook there. Born in 1952.
One of the bestsellers was the kit for the “Piccolo” tube receiver, see the circuit diagram below.
But I bought the components for it from RADIO HOLZINGER in Munich, Marienplatz - they were cheaper there.
Again a fancy box with a lid on hinges was made with the jigsaw, which the device held together with batteries and headphones.
A screw together Rod antenna was made from motorcycle and bicycle spokes.
They soon found each other Interested parties who also wanted to have such a device.
A small series production started.
The Shortwave Amateur
by Karl Schultheiss DL1QK
The RIM handicraft yearbook mentioned a ham radio receiver and a 2-meter VHF transceiver, but no one could tell me exactly what ham radio was all about.
In a bookstore in Osnabrück I saw the book “Der Kurzwellenamateur” in the shop window.
My savings just allowed the purchase, but now I was on the right track. A 0V2 receiver was built and the first example worked excellently.
This was not always the case with other recipients.
Improvements were often unsuccessful. Later I heard that other OMs had the same experience.
In the spring of 1957
he passed the journeyman's examination guild winner.
As an apprentice, I earned DM 25 in the first year of my apprenticeship, DM 35 in the second and DM 45 in the third keep it, I had to give the rest to my parents.
We had built a house 8 years after our expulsion from Silesia.
Necessity is the mother of invention!
At that time, a polite appearance with customers and good work almost always secured a tip.
And I could fix radios.
Most of the faults could be smelled - it was the selenium rectifier that the electrolytic capacitors that had broken through had sent them to the afterlife.
If I then gave the smoky radio from the pub a new cover, that was the best advertisement and brought new orders.
Measuring devices at that time.
I recently found my beehive glow lamp from times long past. I remember very well that I saw her in 1955 bought.
Here it lights up with 230V AC.
Today it may seem unreal what a glow lamp was good for back then: Checking high-impedance voltage, determining polarity, checking capacitors, etc.
The beehive glow lamp, a built-in moving-iron voltmeter with low Ri and 2000 ohm headphones were the test equipment available at the time.
With these modest means I had built many an audion with RV2, 4P700 and several 0V1 - 0V2 and 1V1 and repaired many a radio.
My VEB R-F-T 106 No. 651986
In April 1957 I was a journeyman and earned about 200 DM a month net in the trade. Wages were paid weekly.
After 2 weeks I bought this multimeter from Radio Arlt in Düsseldorf. Ri = 333 Ohm / Volt that makes 100 kOhm in the 300V range.
In the case of a screen grid voltage, one had to measure the actual voltage calculate.
The Friedrich's table book
- the radio paperback, Edition 1952 from the same publishing house and the ARISTO slide rule belonged to the standard equipment.
The old ARISTO - analog computer called slide rule back then, I don't leave anything to this day either come!
No hassle with empty batteries.
Multiply divide to the power square root 2nd and 3rd power Logarithm X sinus arcus tangent and the kW - PS
directly on the rotor the calculator prevailed.
Morse code course of the DARC
on records by Günter Halbauer DL3TJ. The records are made of very thin, almost unbreakable, white plastic and run at 33 rpm In 1960-61 I worked for the Luftwaffe Fla. in Aurich / Ostfriesland my military service. Soon I was in contact with other OMs, especially from the neighboring flight reporting unit. These had connections to the OMs in and around Aurich. That's how I acquired the secondhand Morse code from an OM from (23) Walle / Post Aurich. At that time, the course cost 20.10 DM cash on delivery at the DARC
Over 60 years
I bought this crystal microphone in 1959, the year with the extremely hot summer at: Heinz Schütze - DL1TA amateur radio needs Gäfelfing / Munich.
Today I still use this microphone with my TRIO-LINE 599.
The good modulation of my transmission is repeatedly praised.
Crystal microphone MKS 4/5 F+H Schumann GmbH Wevelinghoven 30, Hinsbeck/Rhld.
The trade names at that time were: "Merula" or "Schumann-Merula" Frequency range: 50 - 10,000Hz - list price with table stand: 28.20 DM Hannes Bauer Bamberg still had this microphone in his catalog from 1968
Wirtschaftswunder
the German economic miracle
“Wirtschaftswunder” is what we call these years today.
For us, who experienced this time, it was not a miracle but hard work. Better said: “Maloche”.
We had a 48-hour week, not a day without overtime and in the evening by bike 20 km to night school. Saturday was a working day until 2:00 p.m. - then clean up the workshop.
It could be 5:00 p.m., depending on what happened during the week had stayed.
According to the tariff, holidays are 12 days, including Sundays - if you get them.
"The memories make life better, but forgetting alone makes it bearable."
Honor de Balzac