Tube Radios

Welcome to Old Radio Week here at OPOD. We will be looking back at the early days of radio communication. We start with this picture, of a man working on debugging a radio. As you probably know, the early radios were made with Vacuum tubes. The tubes were expensive, ran hot, used lots of power and were prone to failure. So, back in the day keeping a radio working was a big deal. This picture was taken in 1929.

I will admit that I recently got my HAM radio license and have really gotten into the hobby. Interestingly, some of the best equipment in the HAM world still uses Vacuum tubes. In the end, there are some things that still work best with the old tubes. 

What I really like about HAM radio is that is is both and art and a science. The guy that talks the best and farthest is not necessarily the guy who spends the most on the radio. It is all about designing, building and testing an antenna system. So, it is not like a cell phone that you just take out of the box and turn on, it is about designing an optimum overall system for your location. I am very new to the hobby, but have really been enjoying it. I have six students that have also passed their HAM license test, and they are really getting into the hobby as well.