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Old 9th Jun 2017, 6:43 pm   #41
Dave Moll
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

Or one could say that their perception is their reality.
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Old 9th Jun 2017, 6:47 pm   #42
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

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Old 9th Jun 2017, 11:09 pm   #43
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

Ah well, may turn up in another auction in 10yrs time, by which time it could be 'genuine' courtesy of a few months sitting somewhere damp!. We'll see
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Old 19th Aug 2017, 9:06 am   #44
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

It's a while since this thread was last active but for the sake of completeness here are some more examples of PW constructed receivers.

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C221800

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1002932

http://www.bobkelsey.net/wireless.html

The second link contains this quote, which is attributed to the SBO at Changi :

Quote:
'Regular and reliable news was absolutely necessary to maintain the morale of all ranks' and added that the prisoners 'responsible for the actual working of the sets...daily carried their lives in their hands.'
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Old 19th Aug 2017, 11:02 am   #45
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

It bears a strong resemblance to the "Superboy" razorblade radio!
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Old 20th Aug 2017, 2:27 pm   #46
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

Was Superboy sponsored by elastoplast?

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Old 20th Aug 2017, 4:04 pm   #47
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

"Blue" refers to the original Blue Gillette blades made of ordinary steel that were all you could get from Gillette and other makers before Wilkinson Sword brought out their stainless steel blades in the 1960's. I found a couple in my late father's shaving kit. Although they were coated with a blue lacquer (hence the suggestion of scraping with a nail file), they did tend to get rusty unless they were very carefully dried after use. I understand that the rusty parts might have provided better rectification.

Before H&S, you learned to be careful! I remember using an old naked razor blade to strip the insulation from the wire I used to connect up the signals and points of my train set, and never came to harm. You could buy a metal holder for old razor blades in stationers, and in the 1960's schoolchildren would often have one in their pencil box for sharpening pencils. I lost mine years ago.
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Old 20th Aug 2017, 5:09 pm   #48
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

Quote:
Although they were coated with a blue lacquer


I was always under the impression that the blue finish on Gillette blades was temper blueing from the blades' heat treatment and it was this oxide that provided the semiconductor properties to allow one to be used as a makeshift diode. Whatever it was, it did little to prevent the darn things rusting very quickly!

Cheers,

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Old 20th Aug 2017, 6:01 pm   #49
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

I seem to remember the use of razor blades with a sort of metal edging type holder for cutting out balsa parts for making model aircraft back in the day. I never remember injuring myself. Then I had the luxury of an X-Acto proper model knife. I think scalpel blades were used as well. A while ago I went through a spell of crystal set enthusiasm and tried various household items for a detector, including coke and coal. I found that it is surprising what will work as long as the signal is pretty strong, as it is where I live, around 5 miles from a 50kW AM broadcast station. It is fascinating and becomes a bit of an obsession if you're not careful.
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Old 20th Aug 2017, 8:05 pm   #50
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

Possibly oxide treatment was used originally: the ones I have must date from the late 1960's (Dad died at the end of 1968), and I think are a different shade of blue from the ones I remember seeing in the 1950's. The blue surface is very uniform and glossy, which looks like lacquer to me. However, if it is lacquer, then it must be very thin: scraping does appear to remove what must be a very thin surface layer to reveal a lighter underlayer before bare metal is revealed, leaving an extremely small amount of "swarf" on the blade I was scraping with. It seems unlike the finish of the blued or blackened steel that I have come across, but I am no expert and there must be many different chemical surface finishes. On the rare occasions that I have scraped chemically coloured metal, the bare metal has been exposed directly with no intermediate shade.

My primary school teacher used to keep a single-sided razor blade in the pencil tray on her desk which we were not allowed to touch, but which she used to sharpen pencils. I think they were branded Ever Ready (not the same as the battery company) and had a substantial metal channel over what would have been the second blade on a normal safety razor blade that made them easier to handle. I have one that came with a BIB cassette repair kit for use with its splicing block.
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Old 20th Aug 2017, 10:28 pm   #51
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

I think you're right in that Gillette changed their blue blade - just found the following reference to them:

Quote:
The original Gillette Blue Blades, which were discontinued around 1970, were carbon steel, actually blue in color and very sharp, but they could rust overnight. Gillette introduced the silicone-coated Super Blue blade in 1958. This was also a sharp carbon-steel blade, and it too was literally blue. It was also discontinued around 1970. These were relatively inexpensive blades, and the Stainless and Super Stainless Steel blades were the premium Gillette blades in those days. Gillette's first platinum blade was introduced in 1970. As always, Gillette, the market leader, frequently introduced new razors and blades and phased out what was then on the market.
The single-edge blades that you mention are still widely available, although I think they're mainly used as craft knives, rather than for shaving, these days. I have a mat cutter (used for making picture frame mounts) that uses these blades. Amazon do a 100 pack for around £7.

Cheers,

Frank

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Old 21st Aug 2017, 10:22 am   #52
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

Single sided razor blades were standard kit for sound engineers before digital recording took over. We used them all the time for editing tape.
I never wanted to know what some of the musicians did with them...
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Old 26th Sep 2017, 1:45 pm   #53
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

Looking for something else, I fell over this and just had to post a photo, I've no connection to it. Taken from :- the Lou Albert Collection
Sept 30/Oct 1 2017 at the Guides Hall, 6 Lamington Drive (off Burton), Warner's Bay, NSW
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Old 26th Sep 2017, 3:40 pm   #54
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

And for those of you that don't want to pay for Microsoft Office the free Openoffice opens this file too.
 
Old 26th Sep 2017, 4:22 pm   #55
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

Wordpad opens it in W10 (and W7 I think) if you don't have one of the office suites
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Old 26th Sep 2017, 7:33 pm   #56
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

The locals made quite a few Xtal sets in the Channel Islands during WW2.

Lawrence.
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Old 22nd Oct 2017, 10:30 pm   #57
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

I stand correcting, but I think that the DLR earpiece is rather too low in impedance to give any useful audio from a crystal set, let alone one with that type of inefficient detector plus the unlikeliness of having a decent aerial and earth to make up for the deficiencies stated.
I think its "phoney" to be polite.... Tony
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Old 22nd Oct 2017, 10:41 pm   #58
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Default Re: P.O.W. Radio?

I have found that low impedance headphones work perfectly well with crystal sets. Apparently they're not good for the 'Q' of the tuned circuit though.
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