Underground bomb shelter radio in 1961

[Robert Grant]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

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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.

<snip>

I would imagine it was a reference to UHF stations then being installed in Europe (especially in West Germany).

The shorter wavelength of the UHF signals could be more efficiently absorbed by an undersize antenna (such as the blade of a screwdriver). Too, UHF signals can fit through windows more easily, and are stronger close to the ground, than VHF.

Major reasons so many OTA viewers in large cities are complaining they can't get local stations that transmit their digital signals on VHF.

[David Roper]

See if the prop department can get hold of a GE P-807. It strikes me as the quintessential bomb shelter radio...however it won't blow up by itself.

[venivdvici]

Thanks, everyone. I'm gonna let your ideas percolate in my head. I've read that some bomb shelters are set up with electricity, so I might just have it wired with a regular console teevee and she can have her transistor radio on the side. While they'll be down there, it's not like there'll be an emergency or anything. She's just feigning being kidnapped and hiding out down there. My main character tracks her down and she ties him up. She has trouble with the tv but won't let my guy fix it. She'll have a gun on him as he directs her on how to fix the teevee. His goal will be to electrocute her unwittingly. Then he can hop to the phone (still tied up) and use his tongue to dial the operator for the police to rescue him.

But that's not going to be the climax. It would be nice to have a teevee explode. Maybe busting the picture tube so that it shatters into the bad guy. As you guys have explained, I'll need to get it done with the hero out of shatter range. The old burning candle under the rope holding the hammer over the picture tube trick might work. Ha!

Thanks again.

[zenith2134]

Intriguing premise, venivdvici.

Sounds a lot like a movie I once saw.

Thinking about it, early 60s history has a unique feel to it even though i was not alive for it. then again all history has its interesting parts.

and yes, Mr. Electronic M, i recall the Sharp set with OSD and hybrid chassis,,, was it not a VK member who posted about it a few months back?

[David Roper]

I was raised in a house with a bomb shelter. That's what we always called it, even long after it became just a low-level store room. There was a single porcelain light socket with AC receptacle high on the wall, so as long as power was still supplied there would be light down there and power to whatever you plugged in.

[holmesuser01]

I had a neighbor that had a bomb shelter built into the dirt wall of his basement. It went out under the front yard of the house. They were digging to plant a tree (rather large one) and hit concrete about 4 feet below the surface.

In the basement, the entrance had been walled over many years ago. Now, it's re-opened. It has a floor drain system in case water builds up in there.

We figure that it was built around 1952. The light bulbs are labeled GE Mazda! The wiring for the room was disconnected many years ago at the old fuse box.

There's an old water tank in there, too. I guess the owner was planning to stay in there awhile, if necessary.

[Sandy G]

If you want to read a fascinating, yet chilling, "Armagedden" type book, check out "Warday" by James Kunetka & Whitley Strieber. Its about a "little" nuclear war USA vs. Soviets, c. 1988. Not giving anything away, but the "Nuclear" part turned out to be not nearly as bad as some of the OTHER things that happened-EMP pulse, f'r instance.

[Kamakiri]

Originally Posted by venivdvici

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

I have to ask, who is that amazingly hot woman in your avatar?

[ctc17]

We found a shelter from the 60s that was still almost fully stocked with food, medicine, water, beds, reading material etc. It was several miles underground. Not someones home panic deal but one designated for the 'select few'.
The radio was a westinghouse 3 band transistor set. The most sensitive radio I have ever seen.
Not that any radio would work underground or there would be any stations on the air if there was a real attack. There may be some shortwave from other countrys.
Every time I think about that place I cant help think of the episode of the simpsons called barts comet.
Who wants to rot in a damp hole for a few years, lets go up on a hill and go out in style with a bang.
The emp pulse threat is fairly real. I dont know how much damage it would really do though. A big solar flare could set us back a few years...

[David Roper]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

I have to ask, who is that amazingly hot woman in your avatar?

You don't recognize Mommy Dearest herself??

[Cadman]

In some of the classic home construction books they include plans for bomb shelters and I've seen where provisions are made for an external antenna and twin-lead setup through the concrete wall, more for radio than anything.

Of course, a lot of those shelters were intended for refuge from fallout rather than survival within the blast zone, so it's conceivable an exterior antenna might still be there after the blast. Hmm.

[W3XWT]

Only problem is... CONELRAD required TV (and FM) to stay off the air. I seriously doubt that the small and medium market stations back then which might have physically survived (EMP being a not completely unknown factor back then...) would've "invested" the bucks (even with CD assistance) for backup power.