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#1
03-27-2013, 07:34 AM
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Got a 1953-1963 AM radio?
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#3
03-28-2013, 03:03 PM
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"...And then you get down to the HOPELESSNESS of 54...You wonder, Why does it END there ? What kind of Good Stuff are we missin' on 420 ?!?...." -George Carlin
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Benevolent Despot
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#6
03-28-2013, 07:41 PM
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A few brochures about building and maintaining a nuclear fallout shelter wouldn't be
ouf of place either.
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#8
03-30-2013, 08:56 AM
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Quote:
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#9
03-30-2013, 11:54 AM
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I remember as a student, so many years ago, how MacArthur was criticised for having our warplanes in pretty little formations on the ground, rather than scattered about the bases, making them harder to attack. While searching for this tidbit, I found this:
The inexcusable failure by MacArthur to place American military forces in the Philippines on a proper war footing immediately following news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor compromised the defence of the Philippines. His neglect of his duty to the United States resulted in the effective elimination of American air power in the western Pacific by 15 December 1941, forced the complete withdrawal of the United States Asiatic Fleet from Philippine waters, and paved the way for the Japanese invasion that followed. The Navy and Army commanders at Pearl Harbor were relieved of their commands even though they were taken completely by surprise by the Japanese attack. MacArthur's disgraceful neglect of duty was much worse and would appear to have justified at the very least dismissal from command, and arguably consideration of court martial. MacArthur's subsequent escape to Australia with only his closest staff officers and family enabled him to escape scrutiny of his behaviour at that time. Senior officers who might have testified to MacArthur's neglect of duty and incompetence as a commander remained in the Philippines, and either died or suffered lengthy imprisonment in Japanese prison camps. Even after the truth became known at the end of World War II, MacArthur had established himself as an heroic figure and was never brought to account for this disgraceful episode in the Battle of the Philippines. Sounds like FDR shoulda sacked him earlier... Last edited by Einar72; 03-30-2013 at 11:57 AM. Reason: Shortened a bit.
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#10
03-30-2013, 12:37 PM
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I doubt Conelrad will be reactivated, even in the event of another Korean War, although anything is possible. If it were to be reactivated, however, there would be many AM radios that would have to have their tuning dials marked with the Conelrad icons at 640 and 1240 kHz, as all radios made after the end of the Conelrad era in 1963 are devoid of these icons. Many TV and radio stations still ran the old Conelrad tests for several years after the official end of the Conelrad era. (I remember one Cleveland TV station that still showed the old CD symbol as late as 1980, as part of their sign-off; they continued this until they began 24-hour operations in the 1990s, and the PBS TV station used a CD test slide that showed the CD symbol with the words "on radio" in cursive writing.) There was a project in the '50s, during the Conelrad era, in which radios that did not already have Conelrad icons were marked with such any time the radios were in for repairs. However, I don't know what changes would be made if Conelrad was once again activated. I would think the old system of silencing all radio stations in the affected area (except the designated Conelrad alert station), even 24-hour non-stop ones, would be retained and used if necessary to prevent, or at least minimize, the possibilities of enemy aircraft homing in on local radio signals to wreak havoc on local areas. Note that Conelrad was never used even in its heyday, only periodically tested. The current Emergency Alert System has been activated for such things as severe weather alerts, Amber alerts, etc. but never (yet, anyway) for nuclear attack warnings. This could change in an instant, however, if the Koreans decide to start things up again (the TV news and newspapers have been warning us of such a possibility as of late), and declare another war. I hate the thought of it, but it could happen again.   If so, I don't know if the EAS would be capable of issuing warnings early enough to prevent widespread damage. As I said, there would probably have to be in place a method of silencing all radio stations, including amateur and CB, in case of an emergency, which EAS does not have or require at this time.
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Jeff, WB8NHV Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002 Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten. Last edited by Jeffhs; 03-31-2013 at 11:20 AM.
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#11
03-31-2013, 11:35 AM
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With no kudos to his preliminary misadventures, Once WW2 happened and entered the history books with total U.S. victory in both theaters, the present-day policy of fighting halfway, no-win wars began with Truman's sacking of MacArthur. Off soapbox now, end of thread derailment.
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#14
03-31-2013, 11:38 PM
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Hello, new guy here and as a history buff I had a couple things to add...
MacArthur should have been court martialed even before 1941, in 1932. At that time he was Army Chief of Staff and was in charge of troops in Washington DC during the Bonus Army March. That was out of work WWI vets seeking an early payment of their Army bonus. When violence erupted in their shanty town, MacArthur went in and started forcing people out. President Hoover sent direct word twice to MacArthur not to go into the camps. However, he defied orders and continuted until all vets were driven out. Hoover was furious, but decided court martial would just make a bad situation worse. CONELRAD was actually used four times: once each year in 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961. These were during yearly nationwide Civil Defense drills called Operation Alert, where the public would be given a specific week that a mock attack was coming, but the exact time was unknown until a sealed envelope was opened by the head of CD and he activated CONELRAD just like it was a real attack. All FM, TV, and Hams had to turn off for 15 min in 1956, and 30 min in 1959-61. In the 1956 test music by the Air Force Band was played, in the others PSA messages and live announcements from government officials were used. The original plan with CONELRAD was that key stations in each major city would broadcast on low power on 640 or 1240 for two minutes at a time and then shut off their transmitter until signaled to turn on again. The idea was that Russian bombers would use radio direction finding equipment to find their city targets, and cycling for two minutes at a time wasn't long enough to lock in. So, instead they would have to use visual approach and hopefully get lost. The original purpose was not to inform the public, but to thwart an attack. The 1956 test caused several stations to experience transmitter failure from the cycling. Also, people in rural areas couldn't pick up anything. The 1959-61 tests allowed key stations to broadcast continuously at higher power.
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#15
04-01-2013, 01:47 PM
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I remember listening to the tests as a kid and turning an AA5 around with its built in loop to get the direction of the different stations. The signal varied in strength and volume as the stations took their turns..
__________________
Reece Perfection is hard to reach with a screwdriver.
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