Tube vs. Solid State Preamp

Yet the Lincoln used a Delco 'Wobnderbar' radio that year.

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Some hams cheated by memorizing just enough code and theory to get a ticket, then forgot the theory since they had never applied it.

Amazing? Then you never saw the TV accessory that replaced the tuning knob and used a rubber squeeze bulb to change channels. I think it was sold by Philco in the late '50s or early '60s.

Zenith had their 'Space Command' remote system with a motor to turn the turret tuner. There were quarter turn tabs to override unused channels.

RCA had an electronic ultrasonic remote, and servo motors on the volume, tint and intensity controls.

Some late '50s GE Tvs used the 160 meter band for remote control. The four button, tone encoded remote was easy to retune to the top of the AM broadcast band.

:-(

I got a couple frequency counter boards from the UV-3 product line. I managed to get one working after removing the three pounds of excess solder from their wave solder process. Some ICs were literally covered in solder.

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Cool, bragging rights accrue.

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I would have "dropped a dime" on someone like that.

Cars manufacture back in those days was an interesting game. High end cars had all the experiments... the idea being: rich folk will tolerate field failures if you kiss up to 'em and give 'em a loaner... no maintenance costs whatever :-)

(Interesting aside... you should have seen the brouhaha when wife-of-upper-Ford-management goes into a car wash in Dearborn, "rolling door locks" went off during the roll, the hand washers couldn't open the doors and the car behind crashed into m'lady's fancy Lincoln "toy" :-)

Everything innovative I ever did in automotive went into Lincoln's, Cadillac's and Chrysler 300D's first. ...Jim Thompson

A motorized autodyne? Damn, that thing must have been a real pig to = align.

Did you ever see Caddilac's 'Automatic Headlight Dimmer'? ;-)

I was 13 at the time and had no way to report him, or even knew where to do it. It didn't last long. They appoligized for being jerks, and he stayed off the air during their services after that. He was an over the road truck driver, and usually only home on the weekends, so he didn't care when he was on the radio, as long as he spent a few hours every weekend.

You mean the big "tear-drop-on-its-side" thingy that sat on a stalk on the dash?

I redid the electronics for that (GM Guidelamp Division)... adding various delay functions and "fast-dim" if you topped a hill into the face of another car. CdS sensor.

Scared the Paradise Valley cops by testing that in the dips of McDonald drive ;-) ...Jim Thompson

Yes, that wierd sensor that looked like a prop from a 'b' Sci-fi movie.

The only units I saw were all tube, and built in the '50s. No one would even attempt to repair them, so you could get them from junked caddys for free. I had at least one complete system, and thought it was funny that it had about as may parts as the AM radio, and wasted so much current. :(

Does any car company offer an automatic headlight dimmer anymore? ...Jim Thompson

Sure, a neighbor had one (though IIRC it was an Olds '98). The stupid thing would dim the headlights at every road sign.

My wife's car has automatic headlights; just as dumb.

The real problem with many of those is that they do not turn on the rear lights. My office has a nice view and there is a road going straight up a slope in the distance. At night I can regularly see many cars with the headlights on and no rear lights. The driver doesn't notice because he sees that the headlights are on. The perfect recipe for a rear-ender.

American-made cars? I've not seen a car like that, at least in recent years. GM used to do it to avoid a wire to the alternator regulator. Alternator output was initiated due to a slightly magnetized rotor... thus you needed a minimum load... they chose the headlights and called it a safety feature ;-)

I never touch the light switch on the Q45... it does it all automagically. Annoying only in that it will turn on the lights in a drive-thru :-( ...Jim Thompson

My wife's won't come on until it's too dark. Forget a rainy day.

I think it's mostly US cars but sometimes it's hard to tell because of the distance. Once at a traffic light I got out and told the driver, who then turned a little knobs and, tada, tail lights came on. IIRC it was a Chrysler.

It's really scary when they tow a trailer, big black boat, no tail lights. You can watch it on that hill because it's tempting to "gun it" there if you have the proper car. Kid in low-rider Honda turns onto Meder Road, floors it, enjoys the throaty exhaust, here comes that big black trailer with no lights, screeeeech .....

I prefer everything to be manual. Well, maybe except for the mixture/ignition although in some areas of the world like Spain or Portugal it came in handy when we could adjust that. Maybe the quality of gasoline is better there now.

Most better fuel injection systems handle altitude and octane rating automatically... ping sensor backs off the advance and pulls the mix back to slightly rich of stoichiometric.

When we last had a gasoline "shortage" I ran the Q45 on Regular... no problem at all, not even a noticeable loss of pep away from a light. ...Jim Thompson

Yes, my car does that as well. Maybe it would cope with the situation although back in the late 70's and early 80's the gas there was so extremely bad that even an old VW Beetle with a regular 1200cc engine needed serious adjustments after crossing the border. And those cars were known to be happy with really bad swill, low compression and all.