Adventure Radio: The Early Years

When did the idea for "adventure radio" first originate? I must admit that I thought it was a fairly recent phenomenon. Sure, we all know that "field day" dates back to the early days of ham radio. But wasn't field day really focussed on "emergency preparedness" more than on celebration of our natural environment? Quite possibly, early field day participants began to feel the special magic of radio communication from isolated natural locations.

At a recent fleamarket I was flipping through a rather sorry looking box of old magazines and test equipment manuals, when I came across a worn yellow book entitled "RADIO BUILDERS' MANUAL", published in 1935 by Modern Mechanix Publishing. The first thing that caught my eye on the cover of this volume was a sketch of two men in a canoe, one paddling while the other is tuning a radio positioned on the middle seat. A wire antenna extends from the tip of a mast in the center of the canoe to the bow. This picture alone interests me - taking a radio along canoeing, in 1935!

I start to thumb through the book, pulling it a little closer to my chest so the surrounding fleamarket throngs won't catch a glimpse of my new-found, but as-yet-to-be-purchased treasure. I stop suddenly at page 27. Amazing! Under the title "ENJOY RADIO MUSIC ON YOUR BICYCLE TOUR" is an illustration of a cyclist wearing headphones, with a radio and loop antenna on the handlebars and a battery pack behind the seat. As hf qrp bicycle mobiling is one of my favorite radio exploits, I try to hide my excitement, and set about convincing the fleamarket vendor that I'd be doing him a favor to take the book off his hands for five dollars. (Fortunately, this book had been stored in a ziplock bag, which had saved it from the mildewy fate of its neighbors!). To my delight, the vendor agrees to my offered price, and I carefully put the book into my knapsack.

Back home a few hours later, I sit down in the comfort of my favorite reading chair for a page by page tour through this 1935 classic.

On page 15 , I find the "HITCH-HIKER'S 2-TUBE PORTABLE RADIO" (page one and page two) which begins:

"To the camper, the wandering hitch-hiker, the canoeist, or the boating fan, this lightweight two-tube receiver… will provide a welcome travelling companion."

Farther on, I find "ANTENNAS AND GROUNDS FOR YOUR CANOE OR BOAT RADIO" (page one and page two).

Even in 1935, the writers in Modern Mechanix obviously had a taste for adventure radio! The articles I've mentioned refer only to receivers. But as I sit back in my easy chair reading this fascinating book, I imagine myself as the original purchaser, over half a century ago, paying 50 cents for the brand new "Radio Builders' Manual". Surely I would look at the "Double M Special 3-Band Code Transmitter" or the 1-tube "Cakepan Transmitter" and begin to think about transmitting from my wandering locations.

I might decide to build the "5 METER TRANSCEIVER", which boasts the ability to "hold phone conversations with friends on lakes, at camp, or in the city, as far as ten miles away, with this compact but powerful ultra-short wave combined transmitter and receiver"
So as you fire up your trail-friendly miniature transceiver at your campsite this summer, think about where your love of adventure radio may have led you if you had been born sixty-five years earlier! Perhaps you know of a true "adventure radio pioneer". If you do, I'm sure that A.R.S. members would be interested in hearing about their exploits.