Jay Allen

Although I loved that radio dearly and wish I still had it…it's now a rather collectable model with its 60's Japanese yet somehow art deco appearance…I became aware that some of my friend's transistor radios could pull in weak stations far better. There was one station all the kids loved but it was very weak in our area. The first thing I would do when I happened upon any radio was to check that station as a test for how "good" that radio was. From that point was launched a life long quest to improve reception. I was inside that tiny radio frequently, wiring in a rod antenna I cobbled to the side of the case, playing with the alignment adjustments which I didn't understand at all, throwing wires out the window and wrapping them around the radio. It's amazing the things I discovered by accident. For instance, I discovered that if I rested the radio up against the ground wire running down the side of a phone pole, my favorite station boomed in like a local, so I spent lots of time playing in that particular spot.

I was also lucky that my uncle was an electronics designer working for a Boston area company and one year he presented me with a hand made, breadboard am transmitter…my own radio station! This thing had 3 tubes and all exposed wiring including the AC input which I was told to keep my hands away from. It's absolutely amazing that I never ever got a shock from that thing! Now I was up on the roof erecting antennas fashioned from curtain rods, the TV antenna…anything which would get my signal out further. I don't know how much power that thing made but with about 50 feet of wire connected to it I could hear my station about 4 blocks away.

Unfortunately I grew up (ok, I got older) but my career path took twin courses…one of them as an electronic technician managing a service department for a local audio store for 15 years and broadcasting where I worked for years as an DJ, newscaster and am currently the Production Director for a group of radio stations. In my current job I produce radio commercials all day long so shortwave listening brings welcome relief from the commercial world. My hobbies are still electronics and long distance radio listening, and I enjoy am and sw program listening equally. My interests also include collecting radios…all the ones I lusted after as a kid and more. I have a decent collection of portable radios from the 50's and 60's (I really love the Zenith Royal 500 series), some novelty radios, some Zenith Trans-Oceanics and nowadays, just about every interesting sw portable that comes along. I also spend quite a bit of time band-scanning on sw and keeping updated logs so I have a ready reference of what's available to listen to. For me, listening to distant am and sw stations still brings the same excitement of listening to that first transistor radio at night, pulling in stations from far away. This excitement will never be replaced by listening on the Internet, because the whole appeal is the very fact that the signal has traveled such a long distance right to my radio. Of course I enjoy news and discussion content from the sw broadcasters of the world, but I will never deny that the excitement of the reception itself is a key role in my enjoyment of the hobby.

Writing reviews for radiointel is one of the most joyful experiences I've had. It not only gives me an excuse to acquire more radio equipment, but it also lets me put my two cents worth in. In these days of free and easy exchange of ideas via the Internet there is lots of great information freely available…but there is also tons of mis-information available, and it is a real pleasure to contribute to the former.