{"id":38981,"date":"2019-08-12T12:55:52","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T16:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=38981"},"modified":"2019-08-12T13:03:02","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T17:03:02","slug":"classic-portables-onboard-a-1919-great-lakes-tugboat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/classic-portables-onboard-a-1919-great-lakes-tugboat\/","title":{"rendered":"Classic portables onboard a 1919 Great Lakes tugboat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Phil Ewing<\/a>, who writes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know you’re always on the lookout for trips and visits so I thought of you when we were up in Wisconsin last week. There\u2019s a maritime museum up in Sturgeon Bay<\/a>, on the peninsula, that includes a 100 year-old tug. You can go aboard and climb all up and down\u2026and they\u2019ve got some great radios in the crew cabins as part of the displays of what life was like back when the ship was working.<\/em><\/p>\n

There were a number of standard but interesting normal transistors but what really caught my eye were the Hallicrafters World Wave<\/strong> in the pilothouse and a fantastic pair of Trans-Oceanics<\/strong> in the cabins of the chief engineer and the captain.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The purpose of the visit really isn\u2019t the radios \u2014 it\u2019s about the working life of the Great Lakes and an old ship \u2014 so discovering them was a fantastic lagniappe.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[T]he appeal of shortwave in these circumstances is clear: Imagine you’re in the middle of Lake Superior towing a barge full of logs to be pulped, or some other unglamorous but essential Great Lakes cargo — maybe a barge full of big rocks to build a breakwater in, say, Sheboygan — and you come off watch in the middle of the night. Life on a ship can be deadly monotonous and deeply lonely but then picture yourself tuning in to the international band on your luxurious Zenith set … not bad since the iPad won’t be invented for another 40 or so years.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

These pix also depict the engine order telegraph, which the captain in the pilothouse used to signal commands to the engine room. There was one for each of the two main engines, and duplicates in the pilothouse.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The captain moves the handle so that it indicates the speed he wants (e.g., Ahead Full<\/em>) and the bottom needle on the telegraph in the engine room moves, ringing a bell. This is why an engineer might report he was ready to sail by saying he was standing by to “answer bells.” The engineers would select the speed on the engines and then move their own handle on their own telegraph to correspond with the captain’s order, signaling to the pilothouse they’d completed the instruction.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The engines are the white things pictured behind the telegraph and on which was stamped the brass plate also photographed here. The diesel engines were made by the Electro Motive Division of GM and replaced this ship’s original steam propulsion system. EMD is most famous for its pioneering and legendary freight locomotives, which led the way in “dieselization” after WWII in converting many railroads from their romantic but much less efficient and much dirtier steam power. But the company also made marine diesel engines as evidenced here and these served this ship for another three decades or so — just think about that. There also are still EMD GP30 locomotives from the 1960s still in service in some places in the U.S., according to what I read in this month’s <\/em>Trains<\/a> magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Fascinating, Phil\u2013\u2013what terrific vintage kit! Thanks for sharing those wonderful photos and descriptions with us.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, I can imagine SWLing would have been a vital entertainment outlet for those on working ships in the Great Lakes. No doubt they had access to a number of strong mediumwave stations on the coast, as well. What a way to while away the off-hours.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to follow @PhilEwing on Twitter.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Phil Ewing, who writes: I know you’re always on the lookout for trips and visits so I thought of you when we were up in Wisconsin last week. There\u2019s a maritime museum up in Sturgeon Bay, on the peninsula, that includes a 100 year-old tug. You can go aboard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,305,26,43,4796],"tags":[4342,1255,7947,3969,4013,7948,3134],"class_list":["post-38981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-radios","category-shortwave-radio","category-vintage-radio","tag-guest-posts","tag-hallicrafters","tag-john-purves-tug-boat","tag-maritime-radio","tag-maritime-shortwave","tag-phil-ewing","tag-zenith-transoceanic"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-a8J","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17248,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/02\/1944-wwii-hallicrafters-shortwave-radio-promo\/","url_meta":{"origin":38981,"position":0},"title":"1944 WWII Hallicrafters Shortwave Radio Promo","author":"Robert Gulley","date":"February 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Interesting 15 min. video demonstrating the Army Signal Corps using an Hallicrafters SCR-299. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TURd_XVpwvk While certainly a promotional piece for Hallicrafters, this has great footage and captures a bit of the excitement of radio expanding into new frontiers. There is a discussion of how the radio was modified for military\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Boat Anchors"","block_context":{"text":"Boat Anchors","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/boat-anchors-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"WWII-Hallicrafters","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/WWII-Hallicrafters.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/WWII-Hallicrafters.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/WWII-Hallicrafters.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16644,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/avengers-age-of-ultron-scene-is-that-a-hallicrafters-receiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":38981,"position":1},"title":"Avengers ‘Age of Ultron’ scene: is that a Hallicrafters receiver?","author":"Thomas","date":"January 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"With the recent posts about shortwave radio in films (Star Wars and Star Trek),\u00a0I remembered a scene from Avengers: Age of Ultron where I thought I spotted a vintage Hallicrafters receiver. In the scene, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is using an \"old school spy method\" to find the whereabouts of Black\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Avengers-Ultron-Hallicrafters-Radios-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Avengers-Ultron-Hallicrafters-Radios-1-1024x432.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Avengers-Ultron-Hallicrafters-Radios-1-1024x432.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Avengers-Ultron-Hallicrafters-Radios-1-1024x432.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16737,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/mike-ids-a-hallicrafters-skyrider-in-avengers-scene\/","url_meta":{"origin":38981,"position":2},"title":"Mike IDs a Hallicrafters Skyrider in Avengers scene","author":"Thomas Witherspoon","date":"January 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In response to my post about finding a glowing Hallicrafters radio in a scene from the Avengers: Age of Ultron, SWLing Post reader, Mike (AC4NS) writes: \"I put the pic in Lightroom and pulled it out of the shadows. It is definitely a Skyrider and not an SX-28.\" Wow--I'm amazed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Avengers-Ultron-Hallicrafters-Radios","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Avengers-Ultron-Hallicrafters-Radios-1024x429.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Avengers-Ultron-Hallicrafters-Radios-1024x429.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Avengers-Ultron-Hallicrafters-Radios-1024x429.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48957,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/05\/behold-the-epic-sony-crf-320\/","url_meta":{"origin":38981,"position":3},"title":"Behold the epic Sony CRF-320!","author":"Thomas","date":"May 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Phil Ewing, who highlights this tweet from @Ea4Hng: \"Testing the good old Sony CRF-320 after many years not in use. It works flawlessly in all bands\" EA4HGN's photo, above, reminds me that the Sony CRF-320 sports one of the best designs I've ever seen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Sony-CRF-320.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Sony-CRF-320.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Sony-CRF-320.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Sony-CRF-320.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Sony-CRF-320.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Sony-CRF-320.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14453,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/guest-post-brians-1974-mix-tape-of-off-air-shortwave-radio-recordings\/","url_meta":{"origin":38981,"position":4},"title":"Guest Post: Brian’s 1974 mix tape of off-air shortwave radio recordings","author":"Thomas","date":"August 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post\u00a0and Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor, Brian Smith, for the following guest post and vintage recording: Shortwave Radio 1974: Canada, Argentina, Spain, West Germany, Albania, utility stations -Brian Smith (W9IND) Want to know what shortwave radio sounded like in 1974? This 55-minute recording, recovered from a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Guest Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Guest Posts","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/guest-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"HalliDial","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/HalliDial-1024x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/HalliDial-1024x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/HalliDial-1024x400.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7488,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/franks-maritime-radio-suggestions\/","url_meta":{"origin":38981,"position":5},"title":"Frank’s maritime radio suggestions","author":"Thomas","date":"October 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In response to my previous post, The Best Shortwave Receiver for Your Boat or Yacht, Frank (VK3JFH\/VP8DNM)\u00a0writes: \"I have all three of the portables mentioned, the Sony SW7600GR, the Sangean 909X, and the Tecsun PL-660. The latter is currently my portable of choice. Having just read this post re radios\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"(Click to enlarge)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/FrankHoldern-tecsun1-300x168.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38981\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}