{"id":39419,"date":"2019-09-03T06:21:01","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T10:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=39419"},"modified":"2019-09-03T06:21:01","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T10:21:01","slug":"guest-post-the-national-association-of-armchair-adventurers-naaa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/guest-post-the-national-association-of-armchair-adventurers-naaa\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: The National Association of Armchair Adventurers (NAAA)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Colegrove, who shares the following guest post:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

National Association of Armchair Adventurers (NAAA)<\/b><\/h1>\n

as recalled by Bob Colegrove<\/p>\n

Those of you who were into SWLing in the late \u201850s or early \u201860s may remember the NAAA.\u00a0 It was an engaging promotional effort by the National Radio Company to generate interest in shortwave listening.\u00a0 This was done through ads run in magazines such as Popular Electronics<\/i>, and displays in stores.\u00a0 Yes, shortwave radios were once sold in brick and mortar stores.\u00a0 The very proper gentleman depicted below, replete with khaki uniform, pith helmet, jackboots and calabash pipe is none other than Sir Oswald Davenport, Chairman of the Board, and a consummate SWLer of his time who never left the comfort of his own armchair in order to tour the world as it was virtually possible to do at that time.\u00a0 For those too young to appreciate the connection, a \u201cdavenport\u201d was a genericized trademark meaning couch or sofa in today\u2019s parlance.<\/p>\n

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

As the ad indicates, for fifty cents you were admitted to the Association.\u00a0 This included a nice booklet containing an introduction to shortwave listening by Jack Gould, radio-TV critic for the New York Times, a sampler of stations \u2018currently\u2019 broadcasting around the world, log sheets and a large certificate of membership suitable for framing and signed by Sir Oswald himself.<\/p>\n

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

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

The certificate reads, \u201cthis is to certify that (name) is a privileged member of the National Association of Armchair Adventurers\u2026 and is hereby entitled to explore the four corners of the earth, to sail the seven seas, to cross, in the comfort of a favorite chair, the six continents and to visit freely without passport, the 260 countries of the world.\u00a0 Permission is also granted to eavesdrop, whenever possible, upon aircraft and satellites in outer space, ships at sea, the activities of local police and fire departments and the conversations of radio amateurs throughout the world. This experience in international espionage entitles all members to pose with authority as experts on world affairs and to expound at large on the solution of all problems.\u00a0 Membership and participation in all privileges is authorized for a lifetime of pleasure, or as long as said member is the owner of a National Shortwave Receiver.\u201d<\/p>\n

The radio depicted in the ad was the then new National NC-60 Special, a 5-tube ac\/dc, entry level receiver, which was a direct competitor of the Hallicrafters S-38E.\u00a0 This writer recalls standing in front of the two mentioned receivers on display at the local ham shop in downtown Indianapolis in 1959 trying to decide on which radio to invest his hard-won sixty dollars.\u00a0 The salesman wasn\u2019t pushy, it came down to a coin flip, and the Halli came home with me. Although I\u2019ve never regretted it, I still wonder what exotic mysteries lay behind the NC-60\u2019s dial. Although my pen-and-ink name has long since faded, the NAAA certificate still hangs prominently in the shack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Colegrove, who shares the following guest post: National Association of Armchair Adventurers (NAAA) as recalled by Bob Colegrove Those of you who were into SWLing in the late \u201850s or early \u201860s may remember the NAAA.\u00a0 It was an engaging promotional effort by the National Radio Company to […]<\/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":[3,305,288,43],"tags":[7988,7986,7987,7989],"class_list":["post-39419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-radio-history","category-shortwave-radio","tag-bob-colegrove","tag-national-association-of-armchair-adventurers","tag-national-radio-company","tag-sir-oswald-davenport"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-afN","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":64459,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/bobs-radio-corner-its-dx-season\/","url_meta":{"origin":39419,"position":0},"title":"Bob’s Radio Corner: It\u2019s DX Season","author":"Thomas","date":"November 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Noted by Bob Colegrove In the Northern Hemisphere the nights continue to get longer as we approach the winter solstice; we gain an hour of early evening darkness on Sunday, November 2nd; the summer atmospheric disturbances are nearly gone; propagation is better.\u00a0 It\u2019s time to set aside the activities of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DX"","block_context":{"text":"DX","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/dx\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Fig-2.-Oswald.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":61368,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/bobs-1968-radio-tirana-qsl-card\/","url_meta":{"origin":39419,"position":1},"title":"Bob’s 1968 Radio Tirana QSL Card","author":"Thomas","date":"December 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Bob Colegrove, who writes: Kudos to Don Moore for his excellently crafted article on Albanian radio. [...]Perhaps some might be interested to see a 1968 QSL from R. Tirana. Regards, Bob Colegrove Thank you for sharing this excellent Radio Tirana QSL card, Bob!","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\/2024\/12\/R-Tirana-Inside.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/R-Tirana-Inside.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/R-Tirana-Inside.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/R-Tirana-Inside.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/R-Tirana-Inside.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60460,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/u-twente-websdr-new-tablet-phone-interface-option\/","url_meta":{"origin":39419,"position":2},"title":"U Twente WebSDR: New Tablet\/Phone Interface Option","author":"Thomas","date":"August 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor,\u00a0Bob Colegrove, who shares the following guest post: U. of Twenty Site for Phones and Tablets by Bob Colegrove I\u2019m not sure if this is new.\u00a0 It may have been around for a while.\u00a0 Very recently, while accessing the WebSDR site at the University of Twente, it\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\/2024\/08\/Figure.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49864,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/bob-colegrove-on-the-joys-and-challenges-of-tuning-analog-radios\/","url_meta":{"origin":39419,"position":3},"title":"Bob Colegrove on “The Joys and Challenges of Tuning Analog Radios”","author":"Thomas","date":"August 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Colegrove, who recently shared this excellent article and has kindly allowed me to share it here in the the Post. Bob prefaced it by saying, \"Being a retired technical writer, I started the attached article some time ago for my own amusement, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bob-Colegrove-Book-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bob-Colegrove-Book-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bob-Colegrove-Book-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bob-Colegrove-Book-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60370,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/a-band-aid-for-the-xhdata-d-220\/","url_meta":{"origin":39419,"position":4},"title":"A Band Aid for the XHDATA D-220","author":"Thomas","date":"August 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor, Bob Colegrove, who shares the following guest post: A Band Aid for the XHDATA D-220 By Bob Colegrove In the olden days of analog radios, we would have generated a graph plotting frequency against a 0 to 100 linear bandspread scale. That permitted determination of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Guest Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Guest Posts","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/guest-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fig-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fig-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fig-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fig-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fig-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64316,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bobs-radio-corner-shortwave-multiplex\/","url_meta":{"origin":39419,"position":5},"title":"Bob’s Radio Corner: Shortwave Multiplex?","author":"Thomas","date":"October 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Reported by Bob Colegrove Incurable DXers are always looking for new challenges.\u00a0 So it was, I recently did some scanning between 42 and 45 meters (~6600 to 7000 kHz).\u00a0 Trenton Military on 6754 kHz and the MARS net on 6913 kHz are regulars here, as are a selection of pirates\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\/2025\/10\/Fig.-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Fig.-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Fig.-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Fig.-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Fig.-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39419","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=39419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}