Handheld Ham Radio

How marvelous is the cellphone! Who now is without one in his or her car? Not a very lot. Of course, emergency vehicles have had radio telephone communication for decades, but not the general public. The increasingly common sight of folks driving down a highway talking over a cellphone nevertheless seems astounding, if not hazardous.

Nevertheless, we ought to restrain the urge to “back-pat.” After all, it’s taken about 80 years for our very much touted modern day technology to catch up with the thinking of A.H. Grebe, “Expert Radio Constructor,” a characterization of Grebe by the editors of an article inside August 1919 matter of Radio Amateur News.

Entitled “The Auto Radiophone,” this article was written by Grebe himself, then only 24 years old and operating his own organization to manufacture amateur radio equipment. Within the article, Grebe talks about how communication by radio telephone was previously indispensable on aircraft. He believed it could also be used in “many destinations on land more than spaces which cannot be economically spanned by wires.” Thus, began his experiments using a radio transmitter self-contained in a motor car.

Re-creation of the Article Photos

Inspired through the cover of the 1919 Radio Amateur News, shown in Figure 1, Ron Frisbie began to think about simulating some of the photos inside the issue. Obviously a man of vivid imagination, Ron wasin the unique position of having all the right ingredients to carry this idea through.

First, he has a large Grebe collection, including a Model CR-14 that would serve for what is apparently a Model CR-6 receiver while in the magazine photos. Second, he has an antique automobile — a beautifully restored 1928 Ford Model A Roadster. This automobile resembles what is more than likely a 1919 Buick owned by Grebe and shown in the article.

Third and best of all, his friendship with Grebe’s son allowed him to think about the possibility of having Alfred Grebe, Jr., pose in the car with the products as his father had done for the magazine article. Ron got into contact with Editor John Terrey to ask if he had any interest in the subject for an article.

Naturally, the answer was, “Go to it!”

A little background of the Grebe/Frisbie friendship should be in order. Ron first met Alfred, Jr., about eight years ago at a Radio Club of America gathering in New York City. Though his father had died when he was only five years old, Grebe, Jr., maintains an interest in his father’s field. He expressed surprise at learning of the existence of Ron’s rare Grebe CR-10, and often mentioned his hope of traveling from Richmond, Virginia, to see it.

More than the next several years, the two talked of a time when Grebe, Jr., might come and also have his photo taken with the CR-10. Finally, it happened, as shown in Figure 2.

But, Ron had even bigger ideas. He had set the wheels of a real “photo op” in motion by first finding a photographer. Next he installed poles on his Model A and strung wires between the poles as an antenna, just as Grebe, Sr., had done for the 1919 article. Figure 3 shows Grebe, Sr., fully equipped in his Buick, a scene Ron re-created for our cover.

What would we have done without radio?” Indeed.

Grebe’s Auto Radiophone Experiment

According to his Radio Amateur News article, Grebe used a 6-wire flat top antenna as the radiating member in conjunction with the frame and body of the car as a counterpoise. When not in use, the antenna system was slung under the running board on hooks — portability was “in” even then.

The transmitter consisted of a panel and cabinet assembly, including the vacuum tube mounting, choke coils, oscillating circuits and modulating system. The operating wavelength was 150 meters. A storage battery back of the seat provided power for the filaments of the vacuum tubes in the receiver and transmitter, and also powered a small dynamotor.

The receiver consisted of a variometer type of regenerative receiver with two stages of audio frequency amplification. Signals from ship stations and land stations within a 150-mile radius were copied without difficulty.

Grebe makes an interesting observation that we can still relate to sometimes on the highway. When other cars operated nearby, there was interference from discharges at the spark plugs, which was plainly heard until the passing vehicle was quite far away.

In concluding his article, Grebe says it is safe to say that his tests showed that “the auto-radio-phone is entirely practical, and the near future should bring extensive developments along these lines, and we may soon hear an SOS: ‘Send an emergency service car to car No. 999-999 three miles east of Suburbanville.’ ”

He was off on only two counts — SOS has become simply 911 and “soon” came much later than he had predicted. Citizens band transceivers became popular in the 1970s, but not until the 1990s did “auto radiophones” for everyone become commonplace. A.H. Grebe was, indeed, a man ahead of his time.

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