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Glowbugs - Steampunk Radio Amateurs

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Steampunk Radio Communications In The Air

BTW, much better to say "Ether" or "Aether", not "Air"

Glowbugs - homebrew (DIY) tube gadgets, receivers and transmitters, dedicated to the Golden Era of Amateur Radio. Generally, any small, home-built tube-type transmitter or receiver may be referred to as a glowbug. The majority of glowbug transmitters are designed to be used in the CW radiotelegraphy mode. A number of radio amateurs also build their own tube receivers and AM voice transmitters. A growing number of hams are "getting back to their roots" by assembling glowbugs on steel chassis, tin cakepans, and wooden boards, and putting them on the air. More on Wiki...
In this Squidoo lens I want to introduce Glowbugs as not only trivial HAM-Radio group of tedious high skilled technicians , but artistic, slightly decadence Steampunk Radio hobby, to observe some great Glowbugs Homebrewer's sites and to place a bunch of links to Glowbugs related Amateur Radio Museums, Groups e.t.c. Enjoy the Glowing Soul of contemporary Amateur Radio!

Glowbugs Times Blog

Visit Steampunk Radio Lab!

curated content from Flickr

Glowbugs Times:

DiY HAM-Radio Tube Homebrew Junk Box
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Glowbugs Researchers and Homebrewers

Amateur Radio Station W9QZ

Best Steampunk Radio Ever

1929 vintage Hartley transmitter with built-in power supply. Shown with rare Blue Arcturus vacuum tubes. All 1929 vintage components except for wood and repro capacitor.
I enjoy building home-brewed ham gear using schematics from 1929-era ARRL handbooks and old copies of QST Magazines. It is difficult to find parts nowadays, but eBay makes that a bit easier now, if not quite a bit more costly!

HAM-Radio on Amazon

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more glowbugs masters:

WA9WFA Classic Ham Radio and National SW-3
I think these radio's are becoming more popular because we are trying to recapture our youth and experiences of youth. Regardless, these radio's are a pleasure to own and operate, and if I am fortunate enough to recapture some of the excitement of my ham radio youth, then the experience is that much sweeter!
Homebrew Tube Projects at the Sparkbench
There's alot of sites dealing with real valuable old radios, but this is a site for the 'common tinkerer' with budgetary concerns who likes to have a good time refurbing and tinkering.
Big Nick's Homebrew Radio Pages
This page illustrates several of the vacuum tube projects that I've been recently working on. You can probably guess that I'm a big fan of Alfred Morgan's series of books such as: "The Boy's Second Book of Radio and Electronics" which I had received as a Christmas present many years ago.
Gary Johanson, WD4NKA
As the nineties (and the internet) progressed, an increasing number of groups began to emerge, reviving many of the old wireless schemes. More awareness of radio's past can be attributed to the likes of the Crystal Set Associations, the Boat Anchor groups, the Glowbugs contingent, the Antique Wireless groups, in fact, so much attention is being brought to bear that, wonder of wonders, the commercial producers are back to making regen kits. There are discussion groups that use e-mail as their venue where information is posted by list members on a 'reflector' and is downloaded to all members of the list. Glowbugs and Boatanchors are two such groups that I am aware of.
VE3CFE's Vintage Amateur Radio Stations
This site is dedicated to the construction and operation of Vintage Ham radio stations of the 1920's and 1930's era. Both authentic stations and those of the homebrew kind are featured here including vintage tube transmitters, receivers, and tube power sources

Steampunk Transmitters In The Real Air

VE7SL: BUILDING A 1929 STYLE TNT TRANSMITTER

VE3AWA Transmitter

Late last fall I saw an announcement regarding the upcoming '1929 QSO Party' (more properly known as the 'Bruce Kelley Memorial CW QSO Party') sponsored by the Antique Wireless Association. Transmitters used during the event must only utilize 1929 or earlier designs, including the use of tubes only available in 1929 or before! Crystal controlled oscillators were not allowed and all transmitters have to utilize self-excited oscillators! Listening-in on the event was truly a glimpse back in time...

Glowbugs Flea Market

Steampunk Radio on e-Bay

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Glowbugs Radio Hosts

QST Magazine - Vintage Radio Column

Ernie Hite's Collection

Support page for the Old & Vintage Radio column in QST magazine.

Amazon's Steampunk Store

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more Glowbugs radio places:

Western Historic Radio Museum
Vintage Radio Equipment and Memorabilia 1910 - 1950
Virginia City, Nevada
Antique Wireless Association, Inc. (tm)
The Antique Wireless Association is an organization of some 2,000 members linked by a common interest in the history of electrical and electronic communications. AWA members come from all walks of life and our ranks include teenagers, octogenarians, and beyond in both directions. At one of our meets, you might find yourself shaking hands with a retired broadcast executive or military electronics specialist, an engineer in a high-tech electronics firm, or an eager young man looking for advice on restoring his first radio.
Glowbugs e-mail list home
We, the members of the Glowbugs e-mail list, are offering these pages as a printable archive of electronic circuits which use vacuum-tubes to the Radio Amateur and others who enjoy using tubes.
We hope that the circuits, stories, and links found here will encourage you to BUILD and USE vacuum-tube circuits.

Glowbugs WEB - Vintage Radio Navigator

Vintage radios, photos and ads. Steampunk radio links.

Real radios glow in the WEB!
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MOPA Group

Simple Glowbugs Transmitters

Discussion group for two stage MOPA Transmitters. M.O.P.A. stands
for "Master Oscillator - Power Amplifier." Simple vacuum tube,
homebrew radio transmitters for the amateur radio service can
give a great deal of enjoyment and they are very easy to make.

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W0VLZ Vintage Radio Blog

W0VLZ Hartley Transmitter

Blog about ham radio experiences including vintage homebrew, QRP operating and the National Radio company.

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REGENRX Group

Old Fashion Regenerative Receivers

Regenerative detectors are simple enough for children to build, yet can challenge even the most experienced builders. Usually, the receivers utilizing these detectors require a minimum of parts. However, some can be complex indeed, and can be incorporated into superhet designs such as the Super Gainer and the Regenerodyne.

Since 1990 there has been renewed interest in the old fashioned Regenerative receiver, many are even being used in active communication service. Join us as we explore these classic circuits and use them as they were intended to be used. You just might get hooked.
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UU1CC

Official member of the "Knights of the Pine Board", that mysterious cadre of mystics that traverse the Ether over long distances with wood-mounted Fir... more »

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