-=> Quoting Bill Rister to Joe Nicholson <=-
 BR> My love of and fascination with radio began when I was quite young, 
 BR> tuning and listening to a table-top tube type radio.. real wood 
 BR> case, etc.. I found I could tune just above the highest broadcast 
 BR> frequency (probably around 1650kc or just above) and receive the 
 BR> Houston Police Department.
 I'm sure you were listening on an image frequency, much as I
 did at the beginning of my life-long interest in radio.
 Our local dispatch was on 2490Kc, which I used in these samples.
 Some of those radios used a 425Kc IF, which put the image at 1640.
 Other radios used a 455Kc IF, and that put the image at 1580.
 Still others had a 525Kc IF, and the image for 2490 was 1040.
 We could listen to dispatch on an image frequency, and hear the
 cars speak back on a frequency within that 4MHz break between
 TV channels 4 and 5.
 LAPD and a hundred other law enforcement agencies in California
 operated in this frequency range.
 While I was performing my summer reserve duty at NavyMARS in
 1973, we received pallets and pallets - hundreds - of old LAPD
 radios with AM receivers for 24something and FM transmitters
 at 75something. They still had the yellow KMA363 (or whatever)
 decal on the remote control head.
 BR> I'd listen for hours for the calls which came every 5 or 10 minutes
 BR> ..and I suppose had I not been fiddling and by chance heard that
 BR> first call I'd never known they were there.  Listening above the
 BR> music, news and soap operas instilled a life-long interest in radio
 BR> for me.
 
 San Diego PD   A         Chula Vista PD  C     Coronado PD     D
 San Diego FD   F         Escondido PD    H     El Cajon PD     J
 La Mesa PD     K         SDPD-La Jolla   L     SD County SO    M
 Nat'l City PD  Q         Oceanside PD    O     CA Hiwy Patrol  T
 We had at least 12 users on 2490Kc, each identified by a "station"
 letter.  "Station A to unit 22"  "Station M to unit 510"   etc.
 Station 90 from Santa Ana boomed in too, as did some stations as
 far east as the Mississippi River.  Even in the 40's and 50's,
 California had a tolerance for minorities, and we were not used
 to the disparaging words about ethnics which we heard when we
 received a station 1,500 miles away.
 The fire department had a fire engine bell mounted with a hammer
 on a solenoid, in front of a remote microphone.  When Station F
 dispatched, we'd hear that hammer strike the bell, then someone
 came on live with the description, address, assignment, etc.
 Boingggggg, Station F, an 11-70 at 30th and University for
 Engine 14, Engine 18, Engine 5, Truck 2 and Battalion 2.
 Boingggggg, Station F, an 11-72 at 1313 University, Engine 5
 responding.
 BR> My first "real shortwave radio" after growing up and going
 BR> to work was a Hallicrafters S-38D,
 I saved my money earned working in dad's grocery store and in
 1947 I bought a Hallicrafters S-38B.  
 When the PD became the last agency to leave 2490Kc, in 1962,
 I went to some down-converters that relied on slope detection
 in an AM radio to recover an FM signal. Also had a continuous
 tune TV tuner, from channel 1 at 48MHz to channel 13 at 216MHz
 fed into a homebrew IF strip.  I could tune it in the 150-170
 band for the PD or the FD (but not both at the same time like
 modern-day scanners allow).
 Everything went from wide-band to narrow-band at some time in
 history, and I obtained a few old yellow cab radios.  What the
 old technicians didn't know was that these were designed for
 narrow-band and the manufacturer made them wide-band by adding
 a few swamping resistors across the tuning circuits.
 As soon as I removed the resistors from across the IF can, I
 was able to tune the radios to meet FCC specs for narrow-band
 and wound up with a desk packed with radios tuned to different
 agencies.  About 6 years later I purchased my first scanner.
 That was a Teasbury (spelling???) from Olson Electronics.
 BR> followed by an S-40.  That led to Cb's, scanners and ham radio.
 BR> I'm now 63 and still fascinated by what lies above 1600kc!
 I never had another SW receiver.  Used the S-38B to pull in HCJB
 and a hundred other SW stations in the late 40's and early 50's.
 I studied amateur radio and had my code speed up to 16-18 WPM but
 I went for a radiotelephone license and put ham radio on the back
 burner. (Also discovered girls )  I'm now 61, still fascinated
 by all of it, and I have mailed an application for a California
 Handicapped Ham Radio Camp to pull it all together again.
... fire.chief@warpgate.com      
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