Elmer G. Osterhoudt
and
The Modern Radio Laboratories Catalog 

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Before we go on, does anyone know where Elmer Osterhoudt was on the night of October 5, 1922? Anyone? Anyone?
You there, on the computer! Stand up! Where was Elmer on October 5, 1922?  ...That's correct. Very good. You may be seated.
He was 3,453 miles south of San Pedro, California, off the coast of Peru, aboard a steam ship named the J. A. Moffett.

 
 

This letter is on page 25 of the December 1922 issue of  Radio World

Of all the places in the world one could calculate the distance from while aboard a ship, why would Elmer select San Pedro, California? Apparently, San Pedro was the port from which the ship left.

On the night Elmer set the record while aboard the J. A. Moffett, the ship was on its way to Chile. The antenna on the ship was made of four separate wires, 300 feet long, and the hull of the ship was used as the "ground." The radio was a one tube regen using a 6 volt Audiotron and honeycomb coils. On that night, he also picked up hundreds of other signals, and wrote that he would have set more records if he had bothered to log them. He made two more trips to Chile, but never experienced the same receiving conditions again.

 
The J. A. Moffett, built in 1914 for Standard Oil of California.
More information and other views of the ship can be found here.
 

Elmer was the radio operator aboard the J. A. Moffett from July 3, 1921 to September 4, 1923. He made up crew lists, acted as the mailman, collected correspondence courses *  and "got the press out." He did typing of all kinds, from making payrolls and immigration lists to love letters from the captain. "Love letters" seems to be sarcasm.

* Correspondence courses were very popular aboard ship. Thousands of men took courses in navigation, marine, electrical, gas and steam engineering. In 1916, I. C. S (International Correspondence Schools) reported they had 16,103 students aboard merchant vessels and 11,427 students in the Navy.
 
International Correspondence Schools 1922
I.C.S. ad from 1922 Popular Mechanics.
Elmer may have taken the Pharmacy course (bottom left row) from I.C.S.

He also took courses in botany and elementary physiology from The University of Oregon.
Elmer could send and receive Morse code at 30 words per minute. He could type 40 words per minute. The code didn't come to him easily. It took years on his own to reach 7 WPM. In 1919 he enrolled in the YMCA Radio School in Los Angeles and it took him a year of night school to reach 20 WPM. During his last FCC exam an inspector told him his sending was "lousy." He was not deterred in the least, he wrote that not a single operator at the school couldn't copy his code.

In the 1930s Elmer took a month long brush-up course on radio theory and Morse Code at Pacific Radio School in San Francisco. This allowed him to pass his FCC license renewal exam with ease. However, he was unable to get a job aboard a ship due to the Great Depression, and wrote that he had wasted a months time. Two years later he again renewed his license, but without brushing up on the code. He passed the exam on his second attempt.

As for the wasted time, in a 1953 edition of Radio Builder and Hobbyist (No. 35) Elmer wrote that he actually got untold value for his time taking the course.

 
And now, without further ado, the catalog drawings and photos of actual products.
 

MRL QRM INTERFERENCE COIL

       
 
QRM coil
QRM coil
 
This is Elmer's drawing of the MRL QRM coil. It is used as a "wave trap" to reduce interfering radio signals.
What does it actually look like?
 
MRL QRM coil
MRL QRM coil
It was shipped wrapped in Detail Print 18, which describes its construction and use. It is 1.5 inches long with a diameter is one inch.
 
MRL QRM coil drawing
Here's the picture from Detail Print 18. Why didn't Elmer use this one for the catalog?
 
MRL QRM coil
Very nicely constructed. How long did it take Elmer to make this? How long did it take just to make the empty coil form? Each form is cut to 1.5 inches long, has nine strategically placed holes, and four riveted eyelets holding the solder lugs.

He wound the large coil, covered it with coil cement, and when dry wound the smaller coil on top of it. He printed, cut out and attached the label, then marked the solder lugs. In 1963 he sold these for fifty cents, which is about $5.00 in 2023.

If there is $1.00 in materials in each coil (in 2023), Elmer would have to make and sell four coils an hour to earn minimum wage in California.
 
 
MRL QRM coil drawing
MRL QRM coil
 
 
Mr. Osterhoudt must have made thousands of these over the years.

MRL QRM coil from 1974. This one is in use by James McNutt as a stand-alone wave trap.
James McNutt is an author of crystal set books and goes by the pen name K. E. Edwards. LINK

 
 
 
The QRM coil above is owned by Victor Rodriguez, who reports that the coil form dimensions are 1.5685 inches long with an outside diameter of 1.0065 inches, and a wall thickness of 0.068 inch. I apologize on his behalf for the vague and imprecise measurements.
 

MRL VARIO-COUPLER

   
On the same page as the QRM coil is the MRL VARIO-COUPLER. This is composed of two coils on a cylindrical coil form with a third coil inside. The user can turn the inside coil and vary the "coupling" of the coils. What does it actually look like? On the right we have zoomed in, just as though you were reading the catalog and peered in for a closer look. Nah, I'm just not getting it. Does it have an eye in the top? Is it lookin' at you?

 

MRL VARIO-COUPLER
The catalog states the vario-coupler comes with Detail Print 13, or you could buy  DP-13 alone for 20 cents. At the top of DP-13 are more drawings of the vario-coupler. It is still hard to tell what the actual coil looks like.

 
MRL VARIO-COUPLER
An attempt has been made here to substitute the DP-13 drawings with photos of an actual MRL vario-coupler.
This is listed as the #29 Variometer, Catalog No. 7-194 on page F6 of the catalog.
It is used in the MRL #29 Variometer Crystal Set. The circuit is found in Hand Book 25 and Detail Print 44.
 

MRL VARIO-COUPLER
The construction of the vario-couplers seems to have been very labor intensive, as Elmer built them all by hand. It's not possible to date these. The one in the center was sold by MRL in 1979, but Elmer stopped ordering the cotton covered wire in 1975.

Notice that the wire doesn't cover the entire coil form on the right. That's because he used thinner gauge wire, which makes the coil tune sharper. None of the parts are "standard." Every time he changed the wire or the diameter of the coils he had to recalculate the number of turns.
 
MRL VARIOCOUPLER
MRL VARIOCOUPLER
Riveted eyelets hold wires and solder lugs in place. It seems he did strive to make a "factory made" product even if every one was unique.
 
MRL VARIOCOUPLER
 
MRL variocoupler
This is the work of an artisan.
 

 
 
MRL VARIOCOUPLER
MRL VARIOCOUPLER
 
Here's the drawing from the MRL catalog next to the actual coil. Now that we've seen photographs of the vario-coupler, the drawings are easier to understand.
 
MRL Variocoupler
The quality of this vario-coupler is outstanding for a product that was just one small item in the catalog.
 
MRL VARIOCOUPLER
This one was found on ebay in June of 2020. It sold for $26.10 with shipping.
 
Notice the yellowed cellophane tape. When cellophane tape was invented in 1930 (called at the time "cello tape"), it was considered a marvelous invention. Many magazine articles were published showing the various uses of this pressure sensitive transparent tape.

What was unknown then was that millions of photographs, newspaper clippings, stamps, scrapbooks and basically anything that was "taped together" would be ruined as the glue on the tape dried, turned brown and separated from the cellophane.
 

CRYSTAL STAND and CRYSTALS

 
 
 
Back to the catalog, we want to build our first crystal radio and need a crystal and something in which to mount it. On page F-1 we find the crystals and stands.

These pictures are very different than the others in that they show the stands at a slight angle. In the left picture, No. 1 is pure Elmer Osterhoudt. No. 2 seems to be a photo that he has gone over in ink; same with Fig. 3 on the right.
 
 
 
Here are the crystals.
 
Philmore crystal stand
 
Philmore crystal stand
Assembled crystal stand. $1.00 in the 1986 catalog. A New Old Stock one today sells for $75.00
 
 
Philmore crystal stand
Philmore crystal stand
 
Knocked down crystal stand. Elmer sold these for 50¢. Today they are $55.00.
 

 
 
catwhisker
 
catwhisker
In section F of the catalog we find this entry for "MRL CATWHISKERS." What are the objects circled in the drawing? The first one is a Philmore cat whisker, and next to it is a Philmore cat whisker with an MRL cat whisker wrapped around it.
 
 
catwhisker
catwhisker
 
  MRL Phosphor-Bronze MRL steel wire  
 
catwhisker
 
catwhisker
MRL mounted Galena
MRL crystal and "fine" cat whisker. Elmer sold Steel Galena, Silicon, Iron Pyrites and Carborundum.
 
catwhisker
"Philmore Type Catwhiskers." The crystal is potted in bits of scrap solder that have been melted down.
 
MRL loose crystals
MRL loose crystals. The larger one is Iron Pyrites (fool's gold) the other is Steel Galena.
An MRL mounted Iron Pyrites crystal is shown for scale.
 
MRL advertisement from Popular Mechanics, October, 1947.
There were two competitors advertising in the October 1947 issue. Amorose Radio and "Allen" (Alva Allen, the "Crystal King"). Both offered a crystal and instructions for 25¢. It seems Elmer bested them by offering SIX crystals and catwhiskers, instructions and a catalog, for the same price.

This is the only ad I can find where Elmer offered something other than literature. It only ran one month.

 
Here is the drawing in the catalog for the MRL Carborundum Crystal.
50¢ in 1972, one dollar in 1983. What does it look like in real life?
 
MRL Carborundum Detector
MRL Carborundum Detector
The piece of plexiglass is one inch long by one half inch wide by 1/8 inch thick.
 
MRL Carborundum Detector
How did Elmer "fix" the cat whisker to the crystal?
 
MRL Carborundum Detector
Elmer tested every one of these after they were assembled..
 
 
Carborundum Detector
 
Carborundum Detector
 
The detector is actually quite small.
 
 
Carborundum Detector
 
Carborundum Detector
 
A completely different design, probably much older than the examples above.
It measures 1 inch long x .65 inches wide, slightly wider than the plexiglass versions.
The instructions say to use 3 volts instead if 1½ volts.
 
Modern Radio Labs
The base of this one is possibly Bakelite. It's 1/8" thick.
 

TUNED RADIO FREQUENCY COILS

 
MRL TRF Coil
Elmer used a photograph of the coils lifted from another catalog instead of one of his own drawings.
However, you didn't get the factory made coils shown in the photograph.
 
TRF Colis
Instead, you got these cool MRL made coils. When they stopped being commercially made, Elmer just made his own!
 
MRL TRF Coil
MRL TRF Coil
The reason for the cloth covered wire is for spacing between the turns.
 

 
Other than Paul Nelson, who took over MRL after the death of Elmer Osterhoudt, I know of only two other people who have met Elmer. One person is Jim McNutt. He lives in Oregon, his call sign is WA6OTP. He related this story to me via email:

"I was 8 yrs old* and read in the back of "Boys Life" that you could buy a Radio Kit for $3.75 from Modern Radio Labs. I looked at the Address and it was only a few blocks away. I had been working mowing lawns and the like, and had the money and wanted to try it. So on Saturday I peddled to the address on Volata Rd.** in Redwood City, Cal. and went back and forth, but the address was a house. That confused a little boy, I was looking for Modern Radio Labs. Soon a tall older man ( I was 8 remember ), came out and asked "What are you doing?" I told him, and he said "you found it, come on up." In those days garages were detached and two strips of concrete lead up to two doors that opened from the middle. It was Modern Radio Labs. He had a work bench, with light bulb to control voltage and wires and all kinds of stuff I did not know what they were. He asked what I wanted and he pulled a box off a shelf and sold me the crystal set. MRL #1 Long Distance. I built it. It worked. It was magic.

I still build Crystal Sets and other Radios. When I was 30 I went to see him, He was quite old then. I bought one of every thing he had. Every Book, every note sheet and every kit. He died soon after that. Nice man.
"

* This was in 1952.
** The address was
1131 Valota Road in Redwood City, CA

 
1131 Valota Road in Redwood City, CA
Using Google Maps we can find the house at 1131 Valota Road in Redwood City, CA. MRL was in that garage in 1952.
Built in 1948, the Osterhoudt's owned it from 1952 to 1965. It has since been converted to a duplex.
 
In 1974 Jim bought one of everything Elmer had. Jim said Elmer was "quite old." Jim was 30; Elmer was 75.
Jim McNutt wrote the book "Radios That work For Free" under the pen name of K. E. Edwards. You can get a copy at his
website,  Hope and Allen Publishing.      
 

 
Another person who has met Elmer is Dave Norcross, who lives in the North Mojave Dessert. His call sign is WH6EAD. He related the following story on the Antique Radio Forum:

"I got my first MRL catalog in June 1969 or so, and maybe one additional from Elmer... not too sure. I still have every piece of paper he sent me.

I met Elmer and Mabel at their Sacramento house sometime between about Feb 1970 and April 1970. I was all of 17 years old and a senior in high school, living near Auburn CA. His shop was astounding to me. I clearly remember his coil winder... and wondering if I could rig one up. He would have been about 69 or 70 then (which I will be in a few short years, hmmm).

I bought everything he had I could find the money for... built a dozen or so Xtal sets. Still have my QRM coil that he wound.

Elmer was gray haired, and I don't recall if he was balding or not. Mid height and build (sounds like a description Sherlock Holmes would disdain). They were very welcoming... we may have visited in the front of the house before the shop. My mental picture of the two of them is now almost blank.

I recall many copies of the books and Detail Prints in a rack... 49 years ago - am I really that old? "

 
Yes Dave, you are really that old, and part of the dwindling group of people to have actually met Elmer Osterhoudt.
 

 
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