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Industry | Electronics |
---|---|
Founded | 1954 2016 (revival) |
Defunct | 1999 2017 (revival) |
Fate | Renamed Radio Shack brands |
Products | Record players, Audio receivers, Cassette decks, Ham radios, Speakers, Headphones |
Realistic was a private label consumer electronics brand produced by RadioShack. Initially only a home audio equipment brand, its product line expanded to include CB radios, walkie-talkies, and video camcorders by the 1980s. The brand was discontinued in 1994, but revived for a short time in 2016 for use on Bluetooth devices sold by the chain.
The brand began in 1954 after Radio Shack management were approached by stereo newcomer Harman Kardon, who offered to help create a line of private label audio equipment for the company. The original brand name, Realist, was pitched by the manufacturer and approved by Radio Shack. The first Realist-branded products - an FM receiver, an AM receiver, and a matching 10-watt amplifier with a built-in preamp - were introduced later that year. These would be the only Realist-branded products, as the brand’s name was challenged by the David White Company, manufacturer of the Stereo Realist camera [1] in 1955. The change to Realistic that year was reportedly made just in time before Radio Shack’s 1956 catalogs were to be printed. The company's most notable products under the Realistic brand included the extensive line of TRC series Citizens Band radio transceivers, which dominated the CB Radio market during the 1970s, and included the Navaho series of CB base station units. A 1977 motion picture entitled Handle with Care was sponsored at the time by Tandy Corporation, in part to showcase the line. Also notable were their 8-track tape recorders under the TR- model line and their compact cassette decks under the SCT- model line. They are also the company responsible for the Realistic Mach speaker line. A very wide range of products was marketed under the Realistic brand. These included record players, stereo receivers, cassette decks, ham radios, [2] musical synthesizers and a few quadraphonic receivers and shortwave radios.
In 1993, Tandy Corporation sold off the bulk of its manufacturing facilities in a bid to not only cut costs but offer more brand-name electronics in lieu of their own. The Realistic name carried on into 1994 as the rest of the Tandy-produced stock was slowly being sold off. In that year, all outsourced audio equipment formerly bearing the Realistic name would carry the Radio Shack name, and the video equipment was renamed to Optimus, another private label audio equipment brand sold by the company since 1967. In May 1999 it was announced that the Optimus brand would be retired, after RadioShack entered an agreement with RCA to market their products. [3]
Realistic enjoyed a short-lived return to RadioShack's stores in 2016, with a line of wireless Bluetooth speakers and wireless noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones.[ citation needed ]
Quatravox was the name of Realistic's synthesized four-channel output version of quadraphonic sound, which used Hafler circuitry to reproduce ambient sounds recorded by the microphones 180° out-of-phase with the intended recording (sounds recorded from opposite the microphone from the performers, i.e., studio echo, audience noise, etc.) and play them back through the rear loudspeakers out-of-phase with the main loudspeakers. The effect is a greater degree of separation that stereo sound, as the listener is able to hear echoes, applause, and other ambient sounds from behind (as opposed to in-front and thus out-of-phase with the main speakers and inaudible), even with stereo recordings. However, this degree of separation is not as great or as flexible as that of truly discrete quadraphonic sound.[ citation needed ]
The Realistic DX-60 is a multiband radio. The radio receives 3 MHz to 27 MHz AM shortwave in three bands, 26.965 MHz through 27.405 MHz HF CB in one band, 540 kHz to 1620 kHz standard AM broadcast in one band, and 87 MHz to 108 MHz monaural standard broadcast FM. The DX-60 existed in two versions, model 12-764 and a nearly identical but production-cost-reduced 12-764A.
The Realistic Patrolman SW-60 and the Realistic CB-60 are similar in overall appearance but cover different sets of bands.
The Realistic DX-150 and DX-160 series of Shortwave (LW/MW/SW) radios were affordable communications receivers, aimed largely at beginners, that also received SSB and CW via a BFO. Probably thousands of SWL's, MW DX'ers, and future hams got their start listening to the SW broadcast and SW ham bands with these radios.
Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz ; above the medium frequency band (MF), to the bottom of the VHF band.
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A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape players/recorders and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid 1990s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered through an amplifier and two or more integrated loudspeakers. A boombox is a device typically capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music. Many models are also capable of recording onto cassette tapes from radio and other sources. In the 1990s, some boomboxes were available with MiniDisc recorders and players. Designed for portability, boomboxes can be powered by batteries as well as by line current. The boombox was introduced to the American market during the late 1970s. The desire for louder and heavier bass led to bigger and heavier boxes; by the 1980s, some boomboxes had reached the size of a suitcase. Some larger boomboxes even contained vertically mounted record turntables. Most boomboxes were battery-operated, leading to extremely heavy, bulky boxes.
Kenwood is a Japanese brand of consumer electronics. It has been owned by JVCKenwood since October 2011, when Kenwood Corporation merged with JVC. Kenwood manufactures audio equipment such as AM/FM stereo receivers, cassette tape decks/recorders, amateur radio (ham) equipment, radios, cellular phones, speakers, and other consumer electronics.
Lafayette Radio Electronics Corporation was an American radio and electronics manufacturer and retailer from approximately 1931 to 1981, headquartered in Syosset, New York, a Long Island suburb of New York City. The company sold radio sets, Amateur radio (Ham) equipment, citizens band (CB) radios and related communications equipment, electronic components, microphones, public address systems, and tools through their company owned and branded chain of retail outlets and by mail-order.
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting offers higher fidelity—more accurate reproduction of the original program sound—than other broadcasting techniques, such as AM broadcasting. It is also less susceptible to common forms of interference, having less static and popping sounds than are often heard on AM. Therefore, FM is used for most broadcasts of music and general audio. FM radio stations use the very high frequency range of radio frequencies.
Shortwave bands are frequency allocations for use within the shortwave radio spectrum. Radio waves in these frequency ranges can be used for very long distance (transcontinental) communication because they can reflect off layers of charged particles in the ionosphere and return to Earth beyond the horizon, a mechanism called skywave or “skip” propagation. They are allocated by the ITU for radio services such as maritime communications, international shortwave broadcasting and worldwide amateur radio. The bands are conventionally named by their wavelength in metres, for example the ‘20 meter band’. Radio propagation and possible communication distances vary depending on the time of day, the season and the level of solar activity.
The Hallicrafters Company manufactured, marketed, and sold radio equipment, and to a lesser extent televisions and phonographs, beginning in 1932. The company was founded by William J. Halligan and based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
DXing, taken from DX, the telegraphic shorthand for "distance" or "distant", is the hobby of receiving and identifying distant radio or television signals, or making two-way radio contact with distant stations in amateur radio, citizens band radio or other two-way radio communications. Many DXers also attempt to obtain written verifications of reception or contact, sometimes referred to as "QSLs" or "veries".
The R. L. Drake Company is a manufacturer of electronic communications equipment located in Springboro, Ohio. It is also known for its line of equipment for amateur radio and shortwave listening, built in the 1950s through the 1980s. The company operates as a separate entity owned by Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc.
Tandy Electronics was an electronics retailer in Australia originally operated by the American Tandy Corporation, later International Tandy (InterTAN), acquired in 2001 by Woolworths Group. The brand ceased to exist after it was phased out by Woolworths Limited in 2011.
A wireless microphone, or cordless microphone, is a microphone without a physical cable connecting it directly to the sound recording or amplifying equipment with which it is associated. Also known as a radio microphone, it has a small, battery-powered radio transmitter in the microphone body, which transmits the audio signal from the microphone by radio waves to a nearby receiver unit, which recovers the audio. The other audio equipment is connected to the receiver unit by cable. In one type the transmitter is contained within the handheld microphone body. In another type the transmitter is contained within a separate unit called a "bodypack", usually clipped to the user's belt or concealed under their clothes. The bodypack is connected by wire to a "lavalier microphone" or "lav", a headset or earset microphone, or another wired microphone. Most bodypack designs also support a wired instrument connection. Wireless microphones are widely used in the entertainment industry, television broadcasting, and public speaking to allow public speakers, interviewers, performers, and entertainers to move about freely while using a microphone without requiring a cable attached to the microphone.
The National Radio Company, headquartered in Malden, Massachusetts, United States, was an American manufacturer of radio equipment from 1914 to 1991.
Wireless speakers are loudspeakers that receive audio signals using radio frequency (RF) waves rather than over audio cables. The two most popular RF frequencies that support audio transmission to wireless loudspeakers include a variation of WiFi IEEE 802.11, while others depend on Bluetooth to transmit audio data to the receiving speaker.
Home audio refer to audio consumer electronics designed for home entertainment, such as integrated systems like shelf stereos, as well as individual components like loudspeakers and surround sound receivers.
Robert Gene Heil was an American sound and radio engineer who created the template for modern rock sound systems. He founded the company Heil Sound in 1966 and built touring sound systems for bands such as The Grateful Dead and The Who. He was also a musician, and played the Wurlizter organ in concert halls and theatres.
The Yaesu VX series is a line of two sequences of compact amateur radio handheld transceivers produced by Yaesu. There is a line of ultra-compact lower-power dual-band transceivers that started with the VX-1R and was later updated with the VX-2R and VX-3R. There is also a line of 5 W tri-band transceivers that started with the VX-5R and was later updated with the VX-6R, VX-7R and VX-8R.
The Hafler circuit is a passive electronics circuit with the aim of getting derived surround sound or ambiophony from regular stereo recordings without using costly electronics. Such circuits are generally known as matrix decoders. The Dynaquad system works using similar principles.
A shortwave radio receiver is a radio receiver that can receive one or more shortwave bands, between 1.6 and 30 MHz. A shortwave radio receiver often receives other broadcast bands, such as FM radio, Longwave and Mediumwave. Shortwave radio receivers are often used by dedicated hobbyists called shortwave listeners.