Identify 1929 photo with radio

[soldar]

For those who do not know the web site, Shorpy.com is a wonderful site with thousands of very high resolution antique photos.

https://www.shorpy.com/node?page=430

This one shows a man with what looks like radio gear. You can click to see it in full size with greater detail.

The things on the left look like batteries in series but what is he handling? radio telegraph?

[5U4GB]

I don't know about the equipment but have you had a close look at his hands?  That's gotta be AI-generated!  Pretty impressive for 1929.

[eutectique]

... but have you had a close look at his hands?  That's gotta be AI-generated!

What's wrong with them?

[tom66]

Looks like a Philco battery on the floor.  Not familiar enough with radios of the era as to whether they still had proprietary power systems or had standardised on voltages, but that might be a clue as Philco made both radios and batteries.

[gbaddeley]

Looks like there is a giant horn at the top. Maybe trying to receive radio waves? Rig is too small to be a transmitter? The battery bank is impressive. Lots of knife switches to adjust the voltage?

[Grandchuck]

Spark gap radio transmitter?

[PwrElectronics]

Quote from: 5U4GB on Yesterday at 02:08:14 am

    ... but have you had a close look at his hands?  That's gotta be AI-generated!


What's wrong with them?

The right hand seems to have a large gap btw the fingers.  A lot of AI generated pictures have problems with fingers.

In this case, I think the man may actually be missing a finger (thus the gap ) and its not a case of AI fingers looking like cartoon hands with 3 fingers...

[BrianHG]

I don't know about the equipment but have you had a close look at his hands?  That's gotta be AI-generated!  Pretty impressive for 1929.

I clicked on the photo to see the hi-res version.  It is not AI generated...  All his fingers are there...



Also, the text on the 'BRIGHT STAR Radio Battery' logo is correct.  AI would have screwed this up as the battery is not in the foreground.
Same for the 'Philco' battery.

[5U4GB]

The right hand seems to have a large gap btw the fingers.  A lot of AI generated pictures have problems with fingers.

Finally, someone got the joke :-).  The right hand looks like a claw and the left hand looks like the fingers are melting down his trouser leg, this would be all the evidence conspiracy theorists need to "prove" that this nearly hundred-year-old photo was AI-generated.

[floobydust]

I think the photo is of some fake experiment or perhaps post Oct. 1929 stock market crash scam?

There's wayyyy to much hardware here for a radio experiment.

I can see mains fuses at the knife-switch panel, along with 2 light bulb limiters on the floor.
So it looks like that is a massive battery or condenser array, in 6x2 banks of 11 cells that gets charged by mains. I don't see any mercury vapor rectifiers or power transformers.
There is no loudspeaker, but just 4 headphone elements on possibly two radio receivers. No Morse-code key or microphone.
At the far right looks like a DC motor which means it might be a grid chopper transmitter. But nothing to TX. Seems really strange.

[soldar]

I clicked on the photo to see the hi-res version.  It is not AI generated...  All his fingers are there...
Also, the text on the 'BRIGHT STAR Radio Battery' logo is correct.  AI would have screwed this up as the battery is not in the foreground.
Same for the 'Philco' battery.

I do not think the comments saying the photo was AI generated were meant seriously. At least I hope not.

The fingers are just placed around a round knob and all can be seen in the reflection on the panel. There is absolutely nothing strange there.

It is a glass negative from the Harris & Ewing collection from the Library of Congress.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris_%26_Ewing

I hope nobody is seriously arguing that the photo is a fake because that would be deep into conspiracy territory.

It is probably a posed photo on the roof of a building for better lighting and space. They took all the gear outside and positioned it for best showing.

Maybe a Stock Electronic Image FAIL?

[Wallace Gasiewicz]

Maybe it is not RF but a Power Supply for some sort of signage?   
Possibly those steel supports hold up a sign of some nature?

[nfmax]

Possibly an acoustic system for detecting aircraft? The large structure might be a 'sound mirror' although these were generally made of concrete

[soldar]

Definitely radio gear with tube valves visible, inductance coils, etc.

Because it was done by a professional photographer who specialized in portraits I am arriving at the conclusion that it was posed and the radio gear was not really in use when the photo was taken. The photo was taken to show the man and his gear. 

Very possible the gear was actually used in a small room with little light where the conditions for a photo were not good and the photographer suggested setting it up outdoors, on the roof but out of the direct sunlight, so they chose the shade of a big sigh or structure.

Also, the pose is such that it can be kept still for enough time to get a sharp picture.  One hand resting on the knee and the other on the knob. The subject is not looking directly at the knob he is handling but more to his left so his face can be better seen by the camera.

On the other hand, the decking is wood so it does not look like it would exposed to the elements... unless it were the deck of a ship.  But the walls are brick and concrete so not a ship. I am not sure if in the background there are letters of a sign.

[floobydust]

I think WHERE was the pic taken would give more clues. It's really weird.
I see a large concrete post with some oddball steel structure and wood panels, some with lights (wiring?) in them. Like a sign, he is behind.
There is a pic (left) opening that looks like a huge outdoor flats, like this is at a ball park or football field?
It's all on hardwood flooring. Oh, there's a BOMB on far right. Yeah, I leave those outside all the time. I think it's gotta be at a military facility.
Mains power cord on the left, and the right has a simple antenna wire strung low.
edit: all the knife switches are open, this thing is largely turned off. Added bomb pic.

By 1936, there were 22.5M radios in American households. It was an absolutely huge technology boom, radio. Every month- new tech in tubes, components etc. Wow.
One tube was $8 or $180 in today's dollars.

[5U4GB]

It's all on hardwood flooring. Oh, there's a BOMB on far right. Yeah, I leave those outside all the time. I think it's gotta be at a military facility.

I noticed that too when I was looking at the "AI-generated fingers" but assumed it must be some piece of plumbing or something because as you say, why would there be a bomb sitting there.  However, it does look exactly like a bomb of that era, the two darker bits on the right are presumably the lugs.

However, I'd guess it's an empty case on display rather than an intact bomb, they're stored on their sides because the weight of the filling would risk buckling or crushing the fins if you stood them up.