[Boatanchors] Partially Off Topic Question

[Jim Wilhite]

My recollection is 1956.  I don't recall the 12 Volt system being an 
option, nothing more than raising the voltage to reduce the current 
draw and the switch occurred at the 56 model year.  Some companies 
did retain the 6 volt system on pickups and trucks, International 
comes to mind, for a year or two more.

I had a 56 Ford Fairlane 2 Dr. HT that I used a receiving converter 
for 75 meters attached to the AM radio.  The converter was crystal 
controlled and I tuned the radio for the band.  Used it with an 
Elmac AF-67 driven by a Dynamotor.

Jim/W5JO



----- Original Message ----- 


> When did American automobiles go from a 6 Volt system
> to a 12 V system?
>
> I have a 52 Ford car radio which is 6 V, and I know
> that by the time I was aware of such things in high school
> in the mid 60s, all the family's cars were 12V, but when
> did the change occur?
>
> Was it an all at once starting with a given model year?
>
> Were 12V systems optional, becoming standard at some point?
>
> This was prompted by some idle thinking about using the 52 Ford
> car radio as a basis for a simple cheap ham receiver, by adding
> a BFO and a converter front end, a project that I may explore one
> of these decades.
>
> Thanks
>
> Jack Antonio WA7DIA