I have the Western Radio, 1 - tube Novice transceiver, but not yet tried out. The tube is a 3A4 dual triode. After reading your article, i can imagine how sensitive a single triode is. Plus the tuning rate is about 10 MHz / knob rotation. The chassis is actually punched for a second audio, altho the instructions don't mention the "how".

Your article made me think there could be some kind of "X Y Z Night" radio contest using only minimal rigs, HB or military, like even "spy sets". I imagine the total point counts would be on the low side.