06-20-15 09:51 Holger Granholm wrote to Ed Vance about Re: New Ham

 HG> @MSGID: 
 HG> In a message dated 06-18-15, Ed Vance said to Holger Granholm:

 HG> GM Ed,
GE Holger,
 EV> I built my DX-40 kit over 50 years ago.

 HG> My first build however was a 6F6+807 xtal controlled
 HG> transmitter

Some of my friends had a 807 rig, but I heard a lot about the 6146
could handle the Novice full power limit (75W) so saved up for the
DX-40.

 HG> That was in 1951.

The day I got a Hallicrafter S-38E my Novice license came in the
mailbox (1958).
It was a few months later before I could order the DX-40 and get
on the air.

 HG> After having been released from the obligatory military duty
 HG> 1952 I bought a homebuilt transmitter rack containing an 807 PA
 HG> & AM modulator.

Reading that made me think of an Ham that had a TX in a rack,
with a 807 in it.
I'm thinking Miller was the maker of that piece of gear but
not sure if that name is right or not.
It was a long time ago, and I have the first sign of old age.
-snip-
 HG> 1955 was the big year when I built a SSB exciter, a chinese
 HG> copy of the Central Electronics 20A. I was helped by CE in that
 HG> I was allowed to buy the Phase shift network and the PA
 HG> switched coil assembly. I did also receive a complete manual
 HG> and chassis drawing for the 20A. I came on the air with it in
 HG> nov. 1955 as the first ham in Finland on SSB.

 HG> In 1956 I had a 4 ft. rack fabricated to house a 4-65A PA and
 HG> tuner on top, an AM modulator below it and on the bottom shelf
 HG> a PS for both. The choice of PA tube was due to the 150W PEP
 HG> and CW limit. AM was limited to 50W.

You were already using a Ei-Mac 4-65A before I became a Ham.
While I was in the Navy I saw a Electronic Technician working
on a VHF or UHF TX that had a 4-65A in it, and after reading up on
the specifications I fell in love with the tube.
I liked the looks of the tube.

IIRC the 4-65A(s?) was/were used as the Modulator in a AN/GRA or
AN/GRC TX (or TX/RX?) for Air Traffic Controllers on the Aircraft
Carrier to talk to Pilots to give them instructions on when they
could land their Plane.

I dreamed of having two 4-65A's in a HF Final Amp but never did.

I have a antenna tuner with plug in coils for 20M and 80M,
but never used it.
Another Ham built it.

Here is a listing of the Ham Radio Gear I've used at my QTH.

The first HF gear I used was a Hallicrafters S-38E until I got a
used Hallicrafters SX-42 and a RME DB-20 preselector.
The TX was a Heath DX-40 and Knight VF-1 VFO.
My Antennas were a 40M Dipole for 40 and 15 Meters, and a
Gotham V-80 Vertical for 80M.

Later I had Drake 2-B, 2-BQ and Heath TX-1 Apache until I got a
Kenwood TS-520S.
I used a 20M Inverted Vee and a 80M Slinkey Antenna until I
removed the wiring going up to the attic from the basement.

I have a Autek Research QF-1 Audio Filter connected ahead of my
speaker.

The only product from Central-Electronics that I have is a GC-1
Gated Compression Amplifier.

I still think of the C-E 100V and 600L I used at the Ham Shack
at the Navy Base in California back in the early 1960's.
Touch a few knobs to match the frequency I was listening to,
and start transmitting on SSB, CW or AM.

A Ham I met while I was in California told me he would zero beat
someone talking on AM with his C-E 10A, and use their carrier
to make QSO's with other stations.
The AM'ers didn't care much for him doing that on 'their' frequency.
The operator of the 10A enjoyed hearing them get upset back in the
early days of SSB operating.

C-E used Phasing for SSB, I remember reading about a
Balanced Modulator circuit being used for SSB also.

For 6 Meters I have a Heath Sixer, though I stopped using it when
my neighbor across the street mentioned he could hear me on his TV,
I didn't want to ruin the shows he was watching on his set by my
jabbering with other Hams so I am QRT on 6M.

For 2-Meters I used a Regency HR-2 and a Kenwood TR-9130.
The TR-9130 developed problems staying on frequency and it couldn't
be repaired.
The last time I turned the HR-2 on I couldn't hear anybody on it.

Maybe I will get another 2M XCVR and get back on the air some day.

I enjoy reading Anateur Radio BBS echos to see what's happening on
the ham bands while I'm QRT.

 HG> In 1957 the entire family moved to Mariehamn on the Aland
 HG> Islands after my XYL (OH2QJ) and I (OH2OJ) had first made a SSB
 HG> DXpedition to the islands to put that country on the SSB map.

The OH prefix is Finland, DX Zone 15.

 EV> I put together a Heathkit FM Tuner to use with the Heath AA-32
 EV> Stereo Amplifier for my Hi-Fi setup.
 EV> That's as close as I've gotten in receiver building.

 HG> I have built a lot of Heathkits both for myself and for
 HG> customers that didn't they were capable to do it themselves. A
 HG> National and a couple of Eico transceiver kits were also built.

A man and his son had built a Knightkit SW Receiver and asked me to
help them to make it work.
They gave me the RX and the manual.

When I looked at the picture in the manual of where the parts are
placed on the RX chassis, I saw two wires were soldered to the
grounded terminal and one wire was on the isolated terminal.

The fix was switching the wires on the terminal strip and
soldering them back.

 HG> I still have a Heathkit Monitor Scope and d:o Panadapter on my
 HG> ham desk. Some Heathkit and Eico Kit units for my radio/TV
 HG> service are now stored in the apartment.

I got a VTVM, VOM, Digital Mulitmeter & Audio Signal Tracer on my
work bench.
Someone built a 2 inch Scope kit included with a Radio-TV course
took through the mail, and gave it to me but I never learned how
to use it like another Ham I know does.

 EV> But I have tinkered with the insides of my Hallicrafters SX-42 a
 EV> little bit by looking at the schematic and reading about how to
 EV> service it.

 HG> Well, the first thing I do if I have bought a new apparatus is
 HG> to open it up to see what it has eaten.

I will raise the top cover if it is hinged to look around a new
piece of radio gear, but I don't look under the chassis right away.
I'll read the manual and look at the schematic pages to try learning
how it works.

When I was a SWL, the Midwest SW Radio I had, stopped working and I
looked under its chassis.
One part I remember looked strange to me, between the two ends that
had wires coming out from it, the middle of the part was braided wire.

The schematic showed it was a Resistor.
Have You seen any Resistors that looked like that when You repaired
someones product?

73

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