This is another operating
position. It includes a "novice station" as well as some other,
quite serious, boatanchors. I wanted this setup to come as close
as possible to reliving my Novice days in 1959. The Globe Chief is
just like the one I had as a Novice. But the receiver I put here
is actually an upgrade from the Hallicrafters SX-23 that I had back
then. The SX-23 was so lousy then that I was quite frustrated with
it, so I couldn't stomach the idea of having it again here. I use
all my radios, I don't just look at them. So I "upgraded" this
station to include an SX-110, which is a decent Novice class receiver of
the same era. In fact, some of my Novice Class cohorts had SX-110s
- and I was very envious.
Equipment on the operating desk and the shelves above the desk:
*
On the bottom left is a Hammarlund HQ-110 receiver. This is a Ham
Bands Only receiver that is surprisingly good. This particular
unit was a bit messy, but not scratched up. So I thoroughly
refurbished it. I cleaned and polished the chassis, renewed some
tubes, etched and refinished the tube shields, and tuned it up.
Now it works great! I like it a lot. I plan to put
some detailed photos of it elsewhere in the Boatanchors section of this
web site.
*
Just to the right of the receiver is a Knight Kit VFO.
Novices were confined to crystal control so I didn't actually have this
VFO until after I upgraded to general. But being rock bound at
this point in my life seemed like it would be just too much. So I found a pretty nice specimen
of this very familiar feeling VFO. I would be in the market for
another one that was in mint or CCA Excellent condition, so if you know
of one please let me know about it.
*
On the first shelf, right above the HQ-110, is a Globe Chief Deluxe
cw transmitter. This is exactly like the one I had back
then. It is truly in mint condition. It looks like it was
manufactured last week. I find that absolutely amazing!
Where was it all these years? It was not restored, it has just
never been used or corroded or exposed to dust or sunlight or anything
of the sort. Simply amazing! It is "naturally" a crystal
controlled rig. But you just plug the VFO in the crystal socket
and off you go to whatever frequency you want! I have a strong
emotional bond with this unit. The story behind it is this: my first
transmitter was a homebrew 6L6 affair built with a plywood front panel
from an article in QST. I was eleven at the time and had no adult
supervision or coaching - just QST. I guess, as a result, I didn't have
complete confidence that the unit worked properly. My only test equipment
was a light bulb. I put two 20' tall 4x4s in the ground and
stretched a dipole between them and brought the coax into the house
through the attic and then down into my bedroom closet and then to the
rig. I called CQ with a straight key until my forearm cramped up.
I called everyone who got within 20 kc of me. But only locals
could hear me. As a result, I had very few QSOs and my code speed
did not develop. Finally it dawned on me that I had only one month to
go on the unrenewable Novice license but my code speed was still a long way
from 13 wpm. I realized I could lose it all. In a panic, I
went to the local Ham Radio Store and cut a deal to buy a Globe Chief
Deluxe on time payments. I put $5 down and agreed to pay $5 per
month until the $90 price tag was paid off. I felt guilty for
buying it in assembled form because the kit was only $75 - and money was
rare to non-existent. My only income was a $2 per month allowance
and what I could make mowing neighbors' lawns. The miracle of it
was that the store agreed to do this - without my parents knowledge,
consent, or signature. They just believed in me (I had been going
in there asking questions for years, so they knew me pretty well.)
I had to buy the assembled unit because I didn't have enough time left
to build a kit and still get my code speed up. When I took it home
and fired it up, no one could hear me. It was just as it had been
with my homebrew 6L6 transmitter. I then tumbled to the fact that
the problem was the antenna, not the transmitter! I found the
problem in the attic where a nail had pierced the coax. I fixed
that and, voile! the world was mine. I operated something
like 15 hours a day - skipping school as much as possible - and just
barely got my code speed up high enough to get the General class
license. And, thus, my Ham Radio "career" was saved! All
because of a Globe Chief Deluxe just like this one!
*
To the right of the Globe Chief is a Hallicrafters HA-1 Electronic
Keyer. I never had one of these when I was young, but I wanted
one. So now I have one. I couldn't possibly operate for any
length of time with a straight key nowadays, so I had to have a keyer.
At least I stayed true to the time period - it was first made in 1960
and it uses 6 tubes. This is a near perfect specimen, looks like
they made it last year.
*
On the next shelve up, above the Globe Chief, is a
Collins 30L-1
power amp. I'm too old to go barefoot, even if I'm playing like
I'm still a Novice. So a little heat never hurt anybody and it
keeps my blood pressure down at certain times. This is a beauty,
in Excellent condition. It is a Winged Emblem (WE) unit, and as
such is not as prized by collectors as the Round Emblem (RE) units.
So it got demoted from the primary operating position to the Novice
desk. It puts out an easy 500 watts running off 115 vac line power
while being driven by the Globe Chief, which puts out less than 100
watts.
*
To the right of the Collins 30L-1 is a Collins 312B-3 speaker.
This is connected directly to the HQ110, whose output is not run to the
system-wide mixer. So this is a standalone station comprised of
the HQ110, the Globe Chief, the Knightkit VFO, the 30L-1 and this
speaker. Neat and fun.
*
Above the 30L-1 is an Icom IC 740. This was one of the
first "modern" transceivers I bought - I've had it since it
was new. I had two of them, but gave
one away to KA7PSY, my friend Dave, who became a new ham in the last
year. It's a
perfectly fine rig for ordinary operating. I like it because it is
light and easy to take with me. We go to St. Martin a lot
and I take it and a G5RV with me and operate when I'm down there - at
least when I'm not at the beach. It's not even hooked up right
now. It's busy waiting for our next trip to St. Martin.
* To the right of the IC740 is a Kenwood R-600 receiver. This is
a basic but not so bad little thing that I don't use very much. It's OK for
listening to AM shortwave broadcast stations. Not sure why I keep it, but I
do. I actually got it as a present for my first father-in-law, who was a CBer
from NY who retired down to New Port Richie, FL. I
thought this would get him hooked on hamming. But, to my surprise, he refused to
accept. It was too expensive and made him "feel weird".
He was a jerk. It wasn't directly involved in my divorce from his
daughter, of course, but you might get the idea from this that their family had
a few hangups. I
thought his refusal was extremely rude and really never forgave him.
I guess I still haven't, even though he's dead now. :-)
* Above
the IC740 is an IC-251 (2 meter all mode) and to it's right is an
IC-451 (430 Mhz all mode) transceivers. I've had these
since they were new and still use them for any VHF+ weak signal work.
No memories etc. Just good radios. I have a Maki Denki 1296 Mhz transverter that I use with the IC-251
as the IF. I used to have a great
six foot dish for 1296, but it was damaged in a move. Oh well.
Building a new one is on my "maybe someday" list.
Equipment in the stack on the right, above the 30S-1 amp:
*
First and foremost, of course, is the Collins 30S-1. This
one is a pristine specimen. Rather than ship it, I drove from
Charleston, SC to Oklahoma City towing a trailer in order to pick it up.
I babied it all the way home and it is perfect. Even every nook
inside looks like it was made just yesterday. Finding gear this
old in this condition always amazes me! I like it a lot and I love
the feel of those big knobs! I love tuning it up.
*
Immediately above the 30S-1 is a rack mount
Collins 51S-1.
This was the first 51S-1 I ever bought. The chassis is dirty with
some pitting and probably only qualifies as fair condition even though
the panel is perfect.
It functions perfectly well. It was aligned a few years ago and
still seems very sharp. This is how the military used them - in racks.
I may try to clean it up one of these days, but that isn't really on my
"to do" list yet.
*
Above the 51S-1 is an R390A. This is, of
course, the famous military and intelligence comms and
intercept receiver. People have referred to it as "arguably the
best receiver ever made". It's not. But it's not bad
either. Check the receiver
testing data that has been produced by W8JI and Bob Sherwood. It's
right up there with the Ten Tec Omni VII, the IC-7800, and the Elecraft
K2. It
doesn't have a product detector, so it isn't really a SSB rig. It
will, in fact, decode SSB using the BFO. But it is not as good as it
would be with a product detector. There are SSB add-on units, such
as the TMC CV-591A, that are rare enough to sell for the same or more
than the R390 itself. I haven't gotten around to getting one, but
probably will one of these days. Another great add on would be the
synchronous AM detector that Bob Sherwood sells. But at what point
do you then not really have an R390A anymore? It is fine for AM and is
ok for CW in non-congested bands. I like to hunt around for CW
numbers stations with it. It does not have an amplified audio
output - only a 600 ohm line level output. That works fine for me
because I feed it to my homebrew 24 input mixer, which has some line
level inputs. I don't use it for comms, just for listening.
This particular one was manufactured by the Capehart Corporation. It is in pretty good shape,
probably CCA good - except for a scratch on the front panel (that was made
by the young fellow who helped me move it onto this shelf) - which no
doubt downgraded it to fair. But it works perfectly and I like it,
although I don't have a strong emotional attachment to it - more
curiosity than anything else.
*
Above the R390A is a very nice
Hammarlund HQ-170C Ham Bands receiver. This specimen is very good and it is a pleasure
to use. I have too many of these receivers, but I can't bear to
part with any of them. Something viseral - I just like them.