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   AMATEUR_RADIO      Ham radio for when Armageddon strikes      2,531 messages   

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   Message 471 of 2,531   
   Roy Witt to Ed Vance   
   Resurrected   
   15 May 14 16:06:14   
   
   Greetings Ed!   
      
    EV>>> I'm thinking the Finals in that TX were 810's in push-pull.   
    EV>>> Can't remember what tubes they were Modulated with.   
      
    RW>>> 12AX5s?   
      
    EV>> No, more like 833's in the Plate Modulator section on the rack.   
      
    RW>> The tube I mentioned would have come after the 833s.   
      
    EV> When I first saw "12AX5s?" I was thinking about a tube such as a   
    EV> 12AX7 which is a 9 pin minature tube.   
      
   Did I say 12ax5? There's no such tube listed in my 1977 Radio Amateur's   
   Handbook, but there is a 12AX7A listed. It is a dual triode used as a   
   class B amplifier tube.   
      
    EV> The 12AX5 wasn't in my 1976 A.R.R.L. Handbook, so I tried Searching   
    EV> to see what kind of tube it was.   
      
   8^)   
      
    EV> I gave up when none of the Results for the searches I did said   
    EV> anything for the 12AX5, all they were for were the 12AX7 tube.   
      
   Which is what I had mentioned, if I called it right. Otherwise that is   
   what I meant.   
      
    EV> What size power output does a 12AX5 have? Who makes it?, Eimac, RCA,   
    EV> GE?   
      
   Dunno, since there is none listed.   
      
    EV> Earlier I wrote 833 but the Plate Modulators for that 1KW (Input)   
    EV> Transmitter must have been something nearer the 813, after I looked   
    EV> at the Tetrode Transmitting Tubes section in my 1976 edition. I never   
    EV> got to use that Rig because between Sept 1956 and June 1959 some of   
    EV> the students who had General Class licenses "modified" the RF deck   
    EV> and it couldn't be used. Also the Teacher who was there when I   
    EV> arrived at High School left the next year and the New 'Instructor'   
    EV> for the Electronics and Radio Classes the next two years I was there,   
    EV> wasn't knowledgable in anything about Electronics.   
      
   Isn't that par for the course. That says a lot though. My machine shop   
   teacher gave me heck for not having enough experience (in his mind) to   
   know that I had a drill mounted in the drill press chuck between two jaws,   
   rather than the center of 3 jaws. "and you wanted to take Vocational   
   Machine Shop" without the experience needed to know how to chuck up a   
   drill. "no, I was just testing your ability to assess the situation and   
   give me instruction on how to properly chuck a drill. You failed."   
      
    EV>>> The Rack Cabinet was over 6 Feet tall for the TX.   
    EV>>> -snip-   
      
    RW>>> That would house a complete 2mtr repeater, with tuned antenna   
    RW>>> cavities.   
      
    EV> Sure, those BUD Cabinets were in use in lots of different places,   
    EV> such as AM Broadcast Band Radio Stations.   
    EV> -snip-   
      
   I remember having some tube-type Motorola VHF mobile radios that I thought   
   were too large to put in a car. They were run by remote control with 99%   
   of the radio mounted in the trunk and you only had a control head and mic   
   under the dash...   
      
    EV>>> You're thinking VHF/UHF, the Discone was HF.   
      
    RW>>> If they were xmitting on the same frequency or in close   
    RW>>> proximity to it, they'd use tuned cavities. If they were using   
    RW>>> one band to xmit on and another band to rx on, they wouldn't   
    RW>>> need tuned cavities. i.e. crossbanding. I have a radio that   
    RW>>> will do that. It receives on one band and repeats it on   
    RW>>> anothere, VHF to UHF...   
      
    EV> I can't remember any Split-Frequency set ups until maybe 1965 when   
    EV> I heard the County Police Received on a different Frequency than they   
    EV> Transmitted on.   
      
   The Motorolas I mentioned above had two sets of crystals in them. One that   
   received the base station and one that transmitted on another frequency,   
   presumably the base station's receiver, aka duplex. They had a couple of   
   channels setup like that and about 4 channels with simplex frequencies in   
   their rx and tx. That was late 50s or early 60s.   
      
    EV> I started hearing about 2M FM Repeaters in the mid 1970's using   
    EV> Split- Frequencies. Every thing I knew before was all Simplex,   
    EV> Receive and Transmit on the Same Frequency.   
      
   This was the reason for those scanner radios that came along about then.   
      
    EV>> All I can remember about the Antenna connection to RXs were that   
    EV>> there was a Panel on the wall (Bulkhead) that had several columns of   
    EV>> Male N?? connectors for hooking up the HF RXs in the Radio Room to   
    EV>> the Antennas using Coax Patch Cables for each RX on the panel.   
      
    RW>> I'd love to have one of those Patch Panels...   
      
    EV> If the USS Enterprise video You saw showed 'Radio One' You probably   
    EV> saw one of those Patch Panels. What was nice about them was the Male   
    EV> N?? Connectors had a collar that was pulled back to connect to the   
    EV> Female Connector on the Panel. A lot easier than twisting the collar   
    EV> on a PL-259 on to a SO-239. -snip-   
      
   To me, the male N connector is more complicated to connect to a female N   
   connector than a 259 does with the 239 female connector. At least it is   
   straight forward to me as to who gets what.   
      
    EV>> I am not knowledgable about RADAR, but think they were on freqs in   
    EV>> the SHF Range. A Radar Tech showed me some small boxes that were   
    EV>> some components of the radar set, and IIRC they were Copper boxes   
    EV>> with pieces of Brass Tubing and other parts inside them. -snip-   
      
    RW>> That sounds like a 'waveguide' setup, which would be used in a   
    RW>> radar system.   
      
    EV> YES! that's why I thought to write SHF above instead of UHF, but   
    EV> since UHF is 300-3000 MC/s they may have been up in the 2Gc/s freq   
    EV> range, I don't know.   
      
   As I mentioned, Cubic Corp made wave-guides for high frequency use by the   
   military. I never got into making any of that stuff, but I was a tech   
   writer for manufacturing that stuff. When I went out to the shop to find   
   out how it was made, the technicians wouldn't give me any dimensions, they   
   just said to write down the frequency and they'd build it to suit my   
   order. At first I didn't realize what they were saying, but then it dawned   
   on me that they were practicing 'job security'. If they told me how to   
   calulate the height, width, and lengths, they were giving up their own   
   personal trade secrets. Try as I might, I never did pry that info out of   
   them. Most of everything else in that line was familiar to me, as I had   
   made every proto-type used to come up with a final design of it.   
      
    EV>>> Up 3 or 4 Levels above the Flight Deck there were some 300MC/s UHF   
    EV>>> gear but I can't remember if they were Transceivers or   
    EV>>> Transmitters, all I remember about them was they had a 4X150A Final   
    EV>>> that the ET's (Electronic Technicians) had to replace after so many   
    EV>>> hours of use.   
      
    RW>>> Whether it was worn out or not.   
      
    EV>> Yes, because those rigs needed to run when Aircraft were aloft.   
      
    RW>> I wonder if they had a means to test those tubes in case they   
    RW>> might be needed as a backup...Or did the Navy supply have tons   
    RW>> of them, like their toilet seat supply?   
      
    EV> The ET's replaced TONS of 4X150A's while I was aboard the Ships I   
    EV> were on, I never saw any toilet seats replaced during my Tour Of Duty   
    EV> that ended in DEC 1962.   
      
   8^) I think the toilet seat and monkey wrench scandals came a while after   
   that.   
      
    EV>>>> And then there was a person who had both a Citizens Band Call for   
    EV>>>> his self and a 27 MC/S Business Band Call for his business, who   
    EV>>>> would sometimes use the Business Band RF Amp when he talked on the   
    EV>>>> Citizens Band Frequencies (Channels).   
      
    RW>>>> I don't recall there being a business band on 27MHz...   
      
    EV>>> Sure was, it had a FCC Class Letter but I can't remember if it was   
    EV>>> Class C service or what.   
      
    RW>>> Class C was remote controlled hobby toys. Model airplanes, etc.   
    RW>>> Still used today, btw...   
      
    EV>> O.K., Class C was for Hobby, maybe the 27MC/s Business Band was   
    EV>> Class B?   
      
    RW>> I remember seeing Class A - I forget?, when I looked for the CB   
    RW>> service, aka Class D...   
      
    EV> IIRC Class A was the Original Service that were on 465Mc/s Vocaphones   
    EV> Brand Radios, that may not be the name of the Company but that is   
    EV> what popped in my head as I was typing. ..__.. -snip-   
      
   That is a part of the FCC's rules on GMRS usage. The use of Class D radios   
   is controlled by FCC part 95 of the Title 47 communicatins act. What that   
   means is there are rules for the use of Class D (CB radios) to conduct   
   personal or business over the air. Howeveer, Rule 13 gives you an explicit   
   "don'ts" of CB radio, one of which is article [5] don't use your CB radio   
   "to advertise or solicit the sale of any goods or services"   
      
   IOW, you may conduct your daily business activities on the CB channels,   
   but you can't advertise your services, as such. That doesn't mean that you   
   can't mention them in passing, it just means that you can't advertise them   
   over the air in a one way broadcast.   
      
    RW>>>> Thus the name, bootlegger...   
      
    EV>>> No, Bootlegger's are anyone transmitting on any unauthorized Freq.   
    EV>>> or using any unautorized Mode, or unautorized Power Level.....   
      
    RW>>> You know, I looked all over for a defintion of that phrase, but   
    RW>>> all I could find were references to moonshiners.   
      
    EV>>> Just like bootleggers in Kentucky and elsewhere who ran Stills to   
    EV>>> make Moonshine Whiskey without a Government Distillary License to   
    EV>>> do so. -snip-   
      
    RW>>> 8^) That terminology deosn't apply today, as there is no   
    RW>>> license required to operate on the CB channels.   
      
    EV> But it is on Amateur Radio Frequencies, and those 'Electronic   
    EV> Hobbyist' that used Yesau Tranceivers, and probably still do on our   
    EV> Ham Bands fit the Description above.   
      
   Well, I don't have a Yesau xceivr, but I do have a Kenwood TS-520 which is   
   in the same ballpark as say, a Yasau 101?. I never did see any advantage   
   to building something I can buy off the shelf. That would be like building   
   a Model K Ford when there are much better models offered for sale.   
      
    EV>> I thought we were talking about People Transmitting on some   
    EV>> Frequency that they don't have a FCC License for, whether its   
    EV>> Outside the CB Channels or On Amateur Radio Bands or any other Band.   
      
    RW>> That has been going on for decades. i.e. Commercial fishermen   
    RW>> using CB channels, even though they have a license to use   
    RW>> Marine channels.   
      
    EV>> In my mind, those folks, what ever Power Level they are using, if   
    EV>> they are not authorized by the FCC to use those freqs, are   
    EV>> BOOTLEGGERS here in the USA, plain and simple. dit dah dit dah dit   
    EV>> dah  (PERIOD). -snip-   
      
    RW>> I would call someone with a CB radio who advertises a business   
    RW>> over the air a bootlegger. Since there is no requirement to be   
    RW>> licensed to use CB, they're not bootleggers until they do   
    RW>> something like that.   
      
    EV> I see nothing wrong with that business person using a CB Radio,   
      
   I do too, as long as he doesn't break rule [5] and deliberately advertise   
   his business over the air. That is, in passing conversation with an   
   employee or other businessman, yeah, but no advertising per se'...   
      
    EV> I thought the 27Mc/s Citizens Band was for Companies that wanted   
    EV> a Two Radio Service but didn't want the expense of having Motorola,   
    EV> RCA or General Electric Mobile Radios. -snip-   
      
   Back in the early days of 1959-60, there were 5 licensed businessmen in   
   the small town where I lived and there were only 5 licensees at the time.   
      
   Each one had a TV repair or Radio repair service. They used their CB   
   radios to stay in contact with their mobile service techs. I did too, as I   
   was the service tech who installed antennas for a living, at the time.   
   Later on we installed wired music in stores, which we called the base for   
   assistance in aquiring needed equipment for wire, speakers and amps.   
      
    EV>> ... Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?   
      
    RW>> They're pre-shrunk. Sheep used to be the size of a camel.   
      
    EV> Hey!, that's nice, I like that.   
      
   Just don't take up smoking sheep's wool...it smells just as bad.   
      
      
       Have a day!   
      
            R\%/itt - K5RXT   
      
   --- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-31012   
   --- D'Bridge 3.99   
    * Origin: HAM Radio, aka Amateur Radio. 804? Over! (1:387/22)   

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