06-20-15 09:51 Holger Granholm wrote to Ed Vance about Re: New Ham   
      
    HG> @MSGID: <55869485.854.amtradio@capcity2.synchro.net>   
    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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