[TenTec] CW Mobile

Tue Jun 7 11:40:41 EDT 2016

In 1962 as a novice I was operating bicycle mobile on 80m CW.
Logged into our section emergency net with it.

TX: homebrew 6V6 tube with 90v battery for plate supply

RX: Shortwave transistor radio (AM mode only) with a second simple
transistor radio (AM band and AM mode only), the two radios taped together.
Their 455 kHz IFs beat together to give me the BFO needed to copy CW.

ANT: A very long jeep whip with a loading coil nearly the size of my leg.
The bike frame was the counterpoise; the weakest link in my setup.

With that I bicycled to a small town in our county (Comanche county) and
made eyeball contact with the deputy mayor, then with him standing next to
me, radioed in to our club station that his town was "on the air".

Once the 90v battery died, I went QRT.
It was too expensive to buy another battery.
That ended my mobile operations until I was old enough to get a driver's
license.

My first real mobile was the AF-67 and a converter attached to my car radio.
I didn't have a bandmaster, I had some other big-coil mono-bander for 80m.
Don't recall the name for sure; might have been "Master Mobile."

During the 60's I only operated AM mode mobile.
I got into CW mobile again in 1975/76 using my Argonaut 505 and a Hustler
with the super 80m coil.
Then I went to higher power, using an FT-7 and whopping 10w!  All 40m CW.

In the 1980's I had an Atlas 210x and the full set of Hustler S coils.

In the 1990s I had an FT-900 with detachable front panel mounted on the dash
of my RV and the radio bolted under the seat.  What an improvement it was to
get rid of the bulk of the radio and just have a tiny control panel with
quick disconnect mounted to the dash.

The FT-900 was replaced by the an IC-706 MK-II which was a step backwards in
receiver performance but another huge step forward in convenience.  Now with
the matching AH-4 on the back of the truck and a long jeep whip, I could
change bands while driving.  At night while camping I could extend the whip
farther for a better signal on 40 & 80.

Scott, W4PA used to operate my mobile on 40 and 20 CW as we were driving to
Friedrichshafen for the hamfest.
BTW, Scott is sitting here beside me in my shack, working emails.

We are just about to QRT because it's 5 o'clock somewhere and we have two
crates of Bavarian Beer on ice... if anyone would like to join us!

73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)

-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Art Roberts
- W1AER
Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2016 4:39 PM
To: 'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment'
Subject: Re: [TenTec] CW Mobile

Back before I was licensed, I saw a 50 something Imperial that had a mobile
setup. I asked the driver about the rig and he told me that his 13-year-old
son was a Novice and ran CW while one of his parents drove. First mobile CW
setup I ever saw. This was in Tulsa in the 50's.

_________
Art Roberts - W1AER
Tariffville, CT 06091-9612
Hartford County
FN31ov

-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Joe Fell
W3GMS
Sent: Tuesday, June 7, 2016 9:04 AM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TenTec] CW Mobile

My first car was a 62 Dodge Lancer and that is what I used while mobile!

Fun times for sure...

Joe-W3GMS

Joe Papworth via TenTec wrote:
> How cool would those look in your '49 Packard Joe?
>
> Joe, K8MP
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joe Fell W3GMS<josephfell at verizon.net>
> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment<tentec at contesting.com>
> Sent: Tue, Jun 7, 2016 8:49 am
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] CW Mobile
>
> Plus think how cool it is for the person your talking to on the other 
> end to know your talking with someone doing CW mobile. I want to 
> practice at doing it some more to get better at it. I think a nice 
> Elmac AF-67 with a PMR-6 receiver would be fun to use! Oh, can't 
> forget the Master Mobile antenna!
>
> 73,
> Joe-W3GMS
>
> w8au at sssnet.com wrote:
>    
>> At 06:00 PM 6/6/2016, km2km at twc.com wrote:
>>      
>>> Does anyone have any factual information on impaired driving senses 
>>> when operating CW. After all, one hand is off the wheel and just 
>>> where is the mind?
>>>        
>> On the road, of course. Many can talk on the phone and drive safely.
>> CW is safer because the key is in a comfortable place, not in one's ear.
>>
>> Been doing this since high school... never an accident in 6 decades.
>> But I would suggest that those who want to try it learn to copy in 
>> your head (conversationally) and if necessary to take occasional 
>> notes, keep the notepad clipped atop the dash within eye-view. and 
>> keep your eyes on the road, always. (common sense)
>>
>> It's sure a great companion on long trips (and most always QRM free).
>>
>> C U somewhere down the asphalt....;-)
>>
>> Perry w8au
>> _______________________________________________
>> TenTec mailing list
>> TenTec at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>>      
>
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