Topband: Nostalgic "openings"

Sun Jan 19 00:02:55 EST 2014

Hi, Carl

Well I never could have afforded anything as fancy or expensive as a Viking
1 or HQ-129 in those days.  My first ham receiver was a 4-tube Heathkit
AR-3, equipped with the QF-1 Q Multiplier and I added a homebrew  outboard
tunable RF stage with plug-in coils. With the QF-1 and the RF-stage it was a
workable CW receiver and I worked a lot of stuff with it! Later I had a
borrowed BC-348 receiver that my dad borrowed from a friend where he worked
at Western Electric in Burlington, NC. Sort of broad IF, but a decent
receiver. Later I eventually graduated to a National NC-109 receiver that
had an adjustable "crystal filter".

My cars wereolder also, and ins more recent years I used to dance to an old
R&B "boogie-woogie" song about "My Rocket-88"  :-)
73,
Charlie, K4OTV

-----Original Message-----
From: Carl [mailto:km1h at jeremy.mv.com] 
Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2014 8:19 PM
To: Charlie Cunningham; 'James Rodenkirch'; 'Top Band Contesting'
Cc: Mike Waters
Subject: Re: Topband: Nostalgic "openings"

I was lucky as the Johnson 122 VFO was part of the second hand V-I package, 
I have another set of those here and even work topband DX CW with it and 
several different receivers including a HQ-129X with a QF-1 and BC-453 as I 
had then and do today.
The big difference is I no longer use a Vibroplex bug, just my trusty old KC

Keyer.

Its amazing how quiet those old radios are when the bandwidth is narrowed. 
No phase noise or hash from multiple conversions.

I also built the W2EWL SSB exciter in late 58 with its BC-456 beginnings and

1625 finals and used only on 20M mobile once I got it debugged with letters 
and phone calls to the author Tony Vitale, W2EWL.
I had sold my customized and hotrodded 49 Ford 2 dr and "upgraded" to a 49 
Olds 88 coupe with a 56 Olds engine, 55 Dual Range Hydro and converted to 
12V.

Carl
KM1H

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Charlie Cunningham" <charlie-cunningham at nc.rr.com>
To: "'James Rodenkirch'" <rodenkirch_llc at msn.com>; "'Carl'" 
<km1h at jeremy.mv.com>; "'Top Band Contesting'" <topband at contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2014 6:48 PM
Subject: RE: Topband: Nostalgic "openings"

> That Heathkit VF-1 freed a lot of us from being "rock-bound" back in the 
> old
> days!
>
> 73,
> Charlie,K4OTV
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Topband [mailto:topband-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of James
> Rodenkirch
> Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2014 6:17 PM
> To: Carl; Top Band Contesting
> Cc: Charlie Cunningham
> Subject: Re: Topband: Nostalgic "openings"
>
> I had a Viking I as well, Carl....after a couple of months with xtals,
> purchased a Heathkit VFO kit, put it togwether and was in HOG heaven.
> Decided to employ a relay so when I hit the VFO transmit switch I keyed 
> the
> Viking I....installed the relay on the back of the Heathkit VFO cabinet -
> when I switched that VFO "on," I believe my signal sounded like a drunk
> canary for a brief period of time 'cuz that AC relay sure shook the VFO
> cabinet up!  Hi Hi DANG....Great memories of my time back in Central
> Wisconsin in the late 50s!
>
>> From: km1h at jeremy.mv.com
>> To: rodenkirch_llc at msn.com; topband at contesting.com
>> CC: charlie-cunningham at nc.rr.com
>> Subject: Re: Topband: Nostalgic "openings"
>> Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 17:42:29 -0500
>>
>> I first tried 160 in 1957-58 with a DX-100 and Viking I, all AM from 
>> LINY.
>> First SSB contact was in 58 with a CE-10A and homebrew coils, all of 8
>> watts or so.
>>
>> It wasnt until 1967 at my first home in NH that I tried 160 CW and
>> worked some DX with a CE-100V that had the optional 160 kit and a
>> 75A4; I still have both. I was already into 80/75 and 40 DX plus
>> contests and with 8 acres a couple of Beverages. I met Stew Perry
>> several times as he was a regular at National and hamfests and taught
>> me a lot about the band and really "listening". I owe him a lot. The
> antenna then was a dipole between a 100'
>> and 120' tower with the ends bent down at an angle and it also held
>> the 80M dipole as a full horizontal using the same coax.
>>
>> Carl
>> KM1H
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "James Rodenkirch" <rodenkirch_llc at msn.com>
>> To: "Top Band Contesting" <topband at contesting.com>
>> Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2014 3:19 PM
>> Subject: Topband: Nostalgic "openings"
>>
>>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > By the bye, the e-mail from Don, WD8DSB, reminded me of an old Globe
>> > Scout double side band rig I owned YEARS ago:
>> > Globe Sidebander DSB-100:  transmitter.
>> > It's ad appeared in  MAY 58 QST;  price $119.95 kit, $139.95 wired;
>> > 40 watts AM, 50 watts CW, 100 watts DSB; bandswitching 80 thru 10
>> > meters;
>> > 6CL6 crystal oscillator, 6CL6 buffer/doubler, pair 6DQ6A final
>> > amplifier;
>> > 12AX7 speech amplifier, 12AX7 driver, 6AQ5 modulator, 6AL5 speech
>> > clipper, 5U4GB rectifier; weight 30 lbs.
>> > Go here for a pic:
>> > https://www.google.com/search?q=globe+sidebander+dsb-100&tbm=isch&so
>> > urce=iu&imgil=sU-DHOHX30gNzM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-
>> > tbn3.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcTD2FiUvvky-Ujm-w
>> > JiMEew4QzUvbI0CQgbZHBu3ikMSaLp2Otg%253B640%253B428%253BjgUGacNNUJMas
>> > M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.oldtuberadio.com%25252Fglobe-side
>> > banderdsb-100%25252F&sa=X&ei=SuHaUsa_MqPuyAGt6IHYCQ&ved=0CDoQ9QEwAg&
>> > biw=1511&bih=714&dpr=0.9#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=sU-DHOHX30gNzM%253A%
>> > 3BjgUGacNNUJMasM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.oldtuberadio.com%252Fwp-co
>> > ntent%252Fuploads%252F2012%252F04%252FGLOBE-SIDEBANDER-DSB-100.jpg%3
>> > Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.oldtuberadio.com%252Fglobe-sidebanderdsb-100
>> > %252F%3B640%3B428 Sigh.....good memories of WRL and Heathkit....Jim
>> > Rodenkirch K9JWV _________________ Topband Reflector Archives -
>> > http://www.contesting.com/_topband
>> >
>> >
>> > -----
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>> >
>>
>
> _________________
> Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
>
>
>
> -----
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