This is from a time, long, long ago with a different mindset ....
when most hams still built/modified/adjusted/tinkered with equipment
and nearly everyone could repair his own stuff
"appliance operators" only existed when the washing machine was turned
on or someone ran the cake mixer
factory built gear was "OK" as long as you understood enough to take
it apart .....and wouldn't hesitate to do so
kit building was an order of magnitude better than "store bought"
just because it was fun, much less expensive, and "YOU built it"
everyone had an Allied or Heathkit catalog ...maybe an Eico catalog
homebrew was more challenging than kits and provided a real
electronics adventure AND education ....but sometimes "it didn't work
quite right"
everyone had an ARRL Radio Amateur's Handbook and/or some QST/CQ/HR
magazines and actually built stuff from the articles ...or at least drooled
over them
military surplus radios/parts were everywhere ...really cheap ...and
you wouldn't hesitate to cut one up or modify it for ham use by adding an
AC power supply, BFO, better audio, etc
everyone knew what a "Q5er" was ...and was impressed with the
selectivity over whatever you had
"mobile" meant an 8ft whip and a big homebrew "bug catcher" bolted to
a steel bumper or steel bumper bracket ....sister (Loesje) took out some
lights at the local gas station when she left the whip up ....did it again
at the hamburger drive-in ....and guess who paid ?
many of the local club frequencies were on 75m ....and were AM
2m FM using old tube type taxi or other commercial Motorola radios
was popular
all dipole, trap dipole, or inverted "V" antennas were homebrew
an FT-243 was not a new Yaesu transceiver
the "standard" dummy load was a 100W light bulb ....found out later
that it's not 50 ohms impedance, but it worked, and it was great to see
the glow as you dipped, loaded, and hollered "Heeeello" into the microphone
you probably had a few "hot wire" burns on your fingers (it don't take
too long to check out a hot horseshoe)
all test equipment meters had needles
there was no "instant on" anything (ham rigs, testers, peripherals, etc)
dope was a material used to hold turns in place on coils, to protect
tediously lettered homebrew markings, and to coat wing surfaces on your
model airplanes
most local convenience stores had tube testers ....althought they
wouldn't check 1625s or 6146s, it was always fun to ask the clerk
pencils were used for writing, soldering was done with an iron or gun
....if you made the tip on your Weller soldering gun out of a piece of
number 12 copper wire, so much the better, but they didn't last as long
flux actively smoked and sizzled ....and really worked
solder was not as hazardous as it is today and you could hold it in
your mouth ....you also closed split lead BBs on your fishing line with
your teeth
electricity was obviously less hazardous back then because nearly
everything was powered through a "zip cord" and 2-wire AC plug ....
"double insulated" meant "two" wraps of electrical tape
electrons were the size of marbles
The equipment lineup in the picture
far left - started life as a Hallicrafters S-40B .....modified with a
crystal filter, additional IF section, and "enhanced tuning"....seemed
like a good idea at the time, calibration took a while using the VF-1
VFO as my signal generator.
second from left - started life as a Heathkit DX-35
on table - genuine crystal microphone mounted on an old wooden lamp base,
the table was edged with a thick aluminum strip which came above the table
surface to keep parts from rolling off ...."good idea at the time", the
strip also cut into your arms if you rested them on the table ....bad part
of "good idea at the time". Just goes to show that I put electronics above
creature comfort ...this was later confirmed when I pulled the "under dash"
A/C unit out of my 1962 Pontiac Tempest to make room for my Heathkit
MT-1/MR-1 AM mobile rig
middle - central control panel ....would allow me to deactivate all the
sound, dial lights, and meters when someone came down the hallway (when I
was supposed to be doing homework), the only thing which gave me away was
heat and TVI
second from right - headphone/key jacks, Heathkit SWR bridge, and VF-1 VFO
right - ready for the next project, recently swapped that panel off
top, left - Heathkit Q-multiplier
top, second from left - recently built homebrew T.O. keyer
top, third from right - Navy indicator box containing selysens for the
biggest/heaviest (but cheapest) rotor I've ever owned ......located
under the telescoping pole and rotated both the beam AND pole, beat the
manual rotator with the pole-on-a-coke-bottle "bearing" and vertical
insulator I had before
top, second from right - 304TL ....great plans, never used it
top, right - homebrew 75m AM transceiver using a 2E26 final ....the
receiver used a converter ahead of a tube type AM radio sub-assy ....one
which came out of my sister's (Loesje) portable radio "which she wasn't
using anyway" ....although she didn't exactly see it that way, it was
still used as a Science Fair project in school
bottom, left - parts storage ....the overflow went into the attic, much
to my Dad's concern
bottom, right - homebrew linear with four 1625s modified for grounded
grid (by separating the supressor grid from the cathode and moving it
to an unused pin), a nice 866A "mercury vapor glow" power supply
(900+ volts to the 1625s ....they cost $0.25 back then), most parts came
from Madison Electronics in Houston ...the old location on Grey, the
important thing you had to remember when you blasted a tube was to allow
enough cool down time before you pulled it (experience talking).
And I'd like to say "thanks" to:
Mr Tittle who gave me my first QST (Oct 1959), gave me my first 6146,
and explained why I needed a 6C4 multiplier/buffer ahead of the 6146 for
all bands, especially 15m ....regardless of what the construction article
said.
The guy on my paper route who sold me my first "real receiver", a
Hallicrafters S40-B.
Frank Jackson, the electronics teacher at Pasadena HS, for his impressive
demonstration in the use of a bug ....and being able to talk at the same time,
his demonstration of a REALLY good receiver ....the Drake 1A, and explaining
how to "cure TVI" if you have a stubborn neighbor who won't let you install
a high pass filter on his stereo. Frank connected his paper tape Instructo-Graph
machine to his CW rig and went outside to cut the grass when the neighbor
would be listening to his hi-fi .....couldn't be Frank, there he is cutting
his grass.
Old man Howard of Howard's TV/Radio Repair on Spencer Hwy who gave me a
part time job fixing radios and TVs, let me build his ham radio linears,
and who taught me to NOT call the customer right back when it was fixed
...."wait a while or he'll think it's easy and gripe about the bill".
Ray of the Pasadena ARC for loaning me his MD-7 so I could finally get
on AM and talk, and for the advice installing a mobile rig.
Dusty Rhoads of the Pasadena ARC for helping acquire an old scrap Motorola
taxi radio for 2m ....but I never got it to work.
"Wild Bill" W5DNE of the Pasadena ARC for demonstrating how to draw arcs
off bug catchers with a pencil, what RF feels like off a non grounded DX-100,
taping an NE-2 to your whip, and how to go MOBILE in an old red Renault by
using a 1000W Dynamotor.
Madison Electronics for lots of good/cheap parts and ARC-5 units.
My parents for putting up with and encouraging all of this.