My Early Stations


Licenses
Some of my FCC Licenses


Note:  Additional information about evolution of my stations is at the bottom of the page.

First contacts Logbook showing first contacts
WV6MIN (Greg) was my first contact on August 5, 1960 at 12:15 p.m.  We took and passed our General Class exam together.  Greg is now N6GK and we continue to be friends.
QSL Card 1962 1962 QSL Card

Station in 1961
Station from 1961  SuperPro BC-779A Receiver (left);  Viking II Transmitter (top right);  DX-40 Transmitter (bottom right);  Homebrew antenna tuner (center).

Homebrew amplifier  inside amplifier  (9/63)  Home Brew 4 x 837's - 1 KW Amplifier

February 1964
February 1964 - Shows home brew receiver (modified BC-453 with converter) along with the Central Electronics 20A SSB exciter and amplifier



QTH in San Jose, California ca. 1962 QTH for WA6NAV with a 1957 Morris Minor Car

Inverted 'V' @ 50 feet 20 meter Quad 80 & 40 meter inverted 'V' @ 50 feet & 20 meter Quad

QSL Board - 1962 QSL Board 1962  Notice VE6AGW QSL Card


Additional information

First Station

On the left is my first receive.  It is a WWII surplus BC-779A SuperPro.  The tubes inside all have metal envelopes.  What you don't see is an external power supply that sits on the floor.  It weights about 60 pounds between the two units.  I kept it on 24 hours a day to minimize thermal drift!

The bottom right is my first transmitter.  It is a Heathkit DX-40 using crystal control with 75 watts input power.  CW and carrier modulated AM were used.

Above the DX-40 is my second transmitter - a Viking II.  The frequency control is by the VFO unit to the left of the DX-40.  The Viking II used two 6146 tubes for about 150 watts.  Both plate modulated AM and CW were supported.

The gray box to the right of the BC-779 receiver is a modified Johnson antenna tuner.  A Blue-Lightning BUG is in front of the tuner.


Second Generation

The SSB was replacing AM quickly by 1962.  During my senior year in high school I built my second generation station. The transmitter is on the middle shelf on the left.  It is a Central Electronics 20A SSB exciter operating at 20 watts.  The VFO control is on the bottom left.  The receiver is on the middle right.  It is a home-brew unit.  The main unit on the right is a modified military aircraft BC-453 receiver operating in the range of 190 - 450 KHz.  I built a new case, product detector for SSB, and power supply.  To the left of the receiver is a home-brew crystal controlled tube type frequency converter for 80, 40, and 20 meters.  The top left is a home-brew linear amplifier using four 837 tubes in a grounded grid configuration.  Top right is a home-brew power supply for the amplifier.  This unit would run 1 KW PEP or 500 watts CW as I remember.  The black box to the right of the bug is a home-brew VSWR bridge.  The mic is a D-104.

Antennas

My QTH was on the west side of San Jose California.  In the rear yard was a 2 inch diameter aluminum 50 foot military surplus field antenna mast.  It supported inverted 'V' antennas for 80 and 40 meters. When it rained the rope guy lines got tighter causing the mast to bend.  On the garage is a two element cubical quad antenna for 20 and 15 meters.  My first car, a 1957 yellow Morris Minor 1000, is in front of the garage.  John Matthews and several other high school friends help raise the quad antenna.  John is now N7MRM.