1951 Heathkit DX-100
AM plate modulated transmitter
1958 National NC300
'dream' receiver
Astatic D104
'chicken choker' microphone
Most of my operation with these desk crushers has been on the 10 meter band, 29.0 to 29.2 Mhz.
I have worked many countries on AM phone, Europe, the Carribean, South America and the far east.
I have been using the same DX-100 for over 15 years. I found it stored in a chicken shack out in the boonies of Oregon.
It caught on fire and filled my shack full of smoke back in '92 when a B+ bypass cap shorted and blew the power transformer.
Not the prettiest DX-100, but I always get great signal and audio reports.
A recent addition is the National NC300 receiver, a sizable dreambox that tries to match the size of the DX-100.
Many other AM receivers have served AM duty for me including a Collins 75A-1, three Hammarlund HQ-110's, a couple of Hallicrafters,
and even a transistorized rig, the Kenwood TS-870 which is a great AM rig. The National NC-300
tops them all for high fidelity.
This D104 microphone has a dynamic element. I have had two other D104 mics with crystal elements
which were not satisfactory.
A Cushcraft 10-4CD 'Skywalker' 4 element monoband yagi tuned to 29 Mhz is the antenna for these rigs. I used a Mosley TA-32jr tri-band 2 element beam
in the last solar cycle. The TA-32jr is a compact antenna, 26 foot elements on a 5'10" boom and only 16 lbs. Both antennas are highly recommended.
