Check out my
“Boatanchor" collection
Stashed away in the old basement
Johnson
Valiant I – Modified Audio—12BH7 Phase Inverter driving
6146 Modulators with lots of negative feedback
Behringer
VX-2000 and B-1 Condenser Mic—Driving the Valiant
via the line level input
Motorola
R-390 (non-A)—Completely restored by Miltronix
Teledyne
R-390A—a back-up and SWL receiver at present
Drake
2C—One of my old novice receivers from the late
60’s
Hallicrafters
HT-32—SSB and AM—both barefoot and exciter for
SB-220
Collins
75A4—Used with HT-32 for vintage AM and SSB—inherited
from W8NFO (uncle)
Heathkit
DX-60B & VF-1 paired with Hallicrafters SX-99—my
<$100 Garage Sale Station
Johnson
KW Matchbox—from my old KW days in Southwestern Ohio
Johnson
Ranger I and JRC NRD 515—at my main console—drives the SB-220
Drake
TR-4/RV-4 combo—for vintage SSB—bought new in 1971
Heathkit
RX-1 Mohawk and TX-1 Apache-- has minor audio
mods—no longer “scratchy”
DX-100B—being
refurbished – on the bench--still needs lots of work
Stancor
ST-203--awaits bench
Hallicrafters
SX-25—also have non-op parts unit—very nice 6F6 PP
audio output
Signal
Corps BC-348R/HB Power Supply—non-shown--my son uses
this to SWL up in the study
The Ranger and
NRD-515 make nice AM pair
Ranger’s modified
to drive SB-220 at 170 watts of carrier
The Valiant being operated in it’s favorite position—on the
floor!
Note the screwdriver is never far from the Valiant
THIS WAS THE HAM RADIO I FELL IN LOVE WITH
AS A KID!
Operating W8MHF/W8NFO
-- Circa 1968 – “check out that Nerd!”
Future WN8HVG at mike & future WN8TVS
standing
I caught the bug from my uncle Red (W8NFO). He and my aunt Lois
(W8MHF) continued to run 75 meter AM until 1973 when the gear seen here was
finally carried to the basement and replaced with Drake SSB equipment. I used
to tune in their bodacious carrier & clean, wide audio on my old trusty
S-40B. It wasn't plate modulated but it did sound nice and dominated the
frequency. W9’s used to break in and
tell him to “turn it down” because he’d be loud and wide. I habitually ran late getting ready for 7th
Grade—largely due to eavesdropping on their roundtable. That wide AM was easy to find on the old
S-40B--nestled amidst the late 60’s
slopbuckets
When SSB started catching on in late '50's, Red tried to run his
Viking II and a Johnson SSB generator with the Thunderbolt but
"swamping" it proved to be tricky.
He laid-on some serious change out for the HT-32. After a brief
flirtation with SSB, he put the mode switch in "DSB" and left it
there for the next 15 years. In the late 60's, everyone else in his 75 Meter
daily roundtable had made the transition to SSB but him. When some irate
Slopbucket down frequency would complain, he'd growl:
"SSB is not here to stay!"
They were known as the "Terrible Twosome of Terrace Park"
to their friends. Red passed away in 1987 and Lois is no longer on the air. I
had a chance to "inherit" what’s in the picture but was living out of
a duffle bag in Europe at the time.
Lois called me long distance (a expensive rarity then) to offer it. I had just enough (but not enough) good
sense to ask for the 75A4. I passed on the rest.........<OUCH!>
I remember being a three-year old and spinning the knob on the 75A4
in the late 50’s!
Interesting
story: In
1997, was having a great AM QSO with an Old Buzzard OP in W Va. Mentioned my 10 mtr AM operation in early
70’s Cincinnati using Red’s Viking II.
He immediately asked if that was Red of the “Terrible Twosome”? I answered yes and he proceeded to tell me
about visiting them in the 50’s--mentioned Aunt Lois running some kind of a 10
mtr mobile net…..”She had this great Collins receiver and used to put everybody
right on frequency.”
I replied……”Yep, I know…….am listening to you on it now!”
Look for me on the air. I love AM QSO's and will also answer SSB
stations too. I can usually be found operating AM on weekends (an some weeknites)
on:
Note: kHz and capacitor were not in Red’s
vocabulary. He used “condenser”, and
Kay Cee’s”