The fabulous legacy of the TRANSMITTER MODEL AC-1 by Joe Tyburczy, W1GFH |
You're looking at a photograph of an
actual, working, AMECO AC-1 two-tube CW transmitter. Ah, the Ameco AC-1. Everyone's favorite Novice rig. Yes indeed, this little baby
promised a whopping 15 watts of RF on any crystal-controlled frequency within
the 80 or 40 meter band. Later I found out the specs referred to 15 watts of
INPUT. The actual RF output was approximately half that. No, this one's not mine (above).
It's a photo of one owned (and later auctioned) by K8RA. Sadly, the last time
I saw my very own Ameco AC-1 was 1965, when I was in the 6th grade. I sent my $14.95 to Ameco and
they shipped me a box of parts and a schematic. Two tubes. A hand-wound tank
coil. A jumble of capacitors and resistors. I built the damn thing with my
own two hands and a low-watt soldering iron in a couple of days. Just one problem. It didn't work. |
Lucky for me, my Mom had a job at Western
Electric. She convinced one of the engineers there (who was a ham) to take a
look at my dysfunctional transmitter. A few weeks later, she brought it back
home. She said the guy fixed a few bad solder joints. But when I plugged it
in and fired it up, it still didn't work. Oh, it glowed, it hummed like a
nest of angry hornets, and it even smoked a bit, but never, for one second,
did it transmit any kind of signal into the ether. Good thing, too. I wasn't yet
licensed. My AC-1 was never used. By the
time I got my ham ticket ten years later in 1975, it was long gone, lost
sometime during my teenage years. Today, it is perhaps buried in a New
Hampshire landfill, quietly rusting alongside my Red Ryder BB gun and other
debris of my early youth. That's why it's important that if
you, by any chance, have an Ameco AC-1 lying around in your basement or
attic, you must ship it to me immediately. Of course, I will remit to you a
nominal fee for your troubles, but you my friend, will gain much more than
mere money. You will take comfort in the eternal satisfaction of knowing that
you have resolved for me...one of life's eternal mysteries. EPILOGUE ABOUT A YEAR after I
posted the above story, Mike Camp, KI7FQ contacted me. "I am sending you my old
AC-1" he wrote, "I'll never use it, and know you'll give it the TLC
that it deserves". One week later, I received his original AC-1 in the
mail. With the help of local QRP fanatic Trevor, K6ESE, I was able to restore this
rig. I had my first AC-1 QSO on 7.115 MHz at 0234 UTC on 11-12-2000. It was a fantastic
conclusion to a lifelong quest! UPDATE IN LATE 2007, I sold this AC-1 on
eBay. |
THIS SITE IS NO LONGER BEING UPDATED. PLEASE DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO... THE NEW YAHOO AMECO AC-1 GROUP IT'S FREE, EASY TO JOIN, AND CONTAINS HUNDREDS
OF AC-1 PHOTOS, LINKS, FILES, AND THE VERY LATEST INFO ON AC-1
"CLONE" KITS. |
CONTENTS (Warning:
lots of photos) BUILD
IT! RESTORE IT! -
Parts list, schematic, manual, chassis layout, artwork, tips, and mods. BUY IT
(ALMOST) - Houston TX
QRP Club reproduction AC-1 kit project. TALES OF
THE AC-1 - Notes and
pics from fellow AC-1 enthusiasts. *Latest news, comments, pics at AMECO AC-1
YAHOO GROUP: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amecoac1/ GALLERY
OF AC-1's - The good, the bad, and the ugly! |
Wow, this is REAL Ham Radio! Stop
by the W1GFH home page and have a look. |