Being New Years Eve, it is nostalgia time, and I think it appropriate to
discuss those antique stations.
If you want to hear how bad some of those antique transmitters were, do
listen tonight for SKN.
Bad chirps, bad keyclicks and lots of phase noise that spread the
signals out over a large portion of the band.
The bands today are more crowded than they were back then, and while it
is legal to use those antique transmitters and receivers, I do not think
it should be an everyday event.
Yes, I know several hams who are into 'boat anchors', particularly those
old AM transmitters. Fortunately, that crowd concentrates on 80 meters
when the band is not full of signals, but listening with today's more
selective receivers and hearing signals in a 'net' so spread out and off
frequency, it amazes me that we were able to communicate easily back
then. BUT we did, and had fun doing it.
I would not advocate using those transmitters and receivers in a contest
today, but they did work for us back then. BTW, I was first licensed in
1955, so you can perhaps understand the advances in technology that I
have seen over the years. There has been a LOT.
I have often considered building again my Novice transmitter which I
assembled from the article in the 1955 ARRL handbook (a 6CL6 xtal
oscillator and a 6146 final), but obtaining the parts is almost
impossible. Can you find 1 1/4 inch diameter, 4 pin coil forms these
days? Maybe, but they are prohibitively expensive, and the power
transformer is almost impossible to find although back then, they were
quite common because they were used in TV designs.
I pass by the flea market areas at hamfests and get enough of my
nostalgia satisfied by looking at those old transmitters and receivers
that I drooled over 'way back then' knowing that as a teen with limited
income I could never afford them. I don't have time nor energy to
restore any of those 70 pound radios, nor does my hamshack have space
for them, so I look and marvel, but do not take any of them home with me.
I do have my homebrew receiver, a version of the HBR-16 and an old NC100
receiver that I may someday bring out of the attic and bring back to
operational status, but that is pretty far down on the priority list for me.
Enjoy SKN and listen to those old transmitters (and even listen on your
vintage receiver). It is a telling story of the history of ham radio
and the gear available in the years gone by.
Happy New Year.
73,
Don W3FPR
On 12/31/2015 7:30 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
Sure the rules apply, and rules for spectrum bandwidth provide no numbers,
saying only "... in accordance with good amateur practice."
Right now, New Year's eve, there is an on air event taking place, Straight
Key Night, that encourages the use of antique rigs on the air and is
sponsored by the largest association of Radio Amateurs in the USA, the ARRL.
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