I made my very first contact as a novice on the A T 1 because our DX60 was 
in the shop.  It was always in the shop it seemed.  The A T 1 worked great, 
though, there at the Nebraska school for the blind.

Phil.
K0NX

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ronald E. Milliman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 6:07 PM
Subject: Re: 47 years as a ham


> Lowell, Et Al,
>
> You mentioned that one of your Novice rigs was the AT-1. I remember 
> looking
> at all of the ham gear in the Heathkit catalog, and thinking the DX-100 
> was
> my dream transmitter, but the DX-20 or DX-40 was a little more realistic,
> but my bank account said that I would be lucky to afford the AT-1 selling
> for $29.95 in kit form. The DX-100 was $189.95 in kit form, and I think 
> the
> DX-40 was around $49.95 in kit form. I ended up with the homebrew
> transmitter that I described in an earlier post built out of parts
> scrounged from old TV sets, military surplus gear, etc. It was a crystal
> controlled transmitter, and I only had one crystal for the 80 meter Novice
> band and two for the 40 meter band.
>
> Eventually, I was able to save up enough money to purchase a used DX-40 
> and
> the Heathkit VF1 VFO, which, as you said, was very unstable.
>
> I was always experimenting with different antennas, and I loaded the DX-40
> in an antenna with the SWR so high that it caused the insulating material
> in my final tank coil to melt, shorting out the tank coil, which, in turn,
> caused my power supply to overheat and burn up. What a smelly mess!! I
> lived in Michigan, not too far from the Heathkit factory in Benton Harbor,
> and so, I took my burned up DX-40 over to the factory to their service
> techs, and they repaired it in less than an hour.
>
> Ron, K8HSY
>
>
>
> Dr. Ronald E. Milliman, retired Professor Western Kentucky University
> Ph: 270-782-9325
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
> Chair, American Council of the Blind Public Relations Committee
>
> Chair, American Council of the Blind's Monthly Monetary Support Program
> (MMS) Committee
>
> President: South Central Kentucky Council of the Blind (SCKCB)
>