My novice rig was a DX-40 and VF-1.  I just remembered that I had stuck
the cap from a Budweiser beer on the tuning knob.  It was a perfect fit
and maybe helps explain why the oscillator staggered around the band.

One day I removed the cover from the VF1.  When I checked my SWR, it was
way off.  I thought something was wrong with my dipole, but it was
unchanged.  It turned out that removing the case moved things from 7 to
8 MHz.  I was somewhere in the marine CW band.

Does anyone remember Official Observers?  I remember getting the "QSL"
card telling me I was heard in Florida, but a Novice should not have
been on 7.098 MHz.


Mark = WB3CAI
 


From: For blind ham radio operators
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Louis Kim Kline
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 7:55 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Out Of Date

Hi.

John's message made me think back to my early days, some 30 years ago.
And, my activities as an SWL go back further than that--about 35 years.
I had all tube gear--a couple of Hallicrafters receivers (the S20R Sky
Champion, and a Hallicrafters S108).  I came on the air with a Heath
HW16 with the HG10B VFO (Ok, I ewas spoiled with the VFO!), and a little
while later bought a Heath DX40, a VF1 VFO, and a Heath HR10B receiver.

The VF1 walked all over the band, and the HR10B is probably one of the
most worthless receivers I've ever owned.  I used the Hallicrafters
receivers because they could hear a lot better.  I took the antenna off
the HR10B, and set it on the bbottom shelf.  When I would work CW, I
would tune it to my operating frequency and use it as a rather
overcomplicated side tone oscillator!

I finally graduated to the Heath TX1 Apache with the SB10 sideband
adapter.  Now there was a beautiful transmitter, if a little cumbersome
to tune.  I bought it, thinking I would like to play a little AM with
it, but in the end, only used it on SSB and CW.

During that time I started buying solid state equipment, which was a
dream to operate, although the nuisance of having to plunk down another
$100 for a power supply was a pain.  Also, during that time I bought a
Heath HW8, still in kit form.  I was going to put it together with my
father, but I went away to college, and he got laid off from work, and
in his boredom, he built the thing while I was at school.

When I think about how equipment has changed since I started, it is mind
boggling.  Radios like the Icom 706 MkII G weren't even possible in that
time period.  Even the worst of the radios being produced today would
outperform the stuff I was using at the beginning.  My receivers had
images almost as strong as the fundamental signals, the transmitters and
receivers drifted all over the place, there were no CW filters, at least
until I bought a MFJ audio filter, I had to mess with crystal
calibrators and dials, and through all of that the message still got
through.  And, I enjoyed it.

73, de Lou K2LKK



Louis Kim Kline
A.R.S. K2LKK
Home e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
Work e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
Work Telephone:  (585) 697-5740