...The radios we'll always remember


 Posted By: Robert Nickels (W9RAN)
Posted: 12/351/2022

Looking Back 0 Comments 12/351/2022 

The Antenna Dilemma


While all new hams faced the question of what kind of antenna to put up - most had to quickly abandon dreams of a big tower with a huge beam for a number of reasons.    The challenge was to get some kind of antenna up that would radiate effectively on the desired bands but would not become a target for lightning - or equally energetic complaints from wifes, parents, or neighbors.  

For that reason many new hams were attracted to the vertical antenna, since it's usually easier to find vertical real estate than horizontal.   The idea of  mounting a sleek aluminum radiator to a pipe pounded into the ground or maybe tied to a clothesline pole or fence post seemed like a pretty slick way to get a multi-band antenna.    Of course most new hams didn't understand much about ground resistance, radials, or counterpoises...not to mention the joy of fiddling with an ice-covered base loading coil in the dead of winter.

Regardless, the manufacturers did not hesitate to offer a range of inexpensive vertical antennas aimed at novices and new hams as well as more seasoned operators.    They apparently sold well, considering how often their ads appeared in QST and other ham magazines.     The vertical didn't require any tall support structures or tower, no climbing on the roof and could be located just about anywhere...although with results highly dependent on that choice.    Base loaded verticals were especially inefficient but novices armed with a piece of pipe and sledgehammer didn't know that when they put their $15 vertical up - and it did work and they made contacts!     As always is the case with antennas,   the question is "Compared to what?".

Foremost among them was Gotham of Miami Beach Florida, who in addition to knowing how to tie a piece of B&W coil stock to an aluminum mast, knew a thing or two about marketing.   They understood the value of testimonials and often quoted customers directly or summarized their DX success in their ads.    The V-80 was cheap, which also helped, and through the power of repetition no doubt sold many antennas through their ads in the ham and electronics magazines.   Without much doubt, many ended up in the scrap pile after better alternatives were found, but the company managed to move from New York to Miami Beach in the process, which was probably a more palatable antenna test location!

A few high-end commercial verticals like the Johnson Match Stick were offered but never caught on - and few hams have ever seen one.   Others including the HyGain trap verticals remain very popular even today, and inspired a host of competitors including Butternut, Hustler/Newtronics, and Mosely.    Always looking for ways to serve the budget-conscious ham, Leo Meyerson of WRL even produced a copy of the Gotham vertical, called the WVG-II, which not only sold for $1 less,  but came shipped prepaid to your door!

Everyone has to start somewhere and for many novices in the 1950s and 60s, a vertical antenna, maybe one with a base loading coil, was the first skyhook.

Click on the image title or on the image itself to open the full-sized image in a separate window.

   

On the workbench
Posted: 01/22/2024
Comments: 0
Grind your own?

If you're a long-time ham you might know what the smeary figure-8 pattern is....Back in the Novice era,  many used crystals purchased from suppliers like JAN Crystals who purchased large quantities of military surplus crystals and reground them for the ham bands.   That's why they were cheap, but also why you couldn't get a specific frequency as they'd grind by a formula and is long...  READ MORE

Heat up the iron
Posted: 12/364/2023
Comments: 0
K5HZ's "AC-2" Compactron transmitter

Ron K5HZ has been building equipment since he first got his ham license in the early 60s, and while he has other transmitters, all it took to build a new one was finding a "free to good home" power transformer at a hamfest.    It also gave him a chance to try using a couple of Compactron tubes that had caught his eye - the 6T10 dual pentode and the 6GE5 beam power pentode that was d...  READ MORE

Brass Pounding
Posted: 12/341/2023
Comments: 0
DigiKeyer

If you build almost anything electronic, chances are good you've purchased parts from DigiKey Electronics.  But did you know that DigiKey - now one of the world's largest electronics distributors - started out as a ham radio company?"More than 50 years ago, a digital electronic device designed to generate uniform Morse characters and spaces was made available for sale by amateur radio enthusi...  READ MORE

Looking Back
Posted: 11/332/2023
Comments: 0
Heathkit - An Employee Looks Back

Electronic Design magazine published an excellent interview in 2020 with Chas Gilmore W8IAI, former Heath engineer, manager, and executive.   Anyone with an interest in Heathkits will find this interview to be well worth the time to read. You can read it for free without registration here at the ELECTRONIC DESIGN WEBSITEThe photo below was borrowed from W8IAI's QRZ page, and shows h...  READ MORE

On the workbench
Posted: 11/320/2023
Comments: 0
Fusing the DX-40

Upon examining a DX-40 given to me by a good friend, I was surprised not to find the usual fused plug on the AC line cord.   I thought maybe Heathkit realized the error of their ways and had put one inside - but no.  A check of the schematic confirmed that fuses were never a part of the DX-40 design.    This needed to be corrected but after first considering hogging a...  READ MORE

Heat up the iron
Posted: 11/312/2023
Comments: 0
KA8WQL's "Trifecta Receiver"

In racing, a trifecta is "a run of three wins or grand events."    When I read the first sentence of Bob KA8WQLs article about his homebrew receiver,  the word trifecta came to mind because he managed to do all three things at the same time!   I think you'll agree!I read once, a long time ago, that the Radio Amateur should have three stations: one that looks good, one...  READ MORE

Tech Library
Posted: 11/311/2023
Comments: 0
EIA Codes - a clue to "who made what"

Although Source Codes ceased with the 2001 edition, it is available here for historical purposes.The EIA Source Code is a numeric symbol that was assigned and registered by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) that could be stamped or marked on any or all products to identify the production source or the vendor assuming product responsibility.In addition, the EIA code provided for adding nu...  READ MORE

Tech Library
Posted: 10/302/2023
Comments: 0
David Gleason is an unsung hero

While working as a Univision programming and research exec in the early 2000, David Gleason began digitizing publications about the radio and TV business and posting them on his personal website so that he could easily share them as he traveled around and met with station staff.It was helpful in persuading the locals to take his advice, he says. “Rather than it just sounding like my opinion,...  READ MORE

Looking Back
Posted: 10/276/2023
Comments: 0
John Wells, Cliff Harvey, and the Harvey-Wells Electronics Company

Through the courtesy of the author,  Hamilton K.  Agnew,  it's a pleasure to share this history of one of ham radios pioneering companies - Harvey Wells Electronics.     The company was a very important contributor to world-wide electronics, both during WWII and many years after, as well as a substantial manufacturer of ham radio equipment.Download it from the link at the ...  READ MORE

Tech Library
Posted: 08/234/2023
Comments: 0
Ballast Tube data and substitutions

Here's some information that isn't often needed, but difficult to find:   A. P. Jacobi's Ballast Tube Handbook and Substitution Guide.    Download from the "Attachments" link below....  READ MORE

Tech Library
Posted: 08/214/2023
Comments: 0
Electricity Explained

We've heard there is some confusion about how electricity works.   This should clear things up....  READ MORE

Brass Pounding
Posted: 06/172/2023
Comments: 0
A Poem about Morse Code

A member of the Long Island CW Group thought he'd give one of those AI chatbot sites a challenge...he didn't expect much but got a real surprise... In a world of signals, hidden and grand,A language of dots and dashes, hand in hand.Morse code whispers, in rhythm and sound,A symphony of messages, profound. With a simple click, a dot appears,A fleeting moment, to the listening ears.Short a...  READ MORE

Looking Back
Posted: 06/171/2023
Comments: 0
The History of the Car Radio

Seems like cars have always had radios, but they didn't. Here's the story:One evening, in 1929, two young men named William Lear and Elmer Wavering drove their girlfriends to a lookout point high above the Mississippi River town of Quincy, Illinois, to watch the sunset. It was a romantic night to be sure, but one of the women observed that it would be even nicer if they could listen to music in th...  READ MORE

Looking Back
Posted: 06/171/2023
Comments: 0
History of the Car Radio

Seems like cars have always had radios, but they didn't.   Here's the story:     One evening, in 1929, two young men named William Lear and Elmer Wavering drove their girlfriends to a lookout point high above the Mississippi River town of Quincy, Illinois, to watch the sunset.  It was a romantic night to be sure, but one of...  READ MORE

Tech Library
Posted: 05/125/2023
Comments: 0
DIY Layout Creator

If you're like most homebrewers, often times you just want to build a one-time-only circuit and end up with a haphazard layout or one you have to tear apart and start over on to get everything to fit.   DIY Layout Creator is designed for just this purpose!   Not only do you get a layout that will work but a document that shows what you did so when you come back to it 3 weeks la...  READ MORE

Tech Library
Posted: 04/105/2023
Comments: 0
Minimalist QRP Book by IZ3AYQ

Everyone probably remembers building - or at least thinking about building - a small simple transmitter or receiver from an article in one of the radio magazines.     They may not have used the term "minimalist" back then but the idea was the same - no frills, just a simple rig that could be easily assembled and was capable of being used on the air.   Nowadays, QRP operati...  READ MORE

Monitoring Post
Posted: 04/91/2023
Comments: 0
The NEW WBCQ - 9330 kHz - Last Chance Radio superstation

Everyone who listens to shortwave is familiar with WBCQ, Monticello Maine USA aka "the Planet" and it's owner Allan Weiner who has been a legit broadcaster for many years after a youthful flirtation with pirate radio.   But if you think WBCQ is a rag-tag collection of old SW transmitters held together by baling wire attached by Timtron - you are WAY out of calibration!   &...  READ MORE

Welcome to the Shack
Posted: 03/89/2023
Comments: 0
Mr. Harvey Wells, Kelley W8GFG (SK)

Long-time particpants in the Midwest Classic Radio Net will remember Kelley W8GFG, who was always looking for "anything Harvey Wells".    We lost Kelley too young in 2011 but his persistent quest from St. John IN is an abiding memory.  I remember meeting him at a Chicago area hamfest and asking if he had any spare Harvey Wells speakers.   He said no, they were very ra...  READ MORE

What's New?
Posted: 03/87/2023
Comments: 0
One Man's Quest To Revive The Great American Vacuum Tube

ROSSVILLE, GEORGIA, ON the border with Tennessee, doesn’t look like a tech town. It’s the kind of place where homey restaurants promising succulent fried chicken and sweet tea are tucked among shuttered businesses and prosperous liquor stores. The cost of living is moderate, crime is high, politics are red, and the population has withered to 3,980.But in the view of entrepreneur C...  READ MORE

On the workbench
Posted: 03/85/2023
Comments: 0
A 3D Printed Socket for FT-243 Crystals

Lots of us have crysals in the FT-243 type holder from our Novice days and since, but the sockets needed for them are becoming hard to find.    To address this I designed a socket that can be 3D printed in about 15 minutes that will substitue for the old style panel-mounted socket used on many transmitters and in homebrew projects.    You'll need to scavenge two conta...  READ MORE