...The radios we'll always remember

K9QET, AB9MQ, and K9EYE perform at K9ACT's Octoberfest 2011

Events 0 Comments 03/74/2023 


Posted By: Robert Nickels (W9RAN)
Posted on 03/74/2023

John K9QET (SK) plays bass along with Masa AB9MQ and Pierre K9EYE on guitar at K9ACT's Octoberfest gathering in 2011.


   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
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)  Posted: 01/22/2024 
   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
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)  Posted: 12/364/2023 
   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
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)  Posted: 12/341/2023 
   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
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)  Posted: 11/332/2023 
   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
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)  Posted: 11/320/2023