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Fernando's Rigs -- Vintage Ham Radio Receivers

✇SolderSmoke Daily News
Bill Meara

Thanks to Rogier PA1ZZ for sending me this YouTube link.  It is a truly wonderful channel from Spain. Not only the Collins Gold Dust Twins, but also lots of great (and not-so-great!) older receivers.  SP-600s, S-38s,  Rhode and Schwartz rigs, lots of great stuff.  Go to the "Videos" link and enjoy the Thermatron goodness.   Thanks Rogier!  And thanks Fernando! 

 https://www.youtube.com/@jonglei

Ham Radio in the 1970s (and earlier, with some cool Jazz). What favorite rigs do you see?

✇SolderSmoke Daily News
Bill Meara

Rogier PA1ZZ sent me this today.  I think I may have seen pieces of it before, but this restoration 
is really nice.  But ham radio seems to have been a lot cooler in California.  I don't remember it being so socially advantageous on the East Coast.   See Dilbert cartoon below. 

So many memories: 

-- The video opens with someone working on a QF-1 Q multipliers.  We have destroyed so many of these relics, in pursuit of the variable capacitors (which turn out to be not so good). 

-- A Drake 2-B on Field Day. 

-- An HT-37 in a shack.

--What looks like an HW-32a in a mobile rig. 

-- Maybe an HW-101. 

--  A BC-348. 

-- The ATV station with lots of homebrew gear was very cool. 

-- I also liked the single THERMATRON homebrew CW rig made from an old TV.  FB. 

-- The CW used in the video was all pretty good.  There was a lot of chirp.  This, of course, adds character to a signal.  FB.

After the video, they take a walk down memory lane, looking at ham radio magazines with some cool jazz playing in the background.  I saw a Swan 240 and a D-104.  The debauchery of the 1970s was evident on the magazine covers.  Even QST seemed to be caught up in this.  Check out the August 1975 cover of QST.  

Anyway, this video was a lot of fun.  Thanks Rogier!  

What favorite rigs do you see?   Make note of them in the comments. 


This video and the Dilbert cartoon reminded me of a discussion we had many years ago about THE KNACK: 

Excellent New Video from Grayson KJ7UM on his Thermatron version of the Michigan Mighty Mite

✇SolderSmoke Daily News
Bill Meara

Here is a really wonderful video from Grayson Evans, KJ7UM, author of Hollow-State Design for the Radio Amateur.  

I really loved this video.  Throughout we see Grayson's sense of humor.  Early on he explains the differences between a tube (what remains from a roll of paper towell), a valve (like the plumbers use) and a THERMATRON (like a 6146).  Grayson is the inventor of the word Thermatron.  We should all pledge to use it whenever possible. 

Grayson's humor also shows up when describing the parts acquistion process for the Thermatron Michigan Mighty Mite.  He puls out a coil (a huge coil) and laments that it is not -- despite its large size -- sufficiently inductive. 

There are wonderful shout outs to SolderSmoke, to Electric Radio, to the Color Burst Liberation Army, to Pete Juliano,  and to Rex Harper.  

Grayson describes the utility of Rex Harper's Thermatron ME pads.  

During the video, Grayson actually builds the Thermatron MMM.  In under 2 minutes!  He then experiences the Joy Of Oscillation, or JOO as it has come to be known.  OM needs a contact -- listen for him on 3579.  He is calling CQ.  

Grayson talks about his book, Hollow-State Design.  I have a copy with me here at SolderSmoke Shack South in the Dominican Republic.  Great stuff.   The above link takes you to Lulu, where you can order the book.  You can also get it from Electric Radio Magazine here: https://www.ermag.com/product-category/books/

Thank you Grayson for bringing us this video, and so much more over the years.  And for giving us the very useful and fun word:  THERMATRON!  

Vacuum Tubes – Electronics at Work: 1943 Educational Film

✇AmateurRadio.com
Tomas NW7US
In the classic educational film titled “Electronics at Work,” produced by Westinghouse in 1943, viewers are introduced to the fascinating world of vacuum tubes. This film highlights the crucial role these devices played in both military and commercial sectors, including radio telecommunications, radar, and various industrial applications. The narrative suggests that vacuum tubes provided the […]

"The Far Sound" -- Bell System Video from 1961 -- Good Radio History (video)

✇SolderSmoke Daily News
Bill Meara

This is a really OLD video, but there is a lot of great material here: 

-- Tubes.  (Valves or Thermatrons)
-- Coax.  
-- Frequency Division Multiplexing. 
-- Negative Feedback and the fight against distortion. 
-- Transistors and early experiments with semiconductors.
-- Fiber optics and Masers.
-- Satellite communications.
-- Early hopes for video communications.

The video is, by today's standards, extremely misogynist.  And the sound experiment with the poor woman wearing a male head was just weird.   But still, an interesting film. 

Thanks to Mark KM4GML for reminding us of this wonderful Bell Labs (AT&T) video archive. 

 

Vacuum Tubes – Electronics at Work: 1943 Educational Film

✇AmateurRadio.com
Tomas NW7US
In the classic educational film titled “Electronics at Work,” produced by Westinghouse in 1943, viewers are introduced to the fascinating world of vacuum tubes. This film highlights the crucial role these devices played in both military and commercial sectors, including radio telecommunications, radar, and various industrial applications. The narrative suggests that vacuum tubes provided the […]

Interesting stuff from Mastodon: Vacuum tubes, open source, and Linux

✇KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog
Dan KB6NU

Here are three interesting things I found on mastodon last night. If you’re a mastodon user, you can follow me at @kb6nu@mastodon.radio. If you primarily post about #hamradio, I’ll follow you back.

Electronics at Work: 1943

In 1943, electronics was all about vacuum tubes. This video is a good introduction to how vacuum tubes work and how they were used in industry.

Open Source in Amateur Radio Wiki

The Open Source in Amateur Radio Wiki provides information about open-source software and hardware as well as free home-brew projects for radio enthusiasts and promote the use of open source software and hardware in amateur radio. The wiki’s founder, Michael, DK1MI, writes, “This wiki cannot be filled and maintained by one person alone, which is why I call on people to register on the wiki in order to correct errors, add information, translate articles and/or create new content.” Check out the how to contribute page for more information.

Amateur Radio Community Operating System (arcOS)

arcOS is a bootable Linux system on a USB drive. arcOS is founded on the belief that digital communications within communities of operators can be accessible and easy to use for ALL, regardless of license class or experience.

The author of arcOS is KG4VDK. He writes, “By minimizing the number of included applications and complexity, arcOS strives to avoid overwhelming new or inexperienced users, while offering ambitious users the ability to configure additional features and functionality.”

I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks like something to investigate.

 

Ragnar LA1UH's Wonderful Museums in Norway

✇SolderSmoke Daily News
Bill Meara


Here are two more great museum visits by Helge LA6NCA.  In these two he visits Ragnar LA1UH.  

Ragnar has a lot of maritime experience, so we see a lot of older ships' radios.  But his interest in the radio art is much broader and we also see a lot of other kinds of gear: 

-- Wow,  a "travel radio" in a suitcase from 1927.  Was this the idea that later lead to the Parasets of WWII? 

-- Lots of "Stay Behind" gear from the Cold War. That "Africa" receiver (that never made it to Africa!) is very interesting. 

-- We see an ART-13 with autotune, ANGRC-9s, several ARC-5 command sets.  I was hoping Raganar would fire up a Dynamotor, but no. 

-- I spotted a Galaxy V transceiver.  I have the VFO reduction drive from one of these in my homebrew 15/10 rig.   

-- We see several variometers in the emergency (500kc?) maritime transmitter.  I used a variometer in my super-simple ET-2 transceiver (with an N0WVA receiver). 

-- Lots and lots of tubes. 

Ragnar says he himself is of 1944 vintage. I hope some "stay behind" provisions have been made for these amazing museums. 

Thanks to Helge LA6NCA and to Ragnar LA1UH.  

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