My first rig was a command set receiver on 40 meters along with a factory built Knight T-60 bought from another more affluent teenage ham. My antenna was a Gotham V-80 vertical mounted on a redwood 4x4. The antenna was a birthday present from my parents. I was on the air for less than $100, which was still a large sum for a sophomore in high school in 1963. I put a power supply on the back of the ARC-5 using the info from an article in Popular Electronics. I also set up the first IF stage in the receiver so that it was regenerative as those receivers had a virtually no selectivity. The only part of this station I still have is the Johnson straight key, which I have never liked. I have never used a Collins rig, though one fellow in my home town had a KWM2. He also owned a string of mens' stores, and a yacht, which he used to travel the world with the Collins rig.
I really wanted a National HRO50, and I have had two of them, since. The rig I still have that I used for years is a Gonset G-76 transceiver. I have owned that one since 1965. I am in the process of restoring it.
The Drake rig that I really like is the 2B. I got mine some years back on e-bay, and really like it. I pair it with an old Gonset GSB-100 phasing exciter, and they work very well together. I hooked both of them up to my Tapetone 6 meter receiving converter and my P&H transmitting converter, and had a great time on 6 meters. I worked Greenland with them. That little receiver beats any other tube type receiver that I have ever used. I do not have it in action right now due to space constraints.
I mainly use Ten Tec equipment now. I have an Omni V.9 hooked to an Elecraft 6 meter transverter and an ancient Mirage amp for 6 meters, and a Corsair II for HF. I also have 2 of the Argonaut II QRP rigs that tend to get a lot of use, both on HF and as a tunable IF for transverters. I worked all continents with one hooked to a Ten Tec transverter and a 4 element beam during the peak of the last F2 cycle. Not bad for 8 watts.
When I get more room, I would like to get the old stuff back on the air again, and I have since acquired some command sets for 80 and 40 meters to get put back in service. I don't know if I am going to start looking for another T-60 or Heath DX20 yet...
Not being a contest operator, I am not sure whether I would get much use from a Drake C line. But, every so often I get the itch to try out a B line. Time will tell.
Steve WA9JML _______________________________________________ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
