[AMRadio] First Wednesday Collins Collectors Association AM Night Nov. 3rd!

[WA9VRH Larry]

FIRST WEDNESDAY AM NIGHT !!! Sponsored by the Collins Collectors
Association.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa - Wednesday November 3rd on 3880 kcs at 7:30PM local East
Coast time marks the start of the latest chapter of First Wednesday AM
Night, drawing hundreds of vintage stations from across the country.

The event is anchored by a "tall ship" AM station in each time zone. The
East Coast will run for 90 minutes in response to the tremendous
participation in the Eastern Time zone. The remaining time zones will be an
hour. We encourage stations to check-in on AM using Collins and other
transmitters, new and old.  It's an opportunity to revel in this nostalgic
mode, enjoy giving vintage equipment a "run," and sharing some storytelling
about classic vacuum tube homebrew and commercial designs. Typically more
than a hundred stations take part in the evening's coast-to-coast AM event;
by the time it concludes at 10P, PDT (1A EDT).

A logbook of check-ins, with the equipment used, appears in the
"Announcements & Events" section of www.amfone.net on the page's "AM Forum -
BBS."

In months past, anchor stations have included those running the beautiful
Collins 300-G, pictured below, as well as those running the amateur KW-1,
and other noted models.

http://www.amwindow.org/pix/jpg/300g.jpg


LISTEN for the following anchors and stop by to say hello, won't you? You
don't have to be running Collins or vintage gear to be welcomed into the
group.

7:30P-9P East Coast Anchor:  Bob W0YVA



8P-9P Central Anchor:  Jim W0NKL


8P-9P Rocky Mountain Anchor: Jim WA0LSB

8P-9P West Coast Anchor: Bill N6PY

comments please to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

[AMRadio] Hamfest Report: Massillon, Ohio

[Merz Donald S]

Quick hamfest report: I attended the Massillon ARC hamfest yesterday. It was 
held at the Stark County Fairgrounds which is in Canton? two exits up the road 
from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A hamfest on Halloween day is not my first 
choice. There's too much family stuff going on so it makes for a hard day. 
Several people mentioned this conflict to me at the fest so I know I wasn't the 
only one thinking along these lines. Another problem for me is that this fest 
is a solid 2.5 hour drive from my house. So I had to get out early for the long 
drive home to be there for the kiddies in costumes...

The Stark County Fairgrounds is a very nice facility, large, enclosed, with 
reasonably clean bathrooms. Food was typical fattening hamfest fare, not cheap, 
and probably best avoided. I thought the turnout for vendors (maybe 50?) and 
attendees (maybe 6-700?) was good. I saw many Pittsburgher's there including 
N3BPB, Rich Sperling from the Collins group, a couple Cleveland hams I know and 
a bunch of others. 

My kid sold about $35 worth of stuff at our table. I only brought receiving 
tubes and small parts. So it took a lot of sales to add up to $35--it's a good 
sign that there were so many ready buyers. 

Boatanchors Seen: Very few.

Heathkit Marauder. Gorgeous. $500. Unsold.
Collins 75A4. Excellent with spinner knob. $1000 unsold.
Military R388/51J3. Good shape. No cabinet. $275. Unsold.
Tektronix 7x23 'Scope with selection of plug-ins. $75. Working on the table. 
Sold.
Multi Elmac AF-68/PMR-8 w/2 M1070 Supplies, cables & docs. $170. Sold (to me)
Hallicrafters SX-16. Good panel, bad cabinet. $120. Sold (to me)

Test Gear: Just a small selection of old tube type HP stuff, the occasional 
VTVM and Heathkit 'scope. Great selection of Tek manuals. 

Broadcast: Nice Zenith Transoceanic $150 unsold. Otherwise just low-end stuff 
that needed too much work to make it worthwhile.

Parts: By the boatload. You had your choice in just about every price range. 
One vendor had 3 or 4 tables full. But his prices were high (one swinging choke 
was tagged $50!). I restrained myself because I have accumulated way too much 
of this kind of stuff. I did buy a box of aluminum chasses for $10--some used, 
some unused.

Auction: This club includes an auction with their hamfest that runs 
simultaneously starting at 10AM. The auctioneer is a ham on one of these 
lists--Perry, W8AU. The goods to be auctioned are piled up along one wall and 
available to look over. Yesterday, it was just about all parts and parts-set 
radios. I lost track of the time and only noticed that the auction had started 
about 11AM. I wandered over and picked up just a couple small things. The lots 
were being auctioned off one cigar box at a time. So it would take 2-3 minutes 
to auction a cigar box for 50 cents. I would like to have stayed but I was dog 
tired. Plus the lots were so small, you'd have had to stay all day to spend 
$10. So I beat a hasty retreat and left.

Overall, I liked this hamfest and I'd go back next year if it's not on 
Halloween. This is the last one anywhere around me until the end of January so 
it was a nice way to close out the year.

73, Don Merz, N3RHT
 
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Re: [AMRadio] 813 tx

[Rbethman]

Chris,

   What was REALLY surprising is that the dummy load was a Heath Cantenna!

   The radio was grounded, and so was the coax.  That would make one 
"think" that the dummy WOULD be grounded.


   That particulat QTH showed me some WEIRD effects dealing with 
grounding.  I had a dipole up around 75 feet or more.  Big 120ft Oak 
trees helped a LOT!


   I put up a new dipole and new RG-213 feedline.  Strange thing was 
that the VSWR was horrible when all the way up.  The final solution was 
a run of #12 AWG insulated wire run from the station ground and attached 
to the balun, run exactly parallel to the RG-213.  The VSWR dropped flat.


   I was relocated by the military to Missouri, and erected the same 
antenna.  There I found that the #12 WASN'T necessary!  Talk about WEIRD!.


Bob - N0DGN

CHRIS PAPAIOANNOU wrote:


<>Bob,
i'm surprised even now while reading these lines of yours..except my 
test i
mentioned before in my other msge didn't go further on..and of course 
using

these kind of things like loads depends of the conditions..even if the
output transmitting power is high the dummy radiates a minimal portion of
this power which needs good conditions in order to be heard the max far
away.
73,
Chris,SV1DAF.
- Original Message -
From: "Rbethman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Discussion of AM Radio" 
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 9:53 PM
Subject: Re: [AMRadio] 813 tx

Chris,

I have held QSOs from Columbus, GA to Atlanta on 75 mtrs during the
daytime with an improperly grounded dummy load.

You may be REALLY surprised how far you CAN really transmit with
such things. It ALL boils down to the CURRENT conditions.

Bob - N0DGN



--
<  Bob Bethman - N0DGN
+---+--+
| N0DGN AMRadio Manassas, VA|REAL Tube Radio and AM|
+---+--+
|   Manassas Radio - Home of Homemade Kielbasa & Pirogi|
+---+--+
| Bob Bethman\\\|/// " The absence of a danger |
| rbethman(at)comcast.net   \\ ~ ~ //  signal does *NOT* mean  |
|   (/ @ @ /)  that everything is OK " |
+-oOOo-(_)-oOOo+
|   |
| 1 BC-610I w/BC-614I,1 T-213/GRC-26 w/BC614I 1 '51 Collins R-390A |
|  SP-600/NR Type 159, Heath DX-60, Apache, Mohawk, SX-101, HT-32A |
+--+
|   Amateur Astronomer - Celestron Nexstar 8   |
| 12" f5 Dob coming soon!  Being built |
|  Meade ETX-60 (Got it back!) |
|   38 Deg 46.8' N - 77 Deg 28.5' W|
+--+
|   Opinions expressed are that of my own and do not necessarily   |
| coincide with or represent those of ANYONE else  |
+--+
 ALL E-mail received and sent scanned by AVG & Norton Anti-Virus>

Re: [AMRadio] 813 tx

[CHRIS PAPAIOANNOU]

K4KYV de SV1DAF..
Let me guess..2kw dummy means that your output pwr is high enough..if
conditions are sometime good why don't you try for example with a friend of
yours ham the same as you far away from you to check out if  this thing is
transmitting?We're chating about transmitting dummies here don't we?
Your pwr is high enough and an significant quantity of this power will be
radiated as we agree here that is possible with dummies.
73,
Chris,SV1DAF.
- Original Message -
From: "Donald Chester" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: 
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 9:44 PM
Subject: Re: [AMRadio] 813 tx


> Years ago I used to use a 100 watt light bulb for dummy  load and the rig
> was a pair of 807's in the final modulated by another pair.  Once I was
> testing into the light bulb and when I finished, I listened on the
frequency
> and heard some hams complaining about "that idiot who keeps testing
without
> listening and never identifies."  This was back when the vast majority of
> hams ran AM, and the guys complaining about me were on AM.  They were
about
> 90 miles away!
>
> Today I have a 2000 watt dummy load made up of glo-bar resistors.
> Apparently it doesn't radiate, since I have never had anyone reply when I
> accidentally transmitted into it, having forgot to switch back to the
> antenna.
>
> -k4kyv
>
>
> __
> AMRadio mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
> Post: mailto:AMRadio@mailman.qth.net
>

Re: [AMRadio] 813 tx

[CHRIS PAPAIOANNOU]

Bob,
i'm surprised  even now while reading these lines of yours..except my test i
mentioned before in my other msge didn't go further on..and of course using
these kind of things like loads depends of the conditions..even if the
output transmitting power is high the dummy radiates a minimal portion of
this power which needs good conditions in order to be heard the max far
away.
73,
Chris,SV1DAF.
- Original Message -
From: "Rbethman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Discussion of AM Radio" 
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 9:53 PM
Subject: Re: [AMRadio] 813 tx


> Chris,
>
> I have held QSOs from Columbus, GA to Atlanta on 75 mtrs during the
> daytime with an improperly grounded dummy load.
>
> You may be REALLY surprised how far you CAN really transmit with
> such things.  It ALL boils down to the CURRENT conditions.
>
> Bob - N0DGN
>
> CHRIS PAPAIOANNOU wrote:
>
> >Jim,
> >I don't think that this bulb dummy load radiated RF far away...but
> >sufficiently far away to provoke the neighbors around to start coming
by...a
> >test once proved me that with a dummy load  my modulation has been heard
no
> >more than about 195 feet.Didn't check out if this distance was more than
195
> >feet because an other fellow ham who was in his house heard me and this
test
> >ended at this point,because this was the object.But since i believe that
> >antennas with regular electrical length depending of the frequency are
> >exactly the opposite of  a dummy load  i guess that this distance
couldn't
> >be a little bit more than these 195 feet.
> >Regarding that Lear T30 seems that the aluminium window frame was a very
> >poor counterpoise..did you use at that time any form of rf ground?
> >I've experienced in the past TVi problems with tube AM rigs due to poor
rf
> >grounds..you can immagine my ma's face when was coming to tell me that
was
> >listening to a strange voice in the tv,something like cat's mew.Then
learned
> >that this was me.
> >Fortunatelly i never had problems with the neighbors.Generally these
> >transmissions were midnight transmissions when the most of them were on
bed.
> >FM?My 1st homebrew rig was a 6BQ5 rig.Self  oscillated (COLPITS type).I
was
> >using an FM receiver when trying to tune it.Had homebrewd a 6AK5(5654W)
self
> >oscillated also.With dipoles on the roof made from aluminium pipe.I
remember
> >that had connected 2 transfrmrs with primaries 220V and secondaries
6,3V/2A
> >secondary to secondary in order to feed the rigs.In this way had no
> >confluences beetween rf and feeding and no hum.
> >Vinyl?I don't need to remember it Jim cause even now i still use my old
> >records..The others here are using digi media.I don't.My amp and tuner
are
> >tube type also.By the others i mean the members of my family.
> >I really enjoyed your memories and experiences Jim,
> >Regards,
> >Chris,SV1DAF.
> >
> >
>
> --
> <  Bob Bethman - N0DGN
> +---+--+
> | N0DGN AMRadio Manassas, VA|REAL Tube Radio and AM|
> +---+--+
> |   Manassas Radio - Home of Homemade Kielbasa & Pirogi|
> +---+--+
> | Bob Bethman\\\|/// " The absence of a danger |
> | rbethman(at)comcast.net   \\ ~ ~ //  signal does *NOT* mean  |
> |   (/ @ @ /)  that everything is OK " |
> +-oOOo-(_)-oOOo+
> |   |
> | 1 BC-610I w/BC-614I,1 T-213/GRC-26 w/BC614I 1 '51 Collins R-390A |
> |  SP-600/NR Type 159, Heath DX-60, Apache, Mohawk, SX-101, HT-32A |
> +--+
> |   Amateur Astronomer - Celestron Nexstar 8   |
> | 12" f5 Dob coming soon!  Being built |
> |  Meade ETX-60 (Got it back!) |
> |   38 Deg 46.8' N - 77 Deg 28.5' W|
> +--+
> |   Opinions expressed are that of my own and do not necessarily   |
> | coincide with or represent those of ANYONE else  |
> +--+
>   ALL E-mail received and sent scanned by AVG & Norton Anti-Virus>
>
>
> __
> AMRadio mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
> Post: mailto:AMRadio@mailman.qth.net
>

Re: [AMRadio] 813 tx

[CHRIS PAPAIOANNOU]

Jim,
Then if you cannot operate it you have no other choice than that of
changing rig's place.I know that i don't contribute particularly cause you
have thought about it long before me but this is the only solution.Remove it
in an other house far away from that kind of stuff those speakers there.
A tactics that many hams have utilized when got in this kind of trouble
here.Btw what's your rig now?
Sherwoods allthough this is an off topic are very much appreciated by
me.Well built stuff  and i think that i'll take the risk to declare that
this kind of stuff is no longer manufactured.There is one of them here the
same.
The 3 stooges..what you reminded me now Jim..funny very funny...
Have you ever tried any bed's spring like rf ground?you know those iron beds
with the mattress on them..
my very best of 73,
Chris,SV1DAF.
- Original Message -
From: "Jim candela" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Discussion of AM Radio" 
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 11:21 PM
Subject: RE: [AMRadio] 813 tx


>
>
> Chris,
>
> I cannot operate my ham rig late at night because of today's speakers
on
> computers, and surround sound movie rooms. The advent of THX, Dolby
digital
> 5.1, has brought a new problem to hams. All those satellite speakers with
> built in amplifiers are a nuisance to us all. I had a neighbor with a
$2000
> set of speakers. These would fire up and talk whenever I was on the air.
So
> late at night ham activity kept my neighbor awake. He even tried
> disconnecting the speakers, and wrapped the wire around the case. My voice
> still came out. It was like on the three stooges where the medical
intercom
> would call out, "calling Dr.'s Larry, Mo, and Curly"..
>
> That AM rig in the dorm was 30 years ago. I do recall getting RF burns off
> the window frame! No good ground at the third level of the building,
except
> for maybe the radiator pipes, widow frame, and cold water pipe. I think I
> just tied the radiator pipe to the rig as a ground to go with the window
> frame.
>
> I too use vinyl LP's and a old Marantz turntable. I use a reworked
Sherwood
> tube amplifier with a combined FM tuner. That is another story. Here is a
> piece of that:
>
> http://pages.prodigy.net/jcandela/Sherwood_S8000/HV_REG/regulator.htm
>
> Regards,
> Jim
>
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of CHRIS PAPAIOANNOU
> Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 12:40 PM
> To: Discussion of AM Radio
> Subject: Re: [AMRadio] 813 tx
>
>
> Jim,
> I don't think that this bulb dummy load radiated RF far away...but
> sufficiently far away to provoke the neighbors around to start coming
by...a
> test once proved me that with a dummy load  my modulation has been heard
no
> more than about 195 feet.Didn't check out if this distance was more than
195
> feet because an other fellow ham who was in his house heard me and this
test
> ended at this point,because this was the object.But since i believe that
> antennas with regular electrical length depending of the frequency are
> exactly the opposite of  a dummy load  i guess that this distance couldn't
> be a little bit more than these 195 feet.
> Regarding that Lear T30 seems that the aluminium window frame was a very
> poor counterpoise..did you use at that time any form of rf ground?
> I've experienced in the past TVi problems with tube AM rigs due to poor rf
> grounds..you can immagine my ma's face when was coming to tell me that was
> listening to a strange voice in the tv,something like cat's mew.Then
learned
> that this was me.
> Fortunatelly i never had problems with the neighbors.Generally these
> transmissions were midnight transmissions when the most of them were on
bed.
> FM?My 1st homebrew rig was a 6BQ5 rig.Self  oscillated (COLPITS type).I
was
> using an FM receiver when trying to tune it.Had homebrewd a 6AK5(5654W)
self
> oscillated also.With dipoles on the roof made from aluminium pipe.I
remember
> that had connected 2 transfrmrs with primaries 220V and secondaries
6,3V/2A
> secondary to secondary in order to feed the rigs.In this way had no
> confluences beetween rf and feeding and no hum.
> Vinyl?I don't need to remember it Jim cause even now i still use my old
> records..The others here are using digi media.I don't.My amp and tuner are
> tube type also.By the others i mean the members of my family.
> I really enjoyed your memories and experiences Jim,
> Regards,
> Chris,SV1DAF.
> - Original Message -
> From: "Jim candela" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "Discussion of AM Radio" 
> Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 3:17 PM
> Subject: RE: [AMRadio] 813 tx
>
>
> >
> >
> > Chris, You mentioned broadcasting music to entertain an audience. If the
> > truth be known, some of us on this reflector may have at one time or
> another
> > done this. I can only speak for myself however. :)
> >
> > I once had a kilowatt AM rig where with 1000 watts DC input I got 850
> watts
> > carrier output (about 1983). On a particular Saturday night I installed
a
> > 

[AMRadio] FS: Command Set Stuff, Sevick Book, 1933 ARRL Hbk

[Merz Donald S]

For Sale. As usual, eBay is the next stop for this list of items. All prices 
plus shipping. 

Command Set Receiver Rack: Black wrinkle 3-receiver rack made by ARC for the 
ARA series receivers (same footprint and connectors as ARC-5). Includes the 
distribution box on the back. Many paint dings and chips but the rack still 
looks good. The thumb nuts and metal tabs to hold the radios in the rack are 
mostly missing. The fuses and fuse holder covers are missing from the 
distribution box. These racks have gotten REALLY hard to find. The last one I 
sold on eBay went for $308. This one is $249.

Command set rack connectors. $7 each. All are used but in good shape.

8-pin goes from RX rack dist box to RX remote control.
6-pin used to chain RX racks together (2 to sell)
Two 6-pin RX rack connectors with wiring between them ($14)
5-pin goes from TX rack to RE-2 relay
12-pin modulator to TX rack (2 to sell)
18-pin modulator to TX control box (modulator end)
8-pin connector in a different pattern from the one above. Not sure where these 
go. (3 to sell)

BC-543-B SCR-274N command set receiver (190-550kc, aluminum finish) with 
unoriginal spline knob and a nicely-made homebrew power supply in a minibox 
that uses the correct connector to plug into the rear of the RX. RX has the 
usual ham mods but no unoriginal holes. All original connectors are still 
useable. Dyno mounts are intact. Nice looking set. Untested. $40

C-43/ARC-5 control box part unit. Missing some lever switches and "increase 
output" controls. The wiring inside has been hacked. Nice paint. Worth 
restoring. $15

Dynamotors: I have 2 black wrinkle dynamotors that fit the command set 
receivers physically. But they were really designed for the AIC interphone 
system and the output voltage is too high for a command set receiver--285V. 
It's a shame because these look almost brand new. They might be useable with a 
dropping resistor or other mod to reduce the voltage. $30/pair.

Book: Jerry Sevick, W2FMI, Transmission Line Transformers, ARRL, 1987, nice 
hardback. $8. Excellent, practical book. Written about as straight-forward as 
you can get for this type of material. Postage: $2 media mail.

ARRL 1933 Handbook $5. It's hard to imagine a handbook being more beat-up than 
this one. The front cover is a mess and the back cover is missing. Still, it is 
intact with no loose pages and quite useable. Full of great ideas for 1930's 
glowbugs. Postage: $2 media mail.

Thanks for looking.
73, Don Merz, N3RHT
 
The information contained in this e-mail may be confidential and is intended 
solely for the use of the named addressee.
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any other person is not authorized.
If you are not the intended recipient please notify us immediately by returning 
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[AMRadio] music to entertain

[Patrick Jankowiak]

I'll confess.
Many years ago in my partially misspent youth, long before I got 
a ham license, I had compiled a 90 minute tape of old music and 
'50's commericals (commercials found on discarded tapes from a 
broadcast station), and played this every sunday at noon on the 
CB channel 30 while I drank whiskey. I was near a highway and for 
an antenna I used the outer shield of the cable TV wire, which 
ran about 200' before it got to a place where there was a ground 
wire. I used a modified-for-fidelity Radio Shack TRC-458 Navaho 
base station (even with a 500 ohm balanced audio input) and a 
home made 100 watt PEP linear with a pair of 6146's and ran 20W 
carrier, and a home made antenna tuner got the current flowing 
into the cable's shield. I would sometimes start it running and, 
instead of drinking, go for a drive to see how far it would go 
and still sound good. I was getting about 10 miles and the audio 
quality was superb. Once, a neighbor asked me if I had ever heard 
music on the telephone. "Huh? never heard of such a thing, must 
be a wire crossed" was the reply to that one..


Occasionally, when I would get done, someone in DX land would say 
'play some more' or "[EMAIL PROTECTED] why can't ya play something different!!"


I suppose I am a redneck. HOO-Whee!! Those were some fun days. 
Had a souped up pontiac GTO and a betamax too.


I niether get drunk (Come to Jesus) nor play music on the air 
(got ham ticket and swore to the Wouff Hong) any more.


I am still interested in high fidelity, but I use a good dummy 
load when I play, and generally use specific waveforms and 
frequencies to make measurements.


That base station's still around here somewhere, but it's been 
un-modified and adjusted back to factory specifications as it 
should be. It's a great SSB rig, as CB radios go.


Catch ya on the flip flop, er.. 73,

Patrick