[IRCA] DXing with a One Tube Radio

[Deane McIntyre]

Some of you may recall the books by Alfred Morgan such as The Boy
Electrician and The Boys First Book of Radio and Electronics that
had instructions on how to build, among other things, crystal radios
and a one tube regenerative radio. In the case of the regenerative  
radio,
a 1H4H triode tube was used with the filament operated off a 1.5 volt  
D cell
and a 45 volt battery for the plate voltage. Later editions used a  
6BF6 tube
instead as the 1936 vintage 1H4G tube became difficult to find. The  
circuit
was close  to that used in the early radios of the 1921 - 1925 time  
period,

when AM broadcasting was getting started.

Having read that in those days of few stations these one tube regen  
radios

were capable of DX, I built one, using a 1H4G tube, and am having fun
DXing with it. I finished it last night and soon had logged CKRM-620  
Regina,
KIRO-710 Seattle among many other stations. Best DX tonight so far  
was WGN-720

Chicago, also had KNRS-570 Salt Lake City, KNBC-680 San Francisco among
many other stations. Best daytime DX was CBK-540. Am having a lot of
fun with this - with seven local 50 kW stations here in Calgary, was  
wondering if I would get
much DX at all but with careful adjustment of the regeneration the  
selectvity

is not too bad - was even able to log with good signals KBOI-670 next to
local 50 kW CFFR-660.

As 45 volt B batteries are just about a thing of the past, I am using  
four

somewhat elderly 9 volt batteries in series that gives 32 volts. Total
cuurent draw is only 0.9 mA (and 50 mA from the D cell for the filament)
so the batteries should last a long time. Antenna is a 50 foot wire  
outside

run from the house to the garage.

73,

Deane McIntyre VE6BPO
Calgary AB
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Re: [IRCA] DXing with a One Tube Radio

[Stephen Hawkins]

Deane,

On Tuesday 30 December 2008 04:39:59 am Deane McIntyre wrote:
> Alfred Morgan

Oh, I cannot tell you how many times I checked those books out of the library 
when I was a kid.  Those were books that dreams were made of.  Now you've got 
me fired up and I'll probably have to build one also.


Thanks,
Steve
-- 
Stephen Hawkins
73 49 111 01001001
n...@arrl.net
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Re: [IRCA] DXing with a One Tube Radio

[Len Hyde]

Now, this is the kind of thing I would love to try, and have contests with.


On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 8:39 PM, Deane McIntyre  wrote:
> Some of you may recall the books by Alfred Morgan such as The Boy
> Electrician and The Boys First Book of Radio and Electronics that
> had instructions on how to build, among other things, crystal radios
> and a one tube regenerative radio. In the case of the regenerative radio,
> a 1H4H triode tube was used with the filament operated off a 1.5 volt D cell
> and a 45 volt battery for the plate voltage. Later editions used a 6BF6 tube
> instead as the 1936 vintage 1H4G tube became difficult to find. The circuit
> was close  to that used in the early radios of the 1921 - 1925 time period,
> when AM broadcasting was getting started.
>
> Having read that in those days of few stations these one tube regen radios
> were capable of DX, I built one, using a 1H4G tube, and am having fun
> DXing with it. I finished it last night and soon had logged CKRM-620 Regina,
> KIRO-710 Seattle among many other stations. Best DX tonight so far was
> WGN-720
> Chicago, also had KNRS-570 Salt Lake City, KNBC-680 San Francisco among
> many other stations. Best daytime DX was CBK-540. Am having a lot of
> fun with this - with seven local 50 kW stations here in Calgary, was
> wondering if I would get
> much DX at all but with careful adjustment of the regeneration the
> selectvity
> is not too bad - was even able to log with good signals KBOI-670 next to
> local 50 kW CFFR-660.
>
> As 45 volt B batteries are just about a thing of the past, I am using four
> somewhat elderly 9 volt batteries in series that gives 32 volts. Total
> cuurent draw is only 0.9 mA (and 50 mA from the D cell for the filament)
> so the batteries should last a long time. Antenna is a 50 foot wire outside
> run from the house to the garage.
>
> 73,
>
> Deane McIntyre VE6BPO
> Calgary AB
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> original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the
> IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers
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>
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>
>



-- 
Leonard Hyde
Weed, CA
Realistic DX-440
6 foot shielded loop
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Re: [IRCA] DXing with a One Tube Radio

[Nick Hall-Patch]

At 04:39 12/30/2008, you wrote:

>Having read that in those days of few stations these one tube regen  
>radios
>were capable of DX, I built one, using a 1H4G tube, and am having fun
>DXing with it. I finished it last night and soon had logged CKRM-620  
>Regina,
>KIRO-710 Seattle among many other stations. Best DX tonight so far  
>was WGN-720

You'll have to compare notes with John Bryant on this, Deane, as he too has 
DXed with a one tube set.  Believe that he's heard Japan with it, here on the 
coast of course.   Good luck with it...maybe you can be the first to get a TA 
with such a set.

best wishes,

Nick


*
Nick Hall-Patch
Victoria, BC
Canada 

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Re: [IRCA] DXing with a One Tube Radio

[Deane McIntyre]

On 29-Dec-08, at 9:39 PM, Deane McIntyre wrote:


Some of you may recall the books by Alfred Morgan such as The Boy
Electrician and The Boys First Book of Radio and Electronics that
had instructions on how to build, among other things, crystal radios
and a one tube regenerative radio. In the case of the regenerative  
radio,
a 1H4H triode tube was used with the filament operated off a 1.5  
volt D cell
and a 45 volt battery for the plate voltage. Later editions used a  
6BF6 tube
instead as the 1936 vintage 1H4G tube became difficult to find. The  
circuit
was close  to that used in the early radios of the 1921 - 1925 time  
period,

when AM broadcasting was getting started.

Having read that in those days of few stations these one tube regen  
radios

were capable of DX, I built one, using a 1H4G tube, and am having fun
DXing with it. I finished it last night and soon had logged  
CKRM-620 Regina,
KIRO-710 Seattle among many other stations. Best DX tonight so far  
was WGN-720
Chicago, also had KNRS-570 Salt Lake City, KNBC-680 San Francisco  
among

many other stations. Best daytime DX was CBK-540. Am having a lot of
fun with this - with seven local 50 kW stations here in Calgary,  
was wondering if I would get
much DX at all but with careful adjustment of the regeneration the  
selectvity
is not too bad - was even able to log with good signals KBOI-670  
next to

local 50 kW CFFR-660.

As 45 volt B batteries are just about a thing of the past, I am  
using four

somewhat elderly 9 volt batteries in series that gives 32 volts. Total
cuurent draw is only 0.9 mA (and 50 mA from the D cell for the  
filament)
so the batteries should last a long time. Antenna is a 50 foot wire  
outside

run from the house to the garage.



A few people have asked for further information on my one tube radio  
I wrote

about last night.



is a scan of the article of the 6BF6 version. The version I built  
used a 1H4G
tube, taken from a older book by Morgan, but is otherwise almost  
identical to the

one in the article linked to.

Finding the parts might be somewhat of a problem, I had all the parts  
on hand

except for the coil. The parts needed are:

Vacuum tube - 1H4G. 1E4G, 1G4GT, 30, 1LE3 or 1LF4 are all almost  
identical
to the 1H4G if you want a battery powered (1 D cell) version. Or use  
a 6BF6
or just about any low gain triode tube if you build the circuit in  
the article above.


Socket for tube (1H4G, 1E4G and 1G4GT use a standard octal (8 pin)  
socket, 30 needs a
four pin socket, 1LE3 and 1LF3 a loctal socket which might be hard to  
find.


Two variable capacitors - one about 365 pf for tuning, one about 100  
pf for

antenna coupling.

Coil (which I wound myself on a 3 inch dia cardboard tube using 26  
gauge enamel insulated
copper wire, 54 turns for antenna coil, 20 turns for regen coil  
spacked 1/4 inch from each

other)

resistor, 2.2 or 2.7 meg ohms

100 pF mica capacitor

0.003 uF or so capacitor, any type, for audio coupling to headphone

headphone jack

100 k ohm volume/regen control

headphones, 2,000 ohm resistance or better

D battery with holder (to heat tube filament)

3-5 series connected 9V batteries

Antenna and ground connection

Something to build the circuit in/on

Most of these items are available from Antique Electronic Supply if you
don't have a large pile of electronic junk



Photos of my radio:






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Re: [IRCA] DXing with a One Tube Radio

[Mike Stonebridge]

For those out there that can't make a regenerative receiver, there are 
always several available on eBay. Some are quite expensive, some are not. 
Not as much fun as making your own I agree, but as Deane points out, 
gathering all the required parts is the hardest part. Antique Electronic 
Supply of Tempe, AZ stocks all the necessary parts and complete kits. Go to 
http://tubesandmore.com/ and click on kits for more info.


Mike in St Isidore, AB 


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Re: [IRCA] DXing with a One Tube Radio

[HASCALL, DAVID CIV DFAS]

Thanks for the info Mike, I was wondering if there were kits available.
I see a two tube regenerative kit for $36, not including the 1T4 tubes
(which are less than $3 each).  Sounds cool.

73,
Dave in Indy


--

Message: 9
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:12:32 -0700
From: "Mike Stonebridge" 
Subject: Re: [IRCA] DXing with a One Tube Radio
To: "Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America"

Message-ID: 
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=response

For those out there that can't make a regenerative receiver, there are 
always several available on eBay. Some are quite expensive, some are
not. 
Not as much fun as making your own I agree, but as Deane points out, 
gathering all the required parts is the hardest part. Antique Electronic

Supply of Tempe, AZ stocks all the necessary parts and complete kits. Go
to 
http://tubesandmore.com/ and click on kits for more info.

Mike in St Isidore, AB 

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[IRCA] DXing with a One Tube Radio - what is the present KNRO format?

[Deane McIntyre]

Does anyone know the current format for KNRO-1670 Redding CA? They  
were sports
(ESPN) for a few years but some web sources say that they had  
recently changed.


Had a sports talk station on 1670 on the one tube 1H4 radio tonight,
mixing with a SS station.

73,

Deane McIntyre VE6BPO
Calgary CA
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Re: [IRCA] DXing with a One Tube Radio - what is the present KNRO format?

[Paul B. Walker, Jr.]

KNRO simulcasts KPIG
http://www.kpig.com/affiliates/redding.shtml

Paul Walker
www.onairdj.com


On 12/31/08, Deane McIntyre  wrote:
>
>
> Does anyone know the current format for KNRO-1670 Redding CA? They were
> sports
> (ESPN) for a few years but some web sources say that they had recently
> changed.
>
> Had a sports talk station on 1670 on the one tube 1H4 radio tonight,
> mixing with a SS station.
>
> 73,
>
> Deane McIntyre VE6BPO
> Calgary CA
> _
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