Tubes????? What are tubes?
Part of the fun of homebrewing linear (and not so linear) power
amplifiers
is the sense of accomplishment when the beast fires up and actually does
something.
The DX-60 transmitter was a fun tube unit. Do any of you remember the
EICO line of tube kits? They made a fine copper-colored chassis set of
HF gear. One was a transmitter and the optional modulator to go along
with
it was just as big!
Mostly ham radio was for the fun of it. The majority of the hams I've
known
through the years got more enjoyment tinkering than talking. Amplifier
kits
and homebrewed units are a real sense of mechanical accomplishment.
As for TVI, who hasn't grown up with it? Try 6-meter AM in the Bronx.
Daily coax-cutting, torch-light parades, FCC visits (remember there
actually
was a TVI committee?) Most of the old Dumont televisions in wooden
cabinets just aching to pull in a 6m signal...
Years later, non-hams went in big for scanners they could listen to the
2m repeaters. We used to freak 'em out big time by discussing the
"TVI Sweepstakes Weekend." It corresponded to Superbowl, and
even though none of us would be away from the TV at kickoff we got
a real kick out of the roundtable discussion for days before of how we
were going to detune our VHF gear, use rusty antenna bolts and generally
cause
havoc, with an award to the op who tee'd off the most amount of
civilians. Oh, there was no end to it. Matter of fact, one of us was
a local cop. Tickles the Clown. When he wasn't tinkering with his
own HF rig he made adult balloons. He would tell us off the air about
all the calls they received at HQ from people listening to the scanners
who
actually thought we were terrorists. And our slogan:
I'd rather be Red than Zed.
'73, Pranksters,
Hal
KA1XO/4
_______________________________________________
Amps mailing list
Amps@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/amps
|