Jim, my elmer had a 2B and 2BQ as well.
I got my ticket in 1964.
I got my Collins S-Line and a pair of KWM2's absolutely for free....only
cost me 3 years of my life ;-)
I was big into contesting and DXing then, and one of the things I noticed
with the tube rigs is, about once a year they needed tuning. I found that
if I didn't peak them, they would slowly drift and be down on sensitivity.
For comparison, I had a brand new Yaesu FT-200 which had a transistorized RX
with single 9 MHz IF, and then tubes in the driver and final.
When peaked, the Collins rigs could hear as well or better as the FT-200.
After a year I could hear weak signals on the FT-200 which were in the noise
on the Collins.
I built a heathkit VTVM, RF Voltmeter, and signal generator.
Later I got a scope.
I enjoyed tuning the old radios (well they were new then).
Today I don't have any of these instruments and don't have the time or
energy to be bothered having to tune a receiver every year.
I'd be afraid, just when I wanted to use it in a contest, it would be out of
tune.
This is the main reason that I have resisted the urge to purchase something
with tubes in it.
To be fair, I ran the US Army MARS station in Berlin from 1972 until 1974,
and the Collins gear was switched on 24x7, and used about 16 hours per day.
Maybe that's why it needed tuning so often.
I wonder is anyone else has had this kind of experience?
Anyway, about one year after that story above, I got my first Ten-Tec:
Argonaut 505.
For the next several years that followed, most of my operation was portable
and the 505, later replaced by the 509, together with a 405 amp, became my
rig of choice. See www.dj0ip.de
73
Rick, NJ0IP
-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces@contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com]
On Behalf Of Jim Lowman
Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 7:17 PM
To: ac5aa@ac5aa.com; Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] The Eagle inflation costs, etc.
A lot of it is nostalgia. I dreamed of having a Collins station when
first licensed in 1965, but it was too rich for my blood.
At one point not too many years ago, I bought some gear that took me
back to my roots as a young ham.
My Elmer had a Drake 2-B/2-BQ, so I bought those in his memory. I had
an early R-4/T-4X and now have the R-4C/T-4XC and a TR-4C.
The R-4C with the Sherwood mods still has impressive sensitivity as
compared with the latest and greatest rigs today.
I'd think that one of the major costs in re-creating the C-Line would be
the tube complement. Getting tubes in any quantity might be difficult,
not to mention expensive.
No Orions or Omni-VII here, but my T-T stable includes an Omni-VI+ as
well as the QRP rigs: Argo 556, Argonaut V and the "6N2."
73 de Jim - AD6CW
On 9/29/2010 6:59 AM, Duane Calvin wrote:
> Guess I'm a notch below you, Lee. I have a Drake B-line, and an Orion I.
> :o)
>
> 73, Duane
>
>
> Duane Calvin, AC5AA
> Austin, Texas
> www.ac5aa.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tentec-bounces@contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com]
> On Behalf Of kc9cdt@aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2010 6:25 AM
> To: tentec@contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] The Eagle inflation costs, etc.
>
> I asked Bill Frost at Drake if they would start making the C line
> again...he said it could be done...how much would I pay for it?
> Then he said it would be over $4,000.
>
> Labor would be a killer..He said get a great one from the list or
> E-pay. I did.
> Also have a OII. It's fun to do both.
>
> 73,
> Lee, KC9CDT
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richards<jruing@ameritech.net>
> To: geraldj@weather.net; Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> <tentec@contesting.com>
> Sent: Wed, Sep 29, 2010 1:56 am
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] The Eagle inflation costs, etc.
>
>
> Yep - I thought so ! ;-)
>
> Then, why would anyone want a new radio ? How did this happen ?
>
> OK... I am being sarcastic, but really, all this chatter about
> how good it was in the old days is getting me down. Everyone seems
> to say how good it was in the old days, but their shacks are filled
> with modern gear. I don't get it.
>
> I suspect there must have been trade-offs and compromises as things
> GOT BETTER OVER TIME. Right ? Otherwise, we should start a company
> that makes the old stuff again. There seems to be a market for it.
>
> And I respect Gerry's comment as coming from an insider, and also
> he MUST be able to identify the compromises and trade-offs that
> were made that would cause us to tolerate lower intermod performance in
> newer rigs.
>
>
> ========================= JHR =============================
>
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