N8YX
10-16-2009, 08:53 AM
While doing some digging for info on a couple of projects, I happened to run across a fellow ham/CB enthusiast's missives and observations on the CB scene in his area:
http://home.ptd.net/~n3cvj/cbpage.htm
Some of the tales make for an entertaining read. I was also considered to be the area guru when it came to repairing or homebrewing equipment, antennas and the like. This fact was not lost on me, and I elmered a good number of prospects into the amateur ranks.
The author is definitely spot-on regarding the number of high-end ham rigs which were modified then used in Class D service. At a minimum, an FT-101 was the de rigeur price of admittance to the 'above and below' crowd in this area before the glut of easily converted PLL-synthesized rigs hit the market.
Anyone who was a licensed amateur in the late 70s was all too familiar with the price of a TR7 and its accompanying accessories. A high-school chum and his dad used one for CB; bought especially for the purpose and I'm pretty sure the only pieces of gear they didn't have alongside it were the R7 and L7. They didn't want their ham tickets, even when presented with offers of study help.
I lost track of how many Yaesus were on the air during those times. Even knew a guy who ran a converted '901.
(In retrospective, modding that rig for 11M using the unmarked 'Aux' spot - at least, to allow coverage of the "regular 40" - is pitifully easy. Just come up with the required VCO and XTAL-board components - solder them in - add one wire to the counter and a couple to the band switch wafers and you're good to go. Yaesu already did the 'heavy lifting' with regards to design and component fitment. It's also possible to set one up as 'RX only' by omitting the band switch screen-voltage connection to the (un)desired segment, which is what their engineers did for the WWV/JJY slot.)
http://home.ptd.net/~n3cvj/cbpage.htm
Some of the tales make for an entertaining read. I was also considered to be the area guru when it came to repairing or homebrewing equipment, antennas and the like. This fact was not lost on me, and I elmered a good number of prospects into the amateur ranks.
The author is definitely spot-on regarding the number of high-end ham rigs which were modified then used in Class D service. At a minimum, an FT-101 was the de rigeur price of admittance to the 'above and below' crowd in this area before the glut of easily converted PLL-synthesized rigs hit the market.
Anyone who was a licensed amateur in the late 70s was all too familiar with the price of a TR7 and its accompanying accessories. A high-school chum and his dad used one for CB; bought especially for the purpose and I'm pretty sure the only pieces of gear they didn't have alongside it were the R7 and L7. They didn't want their ham tickets, even when presented with offers of study help.
I lost track of how many Yaesus were on the air during those times. Even knew a guy who ran a converted '901.
(In retrospective, modding that rig for 11M using the unmarked 'Aux' spot - at least, to allow coverage of the "regular 40" - is pitifully easy. Just come up with the required VCO and XTAL-board components - solder them in - add one wire to the counter and a couple to the band switch wafers and you're good to go. Yaesu already did the 'heavy lifting' with regards to design and component fitment. It's also possible to set one up as 'RX only' by omitting the band switch screen-voltage connection to the (un)desired segment, which is what their engineers did for the WWV/JJY slot.)