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Thread: Ye Olde Radio Riggs

  1. 01-28-2013, 10:09 PM #1
    AE1PT
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    Ye Olde Radio Riggs

    These old Heathkits sure have me on my toes! Peak the load and adjust the drive, match the load to the tuner, balance the feed to the tuner--tweak the load once again and adjust the drive for the amp. Check the grid and plate. Dip and peak. Adjust the load and output on the amp, and tweak everything yet again. Set the gain, and peak the preselector. Back off the attenuator, and adjust the mic gain. Tweak everything once more. Shebang! You are ready for a QSO!

    LOTS AND LOTS OF SHINY KNOBS TO TWIST, GENTLY FONDLE AND CARESS TO SATISFACTION... :cool2:

    Anyone else captivated by the 'Olde Schoole' way of things?
    Give a man a fish, and he will eat it. Teach a man to fish and he will spend lots of money on tackle...
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  2. 01-28-2013, 10:14 PM #2
    NQ6U
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    Quote Originally Posted by AE1PT View Post
    These old Heathkits sure have me on my toes! Peak the load and adjust the drive, match the load to the tuner, balance the feed to the tuner--tweak the load once again and adjust the drive for the amp. Check the grid and plate. Dip and peak. Adjust the load and output on the amp, and tweak everything yet again. Set the gain, and peak the preselector. Back off the attenuator, and adjust the mic gain. Tweak everything once more. Shebang! You are ready for a QSO!

    LOTS AND LOTS OF SHINY KNOBS TO TWIST, GENTLY FONDLE AND CARESS TO SATISFACTION... :cool2:

    Anyone else captivated by the 'Olde Schoole' way of things?
    A-yep. I have a Drake T-4X/R-4A setup. Using them is like a whole different world compared to just switching on the Icom and dialing in the frequency. You actually have to know what you're doing, for one thing.

    Last edited by NQ6U; 01-28-2013 at 10:19 PM.
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  3. 01-29-2013, 12:23 AM #3
    AE1PT
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    Sweet brother...
    Give a man a fish, and he will eat it. Teach a man to fish and he will spend lots of money on tackle...
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  4. 01-29-2013, 07:34 AM #4
    HUGH
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    [QUOTE=AE1PT;511433]These old Heathkits sure have me on my toes! Peak the load and adjust the drive, match the load to the tuner, balance the feed to the tuner--tweak the load once again and adjust the drive for the amp. Check the grid and plate. Dip and peak. Adjust the load and output on the amp, and tweak everything yet again. Set the gain, and peak the preselector. Back off the attenuator, and adjust the mic gain. Tweak everything once more. Shebang! You are ready for a QSO!

    That's when a man was in charge of his equipment. It seems nowadays the equipment drives the man especially when you hear long QSOs on air about which menus to use and "does my audio sound better with this or with this?"
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  5. 01-29-2013, 07:57 AM #5
    KC2UGV
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    Quote Originally Posted by KJ6BSO View Post
    A-yep. I have a Drake T-4X/R-4A setup. Using them is like a whole different world compared to just switching on the Icom and dialing in the frequency. You actually have to know what you're doing, for one thing.
    Damn. Guess I'm not getting a Drake setup lol
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  6. 01-29-2013, 08:23 AM #6
    N2CHX
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    Quote Originally Posted by AE1PT View Post
    These old Heathkits sure have me on my toes! Peak the load and adjust the drive, match the load to the tuner, balance the feed to the tuner--tweak the load once again and adjust the drive for the amp. Check the grid and plate. Dip and peak. Adjust the load and output on the amp, and tweak everything yet again. Set the gain, and peak the preselector. Back off the attenuator, and adjust the mic gain. Tweak everything once more. Shebang! You are ready for a QSO!

    LOTS AND LOTS OF SHINY KNOBS TO TWIST, GENTLY FONDLE AND CARESS TO SATISFACTION... :cool2:

    Anyone else captivated by the 'Olde Schoole' way of things?
    Sounds like just another day in the life of a broadcast engineer -- a real one anyway, not the new ones out there who take one bewildered look at a tube rig and immediately put in a capx request to have it replaced.
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  7. 01-29-2013, 09:32 AM #7
    N8YX
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    A "real" broadcast engineer would design and implement an auto-tune arrangement with parametric feedback in a closed loop.

    Just sayin'.
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  8. 01-29-2013, 09:39 AM #8
    KJ3N
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    I prefer solid state for my rigs, and hollow state for my amps.
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  9. 01-29-2013, 12:30 PM #9
    W7UUU
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    I love the old gear. I have to be careful or I'll end up with another house full of it.
    Back in the 90s, I had over 100 radios - a great many of which were able to go on
    the air with the flip of a switch (16 transmitters paired with 16 receivers, on a computer
    controlled TR switch that could switch any pair I wanted).

    But my all-time favorites were the Drake B and C lineups. Wish I had kept one or two.

    If you click on my "site" link, then go to the 1996 shack page, you can see many of
    those radios as they once sat in my old shack.

    Dave
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  10. 01-29-2013, 12:32 PM #10
    N2CHX
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    Quote Originally Posted by N8YX View Post
    A "real" broadcast engineer would design and implement an auto-tune arrangement with parametric feedback in a closed loop.

    Just sayin'.
    Ah, OK. Yeah I'm sorry, I'm not a real broadcast engineer. I'll stand down and go back to the kitchen where I belong now.
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