WA2IAC

New! Gates BC1E Pix

• Yaesu FT-817 is a fabulous rig about half the size of the DX-70 (below) but many times the features, and about 1/10th the power. It is the best thing you can get in miniature-QRP-DC-to-light. A walkie talkie for HF? Got a 40 meter dipole in your pocket, or are you just way out there?
• Alinco DX-70 makes a surprisingly good AM exciter (HI-FI audio goes in thru mic connector on lower left). After a year as my main rig, I am now using it for portable hamventures.
• Rad Shaft HTX-10 is worth it's price so long as 10 meters is open. With a zip-cord 10 meter dipole, it turned this lab area into yet-another-shack in the house, much to the XYL's consternation. Hey, I work more DX here than in my main shack!
• Drake TR4C
• Swan 175
• Rad Shaft HTX-242 and HTX-252 2M junkband radios
• Alinco DJC1T and DJC4T microscopic transceivers, 2m and 70cm
• Home brew (pix coming someday)

• Gates BC1E 1000w Broadcast Transmitter, 2-833As modulated by 2-833As
• Johnson Ranger
• Johnson Viking IICDC (9/16/2001)
• WRL Globe Champion 300
• DX-60B modified for plate modulation and with cosmetic makeover.
• Rework-Card QRP transmitter viewed from above and while hanging
• Close up of CW keys. HiRes 55K.
• The Drake T4X undergoing surgery to become a stereo (ISB) AM exciter. The Lemur perched on top doesn't want to become extinct, by the way. HiRes 67K.
• Hammarlund HX-50
• Drake T4XB
• Home Brew

• Drake R4B (a few)
• Lafayette HA-350 (see below, please)
• Various 'SWL' radio receivers
• RCA VHF scanner

• Linears: Heath SB200 (2), SB220, SB1000, Drake L4B
• The scope and tuner are Yaesu YO-1 and Drake MN-2000, with Radial Shaft HTX-242 2M rig on top. HiRes 44K.

• Shure SM63 Microphonium
• DBX Mic Processor
• Compressor/Limiter
• Balanced audio interfaces to various rigs

The March 1968 cover of Electronics Illustrated with the 50c5 junk-box CW rig on the cover. I built it for an out-of-pocket cost of about $3. The rest came from dead TVs and the junkbox. It didn't help much until I got the Lafayette HA-350 receiver (see below). Then I worked lots of contacts on 40 and 80 driving a 30' or so wire with no antenna tuner. Hey, I was a young kid then! I got wise pretty fast from that point. Unfortunately, my copy of Electronics Illustrated was lost in a fire in November, 2005. However, the contents of the article can be found at wd4nka.

My First Real Receiver

I couldn't copy any but the strongest CW signals with a GR-10B Heath general coverage receiver I built with my father. I picked this up at the Lafayette in Syosset, Long Island. It was a demo/clearance item selling for about $45 bucks. I was ready to rock, and my log book started filling up. Later, I modified it for TR switching, wideband AM, synchronous AM detection, scope monitoring, and more. Click here for detailed info and pictures of the HA350...