Still using a TR-4 I've just restored along with the R-4B/T-4XB "twins"....The warm glow still has its magic...Thanks for posting!

@MIKROWAVE1

11 ай бұрын

Hard to beat those two!

Yes, I had worked in 1964 for about $1.25 an hour, before I went back to college to get a degree, and take USAF ROTC, and after college, ROTC, and some graduate school, went on Active Duty in Fall 1969 as a Second Lieutenant, first earning $389.00 per month, plus some benefits A big difference from todays wages and about 50 years later cost of living, being about 10 times higher, that a minimum wage of $15.00 doesn't look so high. Thanks for the reviews of these SSB transceivers. I remember these ones. I built an Eico 720 75 Watt CW only transmitter in 1962, at 18, as a new Novice operator, WV2ZPD, now W2CH.

I realize ham radios have come a long way in tech, but I think these older, simpler, yet built like a tank designs had a higher fun factor.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Yup a fun factor and especially when we had those sunspots and you got home from school and 15M was wide open in the Novice Band!

@hs0zcw

Жыл бұрын

Real ham Radios were not meant to be carried around like little pets.

I was 12 years old when I got my General Class license. I was so proud and pumped about being a ham in those days. My first xmtr was a Hallicrafter HT40 and a simple S38D rcvr. I used my back yard to experiment with making antennas. A few years later I had the good fortune to have someone let me borrow a KWM2....I couldn't believe it. It was a dream come true and QSO'd all over the world with it. Collins was king in those days. I'll never forget the experience. My parents at the time couldn't keep me away from using that rig because it was such an amazing piece of gear. You can imagine the feeling I had when I had to give it up!

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

I felt the same way when I first got to use the Drake 4 Line at college - different ballgame.

My first SSB rig was a SB-101. A big step up from my home-built CW/AM station. Thanks for this great history lesson Mike. 4X4LF

@MIKROWAVE1

Жыл бұрын

Those Heathkits were a real entry into SSB! Thanks for watching.

My ham career started at the not quite tender age of sixteen. The receiver was an S-38 gifted to me a year previous, that I had to draw the dial scale on. The transmitter was the veritable Heath TX-1. Not long after, I traded the Hallicrafters for a Hammarlund HQ-170. In short order, I wound up wiring the station for full break-in. Around that same time, I was enamored with an Eico 753 for sale at a local ham store, figured it would be a little more affordable than some of the other, more popular gear. Alas, not affordable enough, as I was never able to bring him home with me. As much as I liked the styling, the front panel font was a little intense. I've also seen that same font on some RCA gear too. After several years, I got bit again, and got a Yaesu FT-301D, which I ran mobile in '91, while the sunspots were having a field day. Years after that, I acquired a Sommerkamp FT-377, which is really a Yaesu FT-301B. Not long after that, a Swan 350 joined the Sommerkamp in the collection. From time to time, I'll consider changing the finals to 6146B, for cost and ruggedness. I heard a rumour somewhere that 4CX250s can work in the Swan, but I'm not real sanguine about doing major machinery work in a space as tight as the final cage. Then again 6HF5s are pretty cheap from Tempe. At 400W PEP, I won't need an amplifier, as it's only a handful of dB difference to maximum legal limit. And there has to be some way to get the VFO more stable. Perhaps a PLL driven unit, reference to a 10 MHz VCXO. Then again, I have a WWII vintage Collins PTO that is still hellishly stable. Couple that with an HRO dial, and the competition would be on for the prettiest external VFO.

@MIKROWAVE1

11 ай бұрын

Wow that is quite a history and rundown! I always liked sweep tubes and had them in my NCX-3. They are pretty tough! I converted my Halli SR150 from a pair of 6DQ6's to a Pair of 6146B's and only had to mod the Neutralization a bit. Worked slick.

The Eico 753 was my first SSB rig in 1969.

Thank you for the memories. I got licensed on the tail end of this era in late 69 as WA5ZVE. My very first introduction to ham radio was a fella that lived in our neighborhood who had a Galaxy 3 in his car. Didn't know him at all but knocked on his door and literally 3 minutes later, I was riding around the neighborhood with him talking to a ham in Maryland. I was hooked! He became my elmer and got me on the air..

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Yup my first mobile experience was also with a nieghbor who had a Galaxy GT550 in his car!

I was a very lucky kid, and my father bought me a Collins 75S-3C receiver for my first gear. One of the finest pieces of electronics ever made. People were shocked that someone would buy the best, but my father really appreciated good design, and let's face it, the ergonomics on that radio are unsurpassed in any era. The knobs were spectacular; the little spinner hole for your finger, and the anti-backlash system using two gears with a spring forcing them to engage at all times.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Woo. I thought I was spoiled!

I had a Swan 400, had a lot of fun and made many contacts with it. Nice solid radio. Had a external VFO. After warm up, was pretty stable

@MIKROWAVE1

7 ай бұрын

MIne's almost warmed up - Hi.

Congratulations for this excellent video, my dear friend, it's plenty of great memories. I got my first EB licence in 1983, when I was 16 (it was the minimum permissed age in that moment) and during all these years, have passed by my hands, so as HAM operator as Army Signals Officer and finally as Telecommunications Engineer a lot of these "old glories". I've enjoyed very much with several SWANs, ASTRO, and very specially with my TR4CW and his bro. the TR7. At this moment I'm following the path of a TR4 unit and I can feel I'm very close to get it...! Congratulations again, dear OM, I'll be waiting for the 70s and 80s "new chapters" of this amazing video! 73 from EA6FS, Franc.

Excellent new KZread material! I'm glad I found this channel. Great presentation of these wonderful radios. 73's!

@MIKROWAVE1

11 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching and being a subscriber!

TR-4 was my first transceiver. Before that I was using a Lafayette receiver and a homebrew CW transmitter.

Thank you for the wonderful video! You did an excellent job with describing each of the radios. I have either owned or operated a number of this rigs over the years. I currently am using as my classic station a Swan 500CX( 8950's) on CW and a Swan 700CX on SSB. I have a wonderful time getting on the air with these beauties. 73, Denny WB9MSM

Thanks, that was great. I still use my Hallicrafters SR-150 today, had it for over 40 years now. The tubes last a long time, and are still available for cheap. I get compliments all the time on the quality of sound it produces in SSB mode. The receiver is very sensitive, but of course lacks any sort of adjustable filtering. It was however the first transceiver on the market with RIT tuning feature.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Yes The RIT worked quite well and it actually used a diode for tuning, too. I used mine tor Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air for many years. A bit wide on CW and no sidetone!

My first HF radio was a Yeasu Tempo 1. My second, and I still use it, was a KWM-2. My portable in the truck is an FT-991A.

Thanks for the memories! I ran the HW-22a and Hw32a in the Toyota Corolla my wife and I drive on a coast-to-coast trip in 1974. A little cramped on the passenger side under the dash but my wonderful wife indulged me with a smile. Only room for one of them (radios, thati is) under the dash at a time so would have to stop and swap them when I wanted to change bands. Had a blast operating them mobile and worked the world from the car with a Hustler mobile antenna.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

What a doll - NCX-3 was in the car for the drive to Florida "Honeymoon" in 1980 - not proud of this...

I was and am still very happy with my Drake twins , the R4B and T4XB. They were extremely selective and sensitive, either the transmitter or receiver VFO could control both the transmitter or receiver together or seperately. You could use crystals to expand transceive coverage from 1.5 Mhz to 32 Mhz. With 6M and 2M transverters from Drake, external p/s and speaker (MS-4) this radio was the rage in the late 60's and through the 70's. This was considered the "Cadillac" Twins produced. There were other Twins, Kenwood, and Yaesu, but not as many as the Drake Twins and more expensive and not as many external accessories as the Drake's. Later in the 70's, a monster amp, the L4 and the L4B using two 3-500Z built with heavy duty components made a super station. All Drake equipment had thick copper plated chassis which made them very popular.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

I first used them in our college Station at RIT in 1978 with the Henry 2K. Wow. Point and shoot DX.

Excellent presentation. I enjoyed every minute of it. I lived through the ham radio of the late 50's and beyond and could totally relate to the subject matter.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

With the electrical shocks to prove it? I admit I got popped a couple of times. Would have killed a normal person.

@BillyLapTop

3 жыл бұрын

@@MIKROWAVE1 Yes, I had all the obligatory initiations for pursuing our hobby in the raw. One learns quickly about bare feet and AC/DC radios. I had no elmers, only experience from fooling around and being lucky enough to survive some interesting situations. Experience is a great and unforgiving teacher, at times.

Great presentation! We really enjoyed the history of these beautiful radios including your discussion on their architecture and design. Thanks!

Great vid ! My 1st txcvr was a SR-150. I bought it used in September 1981, 4 months after getting my novice. Worked the world with it. I currently have a TR-4 on the bench trying to coax it back to life. I recently updated the power supply with the kit available. Right now it won't load for some reason, but that'll get straightened out soon. Thanks for posting. Reid. WI3K

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Be careful. The TR-3 I am playing with now has no cover over the PA cage. Best tape a safety screen bonnet (and maybe a muffin fan) over that danger spot!

Once again, you knocked another classic Ham Radio topic/ERA out of the park! I too was licensed in 1969 and had some radios you have covered. My first SSB/CW/AM XCVR was the NCX200, which I bought used with TV set AC and NCX-D PS, which I modified to add Kenwood 599 Twins mic amp and other mods while at Bradley U EE program, AND had it mobile in my best ham friend's Duster, making phone patches on trips home to NJ . I bought up NCX-3, NCX-5, and an NCL-2000 "One Call" Linear amp on ebay in the 1990's. The Kenwood twins were 1974 or later (my rich Dr's son roommate had them at our ARC station) , and I restored an R599 with increased coupling and filtering caps, fantastic sound on a B&O Phase Link speaker, and excellent filters. My final comment is that you just lit A fire under me to get the NCX-5 restored soon, I did not fully appreciate the fact there are 2 RF 3 IF and 8 poles XTAL FILTER! I remember the National audio sounded a little narrow BW. Thanks for the memories, W4HDL in GA... I am still working since 1976 from TI, Gates Radio, Nortel and now ADVA Optical Terabit networking, in Power, Compliance and EMC responsibility, using the Ham Radio PRACTICAL experience us oldtimers learned, providing "Mc Guyver" skills in every step of my career.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

The 200 represents a reaction by National to the pricing competition and it came a bit after the initial sets that caused all of the commotion. Nice radio. I always liked the solid national panels.

What a great historical movie ! Heathkit HW-101 was my very first "commercial" radio. Now having top of the art modern rig still have collection of Heathkits - HW-7, HW12, HW-100. Best 73'ss from HF5WIM

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Everybody should have the experience of building or restoring an old Heathkit. There are some very nasty examples of let's just say "beginner soldering" on some!

@sp5ddj

3 жыл бұрын

@@MIKROWAVE1 Perfectly correct. 73 de Wim

What a great video, thanks for sharing. I was on my edge waiting for the Atlas but that was after the period that your review covered. I forwarded this to many folks that can really appreciate you research. Thanks again, de Frank KG9H

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

The era after this brings in the early solid state and Hybrid rigs in. I need some stick time on a few before I dare do a video.

My first ever contact was on a Swan 350 in a club station as a new novice

Loved your presentation of the NCX-3. I still have my high school 1964 model NCX-3 on the shelf with it's original tubes and it still operates just fine (VFO drifting just as bad as it did when it was new). Fun to re-live those days. Good post. 73 Steve VK3JA ex WA0ARA

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Wow Steve - Good on ya, mate! Ha. I still remember the massive aluminum bracket to hang it from the dash. Makes an IC7000 seem so cute.

My first real ham rig was a Henry Radio Tempo1 xcvr. I did love that radio. wish i kept it now.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

I wanted to cover that but it just is on the other side of 1965...

Very interesting review! When you're at the desk your voice is much clearer than when you're showing the equipments. I'm argentinian and for me it's easer to understand you with a more clearer (no soo bassy or intim) voice Thanks!

Wow what a great video. Thanks for reviewing all those vintage radios. I own many Swans, Heathkits and Hallicrafters. They are fun to work DX and I work on them as well. Fun times with old classics.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Nostalgia, Cheap and DX too?

The KWM2 was just something to lust at. :-)

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Got my Novice around 1962 or so and General before my drivers license in about 1963. Finally got a Drake 2B receiver to go with my Novice DX-60B, but after high school and off to college then the Air Force I could only dream of some of these rigs. Kept my license up over the years, but rarely able to get on the air till after retirement. During recovery from minor surgery in early 2015 I decided to bone up for the Extra and passed it latter that year and have been active ever since. Biggest shock was the change in the equipment. My dream back then was the Drake TR-4

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

2B - holy cow! The ultimate novice receiver!

@tomroderick6041

3 жыл бұрын

It was and is a great receiver and I still have it and it works. I also had a BC-348, but I let it go along with the DX-60B and HG-10 at our club hamfest last November I am 73 now and they both needed some restoration which I am pretty sure I would never do. Current rig is Yaeseu FT-450D, but I am using a SDRplay 2 as my main receiver with a home brew TR relay that isolates and grounds the SDR. Great channel and I just subscribed since I have been watching your videos on my Roku almost every evening.

A great overview of all the usual suspects. Kudos for giving WRL, Heath, and SBE their due. All my germanium transistors continue to work just fine... including the hand made ones in my 1957 Regency ATC-1 converter.

@MIKROWAVE1

Жыл бұрын

I love those old tube rigs. That NCX3 was so fixable (except for the relay). You just flipped it and everything was there!

Some of these are beautiful equipments. I was licenced at that time but unable to afford the prices of commercial equipment. But now I am making a tube transceiver for 20/40/80 with 9MHz IF.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Very Cool and keep us informed on the Mikrowave1 Radio Resources - Facebook Page!

Thank you for the excellent video! I enjoyed it.. 73

Great Video Thank you OM for making it I love these old rigs my first mobile rig Swan 175 in my VW squareback lol I remember the whine of those switching transistors and limiting my time listening without the engine running ! those were the daze:) I'm presently fixing up an old HW-100 oh I did operate with a complete Galaxy 5 MKII station and at the time was very impressed with the rig...I still use a WRL Globe Champion 350 on 160 and 75 AM and CW...all the best DX. 73 de KE4EZ

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Wow what a load of classic fun! I saw my first Galaxy setup with the PA in a motor home in the 70's - very nice and drive anywhere and have your shack with you.

Enjoyed the video very much - these rigs were unobtanium for me as a 15 year old in 1967, I only made about $200 on my summer job, and that had to cover all my interests including a $90 1950 Chevrolet I bought that year - my mentor had a Heathkit SB-100 that seemed like a spaceship compared to my $30 Viking I and $65 Knightkit R-100A

When I was a greasy teenager and just getting into ham radio I picked up an FTdx560 at a swap meet to replace my Heathkit twins, which I'd outgrown. I think I got 300 watts out at full power with that thing. Since I was novice, I couldn't really run that on the air. But I did learn a valuable lesson when I reached inside after I'd unplugged it, and touched one of the output filter caps....

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

"Couldn't really run that on the air" wink wink

Thanks for the drive down memory lane have operated most of those rigs over the years. Own a couple. Had a swan 350, drake twins and tr-3 , Heathkits, Hallicrafters and Collins KWM2 all fun rigs some great. Thanks again.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Wow! I bet there are some old sweep tubes rolling around on your floor!

@davidrowe3614

3 жыл бұрын

@@MIKROWAVE1 nope, got rid of them years ago. Wish I had not done that. But living in a small apartment these days so no room for the boat anchors. I enjoy your videos. 73 dave

My SB-102 continues to work extremely well, with excellent sensitivity and stability, and great transmit audio.

@MIKROWAVE1

Жыл бұрын

An amazing radio all right!

Had many of these. Fav was NCX-5 driving the matching NCL-2000 compact 2KW desktop linear with ceramic tetrode 8122 finals. Never found the Collins floor linear but built a twin 4-1000A common cathode proper tetrode linear with grid drive 50 ohm input any 10 watt transmitter could drive. The linear had the core of a 7200v 10KVA pole xfmr for a plate supply. My math skills get foggy around intense RF fields but I could get 1.6A at 6200VDC at 100% duty cycle. I brought a foot long piece of RG-8 to our ham meeting to brag as it was melted.....by my "kilowatt homebrew". You can tell your linear is tuned when it dims the lights in his house and makes his florescent lights glow when off.

Thanks for video. Very interesting. A few of these transcievers were new to me. Although, licensed in the 1980s, I have always had a bit of an interest in radios of yesteryear. Here in the UK, I suppose an obvious Collins inspired transciever was the KW-2000 series. Not sure how much they sold for in the 1960s. I am guessing a lot less the the Collins though. Those Collins prices were eye-watering! Just goes to show how relatively inexpensive the tech of today is.

Good job on the video and selection of vintage rigs.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching. I have a lot less experience with the next generation of rigs from the 70's and 80's.

Trying to get these new hams to understand the importance of these great radios ,is a very hard thing to do . They consider them worthless junk and its very sad . My newest rigs are a Icom 725 and Icom 746.I ran all Heathkit gear until I bought a used Icom 725 .Sadly I no longer have all my tube gear but I am looking to another HW 101 and SB102 Although I didnt get my ticket until the ealry 90's , I grew up in my dads radio shop .Great video

I restored my sbe 33. works great. one secret is to replace all the germanium diodes with hot carrier diodes. nice video.

I still have my first transceiver that I use at the cabin the Swan 350C. It still is a power house. I was a Novice WN7DQP in 65 then Advanced WB7ORB in 66 and ever since. 73s

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

The thought of a radio at camp with a wood stove going and the warm glow of some tubes!

Nice job. W When I started watching, I thought “I bet he doesn’t mention the SBE-33 or even the Swan-350.” So you really nailed it in my book. One thing you didn’t mention was how several of the rigs (the Swan for sure) tuned in opposite direction on hi bands vs low bands. I never used a TR-4 but did use Drake twins in college club stationing the early 80s. Did the tranceiver also have the built-in Q-multiplier like the R-4? I always thought the Collins multi-turn dial was an outstanding feature, giving incredible bandspread. They were really unmatched until synthesized rigs appeared.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

I don't have enough experience to know those kinds of details! Yes we had The Drake 4 line twins in college at RIT and that opened my eyes to what radios can do.

Very nice presentation. You did a very nice job with your video. I started in 1963 with my General license and a Apache transmitter and HQ-110C (the C version had the clock...). I was fortunate and soon had a 75A-4 and just went up from there and now all the S-Line and KWM-2A, etc. I like the Collins equipment because I can fix it when necessary. The only rare Drake product I hear on the air is the amplifier with the pair of 3-500Z (L4-B) and I never hear any Heathkit anymore. 73 and thanks for posting. WA4QGA El Paso

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

That was a fancy station - an Apache with the HQ-110 - very nice. And then Collins? wow.

Wonderful presentation! Thank you. W5JCS

@MIKROWAVE1

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching the video!

Thank you. Memories

great review, tnx . .

Missed that whole era. I came back into the fold after 1965 and started with the Hallicrafters HT46 / SX146 (which I still own). From there the Yaesu FT301 series which I still own. Your neighbor, Al VTP

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching Al!

My elmer had a Galaxy V Mk III which came to me when he passed in 1985. Changed out the finals and driver since. then and recapped..other than that, still plays fine. I fire it up at least once a week and get on the air to keep the old girl going, that along with my SB102. Nice video, love the boat anchors!

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

That brings some flavor to the QSO!

@cannong1728

3 жыл бұрын

@@MIKROWAVE1 Sure does...above all for the old timers who happened to have had one. Haven't talked to anyone with one....yet!

Great intro thank you nice to eyeball the old girls

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

These were a lot of fun and really made mobile operation pretty effective. I remember having the NCX-3 in my college car and via phone patch, talking to my folks.

Great! I have a 150 complete. Great set !

@MIKROWAVE1

Жыл бұрын

Very nice set indeed!

Seems all the good stuff was made when i was born in 1965. Love the old stuff. Great video as always.

Good stuff and some of the nicest vintage rigs around. Owned many. Should of kept my NCX5 .. On the lookout for another.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Ha! The NCX-5 has slayed many who try to keep her.

NCX-5 was my first HF rig. Bought used in 1988. It was very well kept, had the original box and a mobile mounting bracket. I still have it in the shack. No side tone on CW though.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Yes I guess a sidetone was a bridge too far in an era of SSB at any cost!

Great! Thank you.

i cant wait until the follow up videos,,, 65-70, 70-75, 75-80 and so on

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Wow I am tired already. The next one is a restoration of one of those 60-65 jobs.

Have an sbe 33 I just got back from an attempted repair earlier this year. I sent it in hoping to get the weird mica load trimmer replaced because I couldn't load up to xmit but repair shop said it needed something else missing and ended up only re-capping it. Haven't opened the box since I got it back, (too sad),. Had it nearly 40 years now. If I could find someone to to do a repair I'd send it off again but there doesn't seem to be anyone who knows these strange little radios willing to take a chance. It's fast becoming a lost art and impossible to source parts. Such an important piece of electronic history. 73s.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Ha that radio is a bridge too far. But there is no radio that is broked that can not be fixed!

@jimp.7286

3 жыл бұрын

@@MIKROWAVE1 Too far? True! But the sbe 33 has a certain charm about it I don't see in anything else. Everyone that sees it asks about it. It reminds me of the volkswagen beatle of early 60's hf rigs for some reason - if that makes sense. If I find someone to do the repair, I'll be glad to fork out the dough out of pure stubbornness as I'm already into it somewhat deep ($), I just won't bring it up with the wife. That's a different topic. Cheers and 73's.

Love 📻 Collins radios were some of the best that I worked on in the Navy. My first job in "radio one" was to clean and align everyone of our R-390's. 73's KD9OAM

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Align R390s? - You learned to make perfection even better? Still use mine but it could use an alignment?!

@AdamosDad

3 жыл бұрын

@@MIKROWAVE1 The first one I did I got everything peaked to perfection and it was rejected because there wasn't enough signal rejection, so I had to detune it a little. I guess I'm a perfectionist. My life took me a different direction, but now that I'm retired at 71 I decided to get back into this hobby, I've had my general now since right before Christmas. I enjoyed these video's and look forward to more. 73's kd9oam

I enjoyed this video very much. Thank you. I would like to see videos on the 70's and 80's, if your up to it.

@MIKROWAVE1

Жыл бұрын

That period of Ham Radio development features intensely complex circuits with big changes in construction techniques and hardware such as surface mount, and many added features and is especially geared towards receiver performance and contesting and talk power. The late SDR switch has been a big reset to simplification with software doing the work.

Nice information about SSB radio....best regards from YC2WPE....from Indonesia....

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Maybe next year I do one on the SSB radios of the 70's and 80's.

@Waton_Mangap

3 жыл бұрын

@@MIKROWAVE1 : I like your planning.....

Eico 753, I remember in 1959 in Waco Texas I was just getting into Ham Radio, I was 9 Years old, and across the street were 2 Hams both Teenagers. One built the Eico 753 the other built the Heathkit HX-10 'Marauder' I think

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Wow either one of those would be a challenge for a teenager! Especially the Marauder which I have had two of and still own one.

At 5:57, I see my old keyer... Which I still have, by the way. I also met Arthur Collins when I was a small boy. I actually got to shake his hand! His son-in-law was my teacher in grade school. I can still see in my mind his ham shack with a QSL card from Russia on the desk. Oh, yeah... I ended up working at Collins Radio until I got drafted in 1967. W0SKI

@MIKROWAVE1

11 ай бұрын

Wow you got to meet Arthur Collins! These guys were tough and they promoted and fought hard for the rights and credit on the technology, against all comers!

Nice comparison video. Don't forget the Hallicrafter FPM-200 transceiver made from 1959-1964. Dual PTO! It sold for $2650 in my 1963 Allied catalog! Sadly less than 100 were probably made, but that's understandable as it was higher priced than the KWM-2(A) at the time. I was lucky to have had the privilege of restoring one back in the early 2000's and it was indeed an excellent radio, but the main tuning dials were NOT flywheel by any stretch like so many of the nicer Hallicrafters receivers from that time frame.

@radiolabworks

3 жыл бұрын

I still have a link to my work with the FPM-200 at my radiolabworks.com website.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

@@radiolabworks WOW! Like Collins, Hallicrafters had a military contract pedigree that allowed it to play bigger than a normal garage shop ham company.

In 1967 I had to choose between a KWM2 and an SB101 (basically same as SB100). The KWM2 generated CW by feeding audio into the balance modulator. The pitch was way too high and it had no CW filter. The 200 kHz band segments were a pain when scanning the wider bands. The Heath had 1 khz readout, good CW sidetone & optional CW filter. The filters were 6 pole with much better shape factors than 4 pole filters. I worked CW in addition to SSB, so the SB101 was the clear choice, even ignoring price (family friends offered to get me Collins gear at their employee discount). I used lots of S lines & KWM2s. Comparing VFO tracking, the Heath was better over 500 kHz than the Collins over 200 kHz. I found the Collins AGC not to my liking. I was very glad I got the Heath. As to Hallicrafters SR150, the readout was not as precise, it had no CW filter and did not have quite enough output on the higher bands to drive, e.g., an SB200, to full output. The RIT was handy. The TR4 had the same first two deficiencies. The NCX5 was pretty, but had no CW filter. If I had to use one of these radios today, I would certainly pick the Heath for performance. Of course, some Heaths were poorly built, but I built mine very carefully. My only complaint with it was it used a 2.4 kHz filter rather than a 2.7 like the Swan, giving it less punch. An external RF clipper (Magnum Six) solved that problem very well. 73 K5RX

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Very cool story Jim. CW was an afterthought with the Collins.

Great Great video! I love the boat anchors! I guess I should add a TX-3 to my shack. That would fill in the space between my 2c-2nt & my TX4. Maybe I'll get my OM's Galaxy out also. Don't know if my desk would hold all this weight! de W4MVA

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Get a bigger desk!

Exelentes rádios, parabéns pela postagem PY 2 CBO Brasil São Paulo SP TKS

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

São Paulo, obrigado por assistir e manter seu ferro de soldar quente!

Damn, look at all those tubes and IF cans, that must have been a nightmare to assemble and align

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

The Drake I am playing with now mounts the tube sockets from the bottom side with self tapping metal screws into a copper coated steel chassis like with a washing machine! No machine screws, lockwashers, washers or nuts! Now that is fast and clever.

There is only ONE modern rig that has the audio warmth and beauty of my SB-101, and I bought it: my FTdx3000. I still prefer the sound (both CW and SSB) of my Heathkit. Hint: don't compensate your old VFO! It's your signature. It's your, uh, face as it were. Eliminate the drift and what are the old farts gonna think on the AM boat anchor nets? Now I suppose you could claim to be rock bound. Just let it go.. drift away with the boys in the middle of the night... Amazing video! Thank you so SO much :)

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Heath got to look at all of this; and they took time to design that series for the best value possible; and right when they needed to. You could sell these kits today for 3X the money and folks would buy them.

@n8nkqrp595

3 жыл бұрын

@@MIKROWAVE1 What a grin it would be to see Heath re-release their pinnacle tube-era xcvr, maybe the SB-102, as a new kit.. including vacuum 'bulbs' and the works. Well, sans the paper and wax caps. lol. And like you said- release it for maybe 4 or 5 times the selling price of the last SB-102. I agree with you that they'd sell them. There are enough people with enough disposable income that the kit would fly off the shelves. Heck, they wouldn't make it to a shelf- there'd be a pre-paid order a mile long before production even began! God I want to open the sub package with the 6146's inside! I want to do the same with the tuning dial and look at the hub rivets and think to myself "jeez... too bad nobody knows right now that radial cracks will form here.. progressing outward.. first through the '15' dial marking....

My first cw trasnmitter was an Eico 720 90watts input in 1962....My favorite radio nowdays is a Swam500C that has been gone through and works nicely, an AC p. supply which has had solid state upgrades

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Swan500 Big Power in a box!

@vk2ig

3 жыл бұрын

I bought a Swan 500C ("N-th" hand) as my first ever commercial radio just after I got my novice licence in the early 80's. At that time, being only licensed for a few weeks, I really wasn't ready for a radio like that. And, under the terms of the VK novice licence at the time, I really shouldn't have been using it anyway, as it wasn't modified to the limited novice power at the time, and I got banned from using it by the radio inspector until I upgraded - my attempt to convince him that I kept the power down by adjusting the control grid bias on the final didn't quite cut it, LOL. But I learnt a lot from both using it and keeping it running. I still have it - it's in pieces, stored away. Initially I had to replace some parts after having the final's plates go red-hot and tank caps arc over when a very-well-hidden cracked solder joint in a balun opened up one time too many while I was transmitting. But, once I had it apart I found other issues courtesy of the previous owners / abusers. (That sure explained why the older hams in the district would say "Ahhh ... so you bought THAT rig?!?!" but they wouldn't tell me what "THAT" really meant.) So what should have been a moderately easy task grew to mammoth proportions. I do have plans to reassemble it and put it back on the air. Things I remember about that radio: - it always got very complimentary comments about the transmit audio, and the receiver ... well I've never heard another like it. - for the first hour after switching on, it drifted like there was no tomorrow! But once it settled down, it was nice and stable. I took to leaving it switched on for days at a time, because I never knew when I might just walk in, sit down and work some DX. - you learnt to tune quickly because it drew 0.5 Amp plate current in the TUNE position (plate dissipation was something like 200% rated), and you had to keep the whole activity to less than 30 seconds duration. - you could turn off the lights in the shack at night and log traffic purely by the light of the dial and the tubes - especially the voltage regulator tube ... a nice greeny-blue colour! - you could receive the VNG time signal on 7500 kHz (just) as well as CHU just down the band - great for dial calibration. - the 6GK6 driver glows blue when transmitting! And, later 6GK6's have a previously-unused pin connected to the screen grid, but the radio uses that "unused" pin as a grounding point for a number of components ... so plugging a new 6GK6 into the 500C immediately grounds the screen, which puts 300V across the 1/4W 100 Ohm screen dropper. Doing that (I didn't know about the difference beforehand) created the biggest arc I've ever seen in my amateur radio career ... and all that remained of the screen dropping resistor was the two leads, LOL!

Eico 753: The infamous Seven-Drifty-Three with automatic frequency scan lol

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Today's radios would have fun chasing that with their DSP 100 Hz filter! Actually DSP is what you need to track it!

These are the radios, as a high school and college student, I could only lust after in the 60s. I felt privileged to be able to acquire a Heathkit DX-60 and operate on AM with my new General ticket. Those Slop Buckets (SSB) were for the truly privileged. hi...jim, WA7VVV

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Jim our College Station at RIT in Rochester NY was the Drake Twins and a Henry 2K and we "put the boots to her".

@mikeburch2998

3 жыл бұрын

Me too. My DX-60, HR-10B, and HG-10B vfo were my three girl friends before I had guts to speak to girls. This was 1976. It was all black magic then. de K8MB

@sundownsigns

3 жыл бұрын

@@MIKROWAVE1 My college ham station, W0EEE, at the University of Missouri at Rolla had the Collins S-Line. As a freshman in 1964 I was "checked out on the station" but I don't believe I ever had the nerve to actually operate.

used a number of KWM-2 during a few MARS tours. A lot of phone patches from Okinawa to the west coast

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Uncle knew what to do - get out wallet and buy Collins.

@davidrowe3614

3 жыл бұрын

What years I may have been one of the ops on Okinawa 73-76 :) Kwm2 and 30L1's //s1 Log erotic at 200 ft. Uncle did spend the money.

thx! i simply love and use my ncx3. ok the tubes in the amp get old, but they bring still 150w im ssb. thank you for honour this devices! the can become important in case of a massive solar storm ;) 73 from germany:)

@MIKROWAVE1

2 жыл бұрын

Lots of performance and WATTs PER EURO in the old NCX-3.

I had a lot of that old gear pass through my hands through the years.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

And pass-through is a good way to experience it without marrying it!

@kellycoleman715

3 жыл бұрын

MIKROWAVE1 Right! I was at a broadcasters’ convention in Washington, DC several years ago and an older lady came up to our booth and told us that her late husband had worked for the CIA and had accumulated all kinds of radio gear which now cluttered her attic. She wanted to donate it to us which was a generous gesture. I kind of forgot about her kind offer since the expense of shipping those old radios to Texas would be considerable. Some weeks passed when lo and behold, large, carefully packed boxes started arriving. They contained a treasure trove of vintage ham radios like Nationals and Hammarlunds and Hallicrafters, Galaxies, Gonset ‘Goony birds’ and Heathkits, etc. And they were all in good working condition and clean! I was fairly new to the hobby at the time and didn’t really know what we had. We loaded it all up in my pickup and took it to our local hamfest where people surrounded us and started buying it (and stealing it) like crazy before we could even unload it. We made a few thousand dollars very quickly. Another time a friend I met over ham radio who worked at HCJB in Quito, Ecuador offered to donate their entire vacuum tube library to us. Once again we got a large shipment of barrels packed with vintage vacuum tubes of all descriptions and most were in very good working condition. We made thousands selling them at hamfests and sold several to Antique Radio Supply. We attended a hamfest in Abilene, Texas (one and only time) and were very disappointed in the crowd size. There was virtually no interest in what we were selling until a lucky little leprechaun appeared at our tables. This tiny person (midget) was literally dressed in green like an elf. He had the elf hat, tights and pointy shoes. The whole nine yards. It turned out that he was an eccentric artist and somewhat of a local celebrity. He was fascinated by the design of our tubes (he wasn’t a ham, he just happened to be there) and bought several to use in an art project. The little guy salvaged our weekend!

It would be a nice touch to give credit photos. Enjoyed the video. Dale W4OP

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

I went too fast on this one. Not owning these and having photos of your own or borrowed rigs is an issue.

@W4OP

3 жыл бұрын

@@MIKROWAVE1 The PAR site filed for copyright status about 11 years ago when a company copied some of our manuals (including photos) verbatim and used them for their product (also copied). Perhaps the video can be edited with text added. I would also mention the Hallicrafters SR-400 Cyclone. I am preparing to put a recently restored one on the site. It was Hally's answer to the KWM-2 and they knocked it out of the park. All aluminum and 1KHz cal like the Collins but they included RIT, a CW filter and an effective noise blanker; none of which the KWM-2 had, although there was a cumbersome NB that could be added to the KWM-2. Same size as the KWM-2. They followed the Cyclone I by the II and III and then the KW Hurricane- fantastic rigs of their day. Dale W4OP

I remember using a Swan that was sitting unused in my high school around 1979 to check into EASCARS on 7255. I worked Indonesia and El Salvador that year, with a random wire on the roof.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Those magic boxes took a lot of abuse and kept on making kids happy.

I remember one of my 1st radios was a Johnson. White Face viking messenger one, 5 channel 11 meter. I called it the bread box because it looked like one. Heck, I thought that radio was something great, but looking at these, that Johnson was small. But I am willing to bet that watt for watt, that Johnson could have kept up with the big ones. It was still a great radio..I reached places with that Johnson that my friends with their solid state radios couldn't. That plate modulation was the best. But I would have loved to have had one of these radios in this video.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Johnsons are very popular with the AM crowd as they used the basic components that would provide good solid performance at a reasonable price.

YES !!! The TR-4 is a lot of Transceiver. Good choice for top shelf of the time.

@robertl.fallin7062

3 жыл бұрын

Best audio ever!

The Drake TR4C and the Drake twins are old friends great rigs

@MIKROWAVE1

11 ай бұрын

They still can embarrass the new radios now and then.

My first HF radio was an SR-150 from an SK sale soon after I passed my morse test in 1991 - I rather regret selling it (although I do not miss the lack of CW side tone!) 73 de G0OZS

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah CW was not the first design goal. But it did have RIT. when I tried CW on my NCX-3, we would take turns walking up the band!

My first car was a 1962 BelAir, but I didn't get it until 1972. Got the HW-100 in spring of 1968. My parents prudently did not tell me it had arrived until school was over. Paid for it by cutting grass.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Nice! Those cars had metal.

I owned a NCX 5 in 2000 in Arkansas, it was a Bear! I used a Criss Craft $30 Vertical and could talk to the Patriot Net 5/9 with it.

@FrancisE.Dec.Esquire

3 жыл бұрын

Also had the Hallicrafters SR-400A Cyclone III Transceiver in 2002, it was another flame thrower.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Wow that radio was a lot!

Now, I feel a bit old. I had a TR4-C when I was a young man and ended up trading it for a Mercury Cougar, which croaked in short order. Miss that radio.

@mgraemem

3 жыл бұрын

@gm4dhjI think it was a '69.

I think it was a Swan 350 we had in the electronics lab at College of Marin when I got my ticket in 1986.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

A good prop to stir the hearts and souls of a budding ham.

Is that THE TR-3 dial in the intro montage? How’s that restoration going? Chris AJ1G Stonington CT

@MIKROWAVE1

4 жыл бұрын

Congrats Chris and he let's the cat out of the bag!

高性能のトランシーバが沢山ある現代でも、コリンズのトランシーバは憧れですね。

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

はい、今日でもコリンズイクイップメントは非常に人気があります。73's

The SBE-33 always seemed like the mechanical layout was an afterthought, or maybe they decided on the overall dimensions first, then everything had to be squeezed in one-way or another. Being the smallest of the lot with an internal PS and a speaker meant it was jam packed inside, and the panel knobs just ended up wherever they could be shoe-horned in.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

In engineering design, this is called a constraint! Demanding the Collins Filter is another that seriously drove design complexity. The onboard power supply was novel, but the FT101 would adopt this approach several years later. Unless you are an engineer, it was hard to sell solely on things that people do not fully comprehend, like selectivity or sensitivity terms or Noise Figure or AGC action; but everybody understands POWER OUT, shiny knobs, small size and the perceived value of a Collins Filter!

Interesting, " Galaxy V " single conversion system, ( with the exception that the later transceiver uses PLL LO ) is near identical to that used by Kenwood for the 5xx range of hybrid transceivers ( TS 520 & 530 being good examples, even using the same VFO range )

@MIKROWAVE1

Жыл бұрын

I will be doing a 1970-early 80s version of this vintage ham transceiver best of treatment, covering some of those classic rigs, coming up soon.

Thanks very much, because I'm looking for a decent tube rig for CW (that I want to get in to..) However, what's the importance of the sidetone ? I'm not clear on the concept....

@MIKROWAVE1

2 жыл бұрын

When you send code, your brain seems to like the feedback of a tone. That is CW Sidetone. Sidetone in voice communications is found in the old telephone, but it really becomes an important validation that you are transmitting in military radios.

0:24 Collins KWM2 4:30 Introduction to the rest of the video 5:09 #10 Heathkit SingleBander Kit Tansceivers: HW-12 (75m LSB), HW-22 (40m LSB), HW-32 (20m USB) 8:03 #9 Eico 753 TriBnder Kit Transceiver 9:48 #8 National NCX-3 TriBander Transceiver 13:20 #7 Galaxy V 5 Band Transceiver 15:11 #6 Gonset's Revenge Sideband Engineers SB33 4 Band Hybrid Bilateral Transceiver 17:14 #5 Heathkit SB-100 5 Band Transceiver Kit 19:16 #4 Swan 350 400W Single Conversion 5 Band Transceiver 21:38 #3 Drake TR3 5 Band Transceiver 23:43 #2 National NCX-5 Mechanical Digital Readout 5 Band Transceiver 25:46 #1 It's a Tie! Hallicrafters SR-150 28:00 and Drake TR-4 29:41 Final comments

@MIKROWAVE1

2 жыл бұрын

Wow what a Table of Contents. I saw many of these in our Spring hamfest here in New Hampshire just a bit over a week ago.

I can't believe you didn't mention the Hallicrafters SR-400 Series and the wonderful SR-2000.

@MIKROWAVE1

11 ай бұрын

My bad but Hallicrafters got its due with the SR-150 - 6HF5's on the 400? Did Hallicrafters kick off the POWER WAR?

Still have my NCX-3 tho haven't used it in many years now... Was a great upgrade from previous gear. de WB2SMK

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Got mine at the old Smellmira Hamfester in 1975. That's upstate NY for you guys.

@davidhook1980

3 жыл бұрын

NCX-3 was my novice radio. Made tons of cw qso's mostly dx.

Hi Mike. Here in the UK we had the Collins clones with the KW2000 series of transceivers But they never did work quite as good as the Collins but they were relatively cheap, but I guess you only get what you pay for. Regards G4HOM

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Wow I just saw some pictures of the KW2000 and that is a pretty exotic SSB rig. Never have seen these on our side of the pond.!

Enjoyed the series , I just got a SB-33 and after resurching it found out about the transformarless transmitter, and the germanium transistors, Not sure I should restore it, or modify it. Not even tryed powering, was going to disconnect the transmitter supply and try recieve. ANY ONE some ideas. Did'nt want to get into trying to convert bad transistors in to silicone ones. As for transmitter a Switching Supply. The loop antenna series was great just got 100 feet or so of 75 ohm coax at restore for 4 bucks.

@MIKROWAVE1

11 ай бұрын

Those old Avante-Gard designs are not for the timid!

I have used and loved a lot of these radio's and when they show up at swaps cheap enough they end up coming home with me. But I try and stay away from the sweep tube radio's. The 6146 final rigs end up being worked on and put back on the air but the sweep tube final rigs end up on the shelf and looking pretty. Just me but they were great to look at, but not that much fun to use,......but I still do.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

Dunno - I have converted some to 6146's but honestly the 6GJ5's in the NCX-3 were tough - no issues.

subbed.

@MIKROWAVE1

3 жыл бұрын

I like your microphone. I bet you can tell that I am not doing well with the voice audio. I do have to do something.

Nice❤