Left Coast Political Scene

A Quinquagenarian, this ICOM Radio started the revolution of products under the ICOM Banner leading today to the IC-7300 Mark II. While you might be tempted to "buy it now" on eBay, look before you leap. The rig was a marvel for its time but today could be a nightmare of the 10th degree.  I COM used a whole series of relays to band change, and it may be impossible to find replacements. A replacement Encoder is another unobtanium item.  In 1975 I actually twiddled an IC-701 knob but having a family, a mortgage and an XYL (God Rest her Soul) who hated ham radio... it never happened. But I was indeed awestruck! Some items arrived yesterday, but of course not all the ones I needed. My #3 son, several years ago purchased and gave me a ton of Metric nuts, bolts and washers in various sizes.  I have previously not used the goodies because the bolts heads need a hex Allen wrench for installation. I have an array of Allen and Bristol wrenches, but they are all small in size (FFS i...

Through my hands have passed many Sideband Engineers SBE-33 and SBE-34 Transceivers. Later on, the SBE-35 and SBE-36 appeared on the scene and those I believe were totally manufactured in Japan.   I believe this restoration was done by W4OP, Dale. I haven't personally seen an SBE-35 or the SBE-36 which had a Nixie tube display. It seems like the rigs didn't make much of a splash with the ham community at large. One issue of ergonomics, for me, is the Microphone  Jack on the SBE-35 is very close to the tiny main tuning knob. With my FFS, I would be complaining a lot. More time in the shop yesterday as I worked down my list and finished installing hardware on the back panel.  Final Back Panel Installations Starting on the left side we have the Antenna Jack; the Knob is on the pot that controls the Bias setting and to the right of that is the 8-pin Power Connector. The three RCA jacks from left to right, are the Fan Power, External Speaker and External Linear Amp control. R...

This rig had a very limited production run and never became a full product line. Coming out in 1975 it is solid state and noteworthy No Tune/Load/or Grid Drive Controls. E F Johnson Avenger... NICE! I could see myself owning one of these jewels. Perfect for small operating desks. Covers the 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 Meters with USB/LSB and CW. Supposedly good for 150 watts and only a handful (I think around 25) were built. The above unit was up for auction on eBay about 18 years ago listed at $800. Gulp! What a productive day yesterday as it was not too hot in the garage and we went down our to do list. More Stuff Installed My first concern was heat in the box as the main tube module is compact and we are installing this heat generator inside of a case. Thus, I planned for a fan installation. Two minutes with the Carbide Create Design Software and I had a CNC program to cut a three-inch circular hole in the back panel. About five minutes on the CNC and we have a fan port. Fan Installation ...

  Underside Boards Bias Pot Installed! ESP32 Board mounted Vertically, Copper PC Board is a Shield Installed the W3NQN LPF. TR Relay and Coax Connector will install on back wall  As I work on this project save for the 12GE5 RF Amp stage, all the electronics are built! The real task is Milling, Drilling, Mechanical Engineering and Production Engineering. You have to have the final product configuration clearly in mind even before you start. This is a design build project! W3NQN LPF's (Thanks to the GQRP Club Data Sheets) Them that know can make things go. 73's Pete N6QW

  Gonset Mobile SSB Transceiver (Today's price $8673.45) What a shock to spot advertising from some 65 years ago for products that I don't think actually made it to market. This is one of those products. In 1960 the MSB1 was half the price of a NIB 1960 VW Beetle.  This was probably a trial balloon that quickly broke based on the price point given today that $8674 is a huge sum for a ham rig! Vaporware of the 1960's. Note the different Front Panel = Mockup So, they ran a few ads using a mockup and tested the market only to likely find that the market wasn't there for something costing so much. In a blink of an eye soon there were competing products costing half as much and fit a lot better in the family budget.  The year 1960 was an exciting time reference as I was a freshman at Penn State, the Space Race was on, Cycle 19 was as hot as a Firecracker and of course many YL Coeds who were open to all sorts of adventures. So, who needs an $800 radio that wasn't even in ...

An interesting You Tube video from 80  years ago on: How a Vacuum Tube Works . It's short but lays out the fundamentals of operation of a Triode Vacuum Tube. Cool Beans. Test Panel Cut Out More fundamental work yesterday and I made a trial run cut of the two large rectangular panel cut outs and tweaked my CNC program a bit to account for a larger diameter end mill and this should result in a tighter fit of the ILI9341 Display and the 0 to 200Ma Meter.  A Tight Fit is best described as the 21.43 Stone Mary Jo in the back seat of the 57 VW Beetle after consuming three Bob's Boy Hamburgers from his burger joint located near the Monroeville Miracle Mile Mall.  Yes, Three of these delights! Cleaned Up the ESP32 Digital LO/BFO Module Mounted the Front Panel to the Plate Front Panel Meter Cut Out Installed the Color TFT, Meter & Encoder Whew what a day for installations and finalizing a place for everything and everything in its place. Without a doubt vast experience and tri...