Sept. 1, 2024. Labor Day weekend 2024 and time to celebrate with a rig of old.
Reliving the past with a rig of old. Celebrating Labor Day 2024 with a rig not unlike the full figured Mary Jo in the back seat of the 57 VW Beetle. The KWM-1 and the 57 Beetle were manufactured in the same year.
I noted in the video a high-pitched whine and a lot of noise. I could not find the DSP or Noise Reduction buttons or menus (there are none) and this gives a view of what it was like 67 years ago to operate SSB straight out of the bottle. Evidently, I was heard OK at the other end.
Did anyone notice the drift correction? The rig was just turned on and things we expect and take for granted today were not available in the late 50's. Keep in mind in one small box was a 100-watt globe spanning transmitter and receiver which was a seismic shift forward along the technology continuum. One of the 1250 KWM-1's ended up in a U2 Spy plane shot down over Russia.