[ARC5] SCR-274N transmitter mod.

[mstangelo at comcast.net]

Greetings,

The modification was also in the 1966 ARRL Handbook. 

As a novice, I was rockbound and it was a great incentive to upgrade and use a VFO controlled rig. Since I was a teenager on a tight budget I thought the best course of action was to pick up a Command set and do the modification as outlined in the Handbook article. I assume lots of beginners at the time used this route to enter the hobby.

I took and passed my General test in the New York FCC office on Greenwich Street in downtown Manhattan. Afterwards, I headed down  to G&G Radio and picked up the set mentioned in the article and proceeded to modify the set and build a power supply from television set parts.

I built it and tested it into a lightbulb dummy load while eagerly awaiting for my general ticket. I still remember it after 40 years, the blue glow of the regulator tube and the amber glow of the dummy load, as I tuned it up for the first time. 

When my ticket arrived I went on the air with it but it had a chirpy signal and I found it tricky to tune. I eventually bought a Heathkit HG-10 VFO and used it with a Knightkit T60.

73 de Mike N2MS

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Neil" <neilb at ihug.co.nz> 

> > The ARRL promoted a crystal control technique for novices 
> > that required building a 6AG7 crystal osc on a separate small chassis 
> > and plugging it into the 1626 socket. Power and filament was derived 
> > from that same socket. After the novice upgrades to general, the 1626 
> > returns home and the transmitter is once again stock, VFO controlled. 
> 
> This mod appears in the ARRL Handbook, 1963 Edition, if anyone's 
> interested. Probably appears in several other editions of that era, but 
> the '63 is the only one I have. 
> 
> 73 de Neil ZL1ANM 
> 
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