[Boatanchors] Recent additions

[Troglodite at aol.com]

Glen,
 
Interesting looking at those old Vocalines. It brought back some memories.  
Before Vocaline made the Amateur 70cm model, we converted a couple of the "CB"  
units. These were used during the 1955 K6CXI Field Day. In those days, you  
doubled your score for each new band on which you could establish  
communications. It was my task to establish communications on 70cm and on 10cm  if 
possible.
 
You are correct about the Vocalines being unstable. What is amazing is that  
they made an attempt to stabilize the CB models by employing a bi-metallic 
strip  toward one end of the tuned lines. It was supposed to act as a temperature 
 controlled trimmer capacitor. Darn clever even if it didn't work very well.  
Anyway, our 10cm equipment consisted of a 2K21 Klystron and surplus radar 
diode  mounted on the outside of a 1/2 qt. Schlitz beer can. The brand was 
important,  as it had the correct dimensions and utilized gold flashing inside. 
These gizmos  were called "Pola Plexers" and still exist today, though in much 
more  sophisticated form.
 
Anyway, the 10cm stuff had a very narrow beam width, and had to be pointed  
with precision for communication to be established. We used the Vocalines to  
coordinate the aiming of the Pola Plexers. We were able to establish  
communication between Mt. Lowe in Hollywood, and Baldwin Hills in Inglewood, a  
distance of about 40 miles. Not bad for a bunch of teen-agers.
 
Just to keep on topic, we did use a lot of Hallicrafters gear.
 
Regards,
 
Doug Moore
 
 
 
 
 
I put up some photos of my restored National NC-2-40DT
and of a  Vocaline 70 cm amateur radio transceiver from
the mid 1950s.  They are  in the last "link" in the
list on the K9STH website