[Boatanchors] 100% Homebrew Staion is ON THE AIR...

[Ed Swynar]

Good Day, All...

Well, this morning I finally buttoned down the HB transmitter here, & after jerry-rigging some patch cords in the shack, etc., I made my first QSOs in a L-O-N-G time with the 100% homebrewed station on 40-meters CW... 

I heard W2CUA calling CQ, but could NOT raise him to save my soul---tuned around, heard the special events station (W5E) from Louisiana, & snagged him first call. I then looked around some more, & snatched a W5 down near Houston. That ain't all that bad for a 12-watt input signal on 7-MHz!

The transmitter is a 12AU7 VFO / 6AG7 driver / 2E26 final PA (100% modulated by p-p 6AQ5's, driven by a 12AX7). The receiver is a "hot rodded" Mate For The Mighty Midget. Antenna is a vertical 80-meter loop tuned to 40-meters.

Boy-o-boy, nothing BUT NOTHING in Ham Radio can compare to the thrill of making two-way commmunications with completely scratch-built equipment---NOTHING! 

Aficianados of classic, vintage gear are A-OK in my books, for sure, but in the end they're still basically just "...appliance operators"---albeit with appliances that are as old (or older) as many of us reading this! 

~73~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ