[Boatanchors] Drake 2-NT & Knight V-44 VFO, Boatanchor Ennui

[Donald Chester]

>  Not all vintage VFOs work with other rigs.  For example the HG10 has
>  low output compared to some.  The knight VFOs are given as 10 to 80
>  but in reality, they double from 160 to operate on 80--they just don't
>  have a bandswitch for 160 because they were supposed to be for 10 to
>  80 meter Knight Kit rigs.  

Ah, yes.  Those "all-band, 80m - 10m" rigs of the 1960s era.

I believe the fundamental oscillation frequency of the HG10 is at 160m as well.  The original DX-100, with the VFO nearly identical to the VF-1 covered 160, but the "new improved" version, the Apache, discontinued it.  One reason there was so little SSB activity on 160 in the late 50s and early 60s was that most commercially built appliances did not cover 160, so hams operating phone on that band were mostly running older AM transmitters like the Ranger and DX-100 that did cover it, modified newer ones to add 160m capability, or else we built our own.

>  That all sounds so nice and wonderful, kind and generous and all that,
>  but every time I try to help some ham with an antenna problem, he
>  starts to argue with me.  You see, 9 times  out of ten, what they want
>  to be told is what they want to believe and the last thing they want
>  to hear is that their crappy G5RV with a balun and window line is
>  junk, or their dipole 20 feet off the ground is not going to make them
>  strap on 160 meters, or the 43 foot vertical and balun at the base is
>  not the only antenna they'll ever need for 160 to 6 meters.  I could
>  write a book on this, but I gave up giving antenna advice unless it is
>  a request from a ham to me, and I know he'll be teachable.  Sorry but
>  my experience is that most are looking for affirmation.   With a few
>  exceptions, ex-CBers do not make good hams.
>  Rob
>  K5UJ

Right on Brother!

I have had the exact same experience.  The one that took the cake with me was the time several years ago when I worked a WA3 on 160m AM.  His signal was just barely above the noise level, but I was able to read him well enough to understand when he told me he was running a full-length extended double zepp cut for 160, EIGHTEEN FEET OFF THE GROUND.  Then he went on to mention having a couple of 60 ft. towers.  I replied that he would put out a much better signal if he would use those towers to get  his 160m antenna  higher off the ground.  He came back and said something, but I couldn't understand him that round because he had dropped into a fade, so when it was my turn again, I repeated once more that I could barely hear him through the background noise and that he needed to raise his antenna higher to put out a better signal.  He came back, foaming at the mouth in a tirade, that I must not be a good listener (how could I be if I couldn't hear what he said?), that his antenna worked just fine and that he always got good signal reports (when he was talking with the local yokels within a 100-mile radius), and how dare I try to tell him how to run his station!

Don k4kyv