[Boatanchors] Just another hacked ARC5?

[Robert Nickels]

On 8/16/2017 1:42 PM, Jack Antonio wrote:
> But on a closer look, it appears to be
> one of the SSB modified units described
> by W2EWL(I may have the call wrong). 

No, you're got it right Jack.  Tony Vitale W2EWL was a major force in 
getting hams on SSB in the 50s with this conversion and to those who 
clutch their pearls at that notion, it was commonplace and a logical way 
to save time and money back in the day.   Using a command set as the 
foundation for a project was seen no differently than using a PC power 
supply would be today. Central Electronics sold a modification kit for 
the 458 to make it a VFO and others including Phasemaster and Gonset 
used the tuned circuit components and that wonderful capacitor in their 
SSB transmitters.

Shame it's missing the audio phase network, which would have been a B&W 
2Q4 most likely.   An underchassis view would be nice, but there wasn't 
much leeway due to the amount of circuitry that had to be stuffed into 
the chassis and since the audio transformers are visible the only other 
unique component would be the 9Mhz crystal, and they're available.    
This is the "dual band" version which I'm convinced never did work very 
well due to the poor performance of the mixer/driver stage and lack of 
rejection of the 3rd harmonic of the 5MHz VFO on 20 meters. After 
reaching that conclusion I separated the mixer and driver functions into 
separate tubes with an additional tuned circuit (and a 3rd toggle 
switch!) and now my "Cheap and Easy" produces full output on both 75 and 
20 meters.   Back in the 50s W2EWL operated his rig mobile with an 
amplifier so it probably produced enough output for his purposes.  Most 
of the ham versions I'm aware of were set up for one band or the other.

I hope it finds a home with someone who has an appreciation for early 
ham homebrewing and vintage SSB.   These rigs are fun to put on the air 
as well as a great way of learning about the phasing method.

73, Bob W9RAN