[Boatanchors] more on the Johnson Johnson

[Donald Chester]

I have a couple of DDS VFOs picked up at hamfests, but don't use them on the air because my analogue VFO, a highly modified T-368 master oscillator unit, is stable enough even for CW, much easier to use (no programming or multiple buttons to push to select frequency).  However, I have used the DDS with my Eico 720, which is my 10m rig.  It's rock stable on Ten even when tripling or quadrupling from lower frequency to reach 10m (which is out of the DDS fundamental range).  I operate both AM and CW, and  like to stay zero-beat with the other station whenever possible in AM QSOs.

I modified the T-368 MO so that the PTO runs all the time, and added extra shielding to the unit as well as RF filtering to the power supply and control leads, so that I don't hear a trace in the receiver as long as the  receiving antenna is connected.  Also reduced B+ and screen voltages to the unit and replaced the 6000 tube with a 6AG7, to reduce heating and warm-up drift, since I need only a fraction of the driving power the stock unit produces. I also added an additional bandswitch wafer to the unit and wound a few turns of coupling coil over the cold end of each output coil, making the output impedance low enough to use a run of  coax, up to 12' long, to drive various transmitters in the shack.

On CW, I find that a SLIGHT chirp is not objectionable; on the contrary, it sometimes enhances the readability of the signal under certain conditions, as well as identifies the signal as coming from a "vintage" rig.  I have entertained the idea of building up a circuit adding a varactor diode to allow the option of deliberately injecting a controllable amount of chirp to the VFO signal, but have never followed through with that project.

OTOH, I find  nothing objectionable about "perfect" CW with a vintage or any other rig, although my sending would never quite be technically perfect, since I prefer sending with a bug and my electronic keyer paddle has been gathering dust on the shelf for years.

What I do find objectionable, or at least boring, on CW is the combination perfect sending (or sometimes not-so-perfect when the op doesn't have the hang of his electronic keyer), a plastic radio, and rubber-stamp QSOs consisting of RST, name, QTH, model number of the transceiver, followed by the inevitable CUL 73 QRZ? with no attempt at meaningful conversation. Unfortunately too many CW QSOs fall into this category and this has affected my time operating CW.

Don k4kyv