[Boatanchors] Anyone making crystals now ??

[Rob Atkinson]

Carling sold fake 243s i.e. HC6 style wafers in gutted FT243 boxes.
But he also sold real FT243s when he could buy them up and re-sell
them.  Real ones for popular frequencies like 3880 went for a lot of
money compared to the fake ones.

I happened to have an AF4K fake one and a real one for 3885.  I got
the real one at an antique radio swapfest here a few years ago when I
happened to see it inside a Viking 2 that was for sale.  The sellers
weren't hams; they were a young couple selling either dad's stuff or
an estate they had purchased, can't remember which now.  It took some
coaxing but I eventually persuaded them to sell me just the crystal.
I had to pay $20 or 25 bucks for it if I remember correctly.

A few months later I decided to conduct a test to see if the fake one
was as good as the real one.  I put them both in my HT-20, which has a
10 rock socket and a 6AG7 Pierce oscillator.  With a CR88 on frequency
with BFO on, I keyed the rig.  The real FT243 produced a solid beat
note, unwavering.  The fake 243 came on with a pronounced whooop
before settling down.  Lasted about half a second.  For AM, this
usually wouldn't be a big deal but for CW, it would be a real problem
unless you want to operate in an AWA contest and tell people you're
running a TNT.   YMMV according to your oscillator.

73
Rob
K5UJ