[Hallicrafters] About your 6AG7 rig

[Kevin J Ward]

Wayne -

I enjoyed your tale about your Novice days.  I too started out with the
one-tube 6AG7 rig from the '56 Handbook.  The parts came from a
cannibalized TV set; all except the Air-Dux coil stock, the meter, and
the National feedthru insulators.  I had an AR-3 receiver but no
Q-Multiplier, so the accessory socket was empty.  The TV power
transformer had already been scavenged, so I made do.  I picked an octal
tube I figured I'd never need, broke it, and cleaned out the base.  This
was my octal plug.  I would steal power from the AR-3.

The only problem was the 6AG7 had a 6.3 volt filament; the AR-3 had 12.6
volt tubes.  I used a parallel connected pilot lamp - resistor
combination in series with the 6AG7 filament to make it work.  That
little rig ran 2.5 watts (input).  I had only a 15-meter dipole so I
loaded it and the coax like a long wire.  I worked 13 states and Canada
as a Novice.  

I still have the AR-3 and plan to one day build that little 6AG7 rig
again.  In fact, I probably still have the Bud Minibox I built it in
squirreled away somewhere in the basement.  In typical ham fashion I had
cannibalized the little rig for parts for the next project.  Don't we
all?

One thing that caught my attention in your story was the comment that the
6AG7 was "designed for hearty FT-243's, and ate that xtal up . . ".  That
tube has lots of gain, makes a terrific oscillator, and in fact, crystal
current will be low compared with a 6146 used as an oscillator, or say a
6V6.  I used FT-243 and HC-6/U crystals and only lost one of the latter
when I dropped it on the floor.  I've dropped FT-243's without fracturing
the crystal.  I seem to remember some rigs used a pilot lamp in series
with the crystal to limit dangerous current levels and prevent fracturing
of the crystal.

Oh yes  -  I just acquired a DX-40.  Now, where is that AR-3?

Kevin  N2IE

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