[Heathkit] OT: Nostalgia: Question on Tommy Rockford Ham Radio books

[Bwana Bob]

Ray:

Yes, they were great books. I borrowed them from the library when I was a
kid and they did a lot to stimulate my interest in amateur radio, as did the
"Chuck White and His Friends" adventure series in Treasure Chest magazine.

I have paperback reprints of SOS at Midnight, CQ Ghost Ship, and DX Brings
Danger. They were published by Peregrine in 1971 and they are the original
text, not updates. I will go through them because I really don't remember
all of the equipment types, so I'll have to go through the books.


							73,

							Bob WB2VUF

-----Original Message-----
From: heathkit-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:heathkit-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Paul
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 10:27 AM
To: List-Heathkit
Subject: [Heathkit] OT: Nostalgia: Question on Tommy Rockford Ham Radio
books

Back in the late 50's early 60's I read several books about a teenage 
ham named Tommy Rockford, K6ATX (the author, Walker A. Tompkin's 
personal call). At a hamfest I happened across a few of the books that 
had been reprinted by the ARRL and picked them up to reread. It appears 
that they have been rewritten to bring them up to date equipment-wise, 
so that from a "nostalgia" perspective, they didn't fit my time frame. 
Does anyone have a copy of the originals, from the 1957-1964 timeframe?

What I'm trying to determine is what equipment the hams in the books 
were using at that time. Some of it, primarily transmitters, I recall, 
but I can't seem to remember what receivers were in use.

For example, in the book SOS at Midnight, I'm pretty sure Tommy used a 
DX-100 transmitter. In CQ Ghost Ship, Tommy's uncle had either a KWM-1 
or KWM-2 he used mobile, and Trudy (K6ZNT) had a DX-35, but again, I 
don't remember what receiver she used. Likewise Noisy Noyce had a 
homebrew transmitter, but what receiver? In DX Brings Danger, Tommy used 
the equipment of W7RDR but I can't recall what gear.

Anybody have these old books or rememeber the original series and what 
gear was used by the characters in the books?

Thanks, 73, Ray W2EC


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