[Johnson] How I got my Ranger II

[Richard Peterson]

I thought I would tell this story. Don't ask me why.

I own a like-new, beautiful Ranger II -- but when you hear how I got it, you 
will wonder if I am crazy. But a ham does what he has to do.

Seven years ago, a local 1,000-watt AM radio station here in New Mexico 
(KSIL, 1340) was in bankruptcy. It had a nice Collins 20V transmitter as a 
spare transmittter. The 20V uses a pair of 4-400s modulated by a pair of 
4-400s. I was keeping an eye on the legal proceedings.

A local, competing FM station bought the station for about 1 cent on the 
dollar (if that much) and the power company immediately disconnected the 
electricity -- the bills had not been paid in almost a year! There was no 
power to run the red tower lights. The new owner was faced with paying 
thousands of dollars of back-due electric bills to get the tower lights back 
on, or buying a generator. He selected a third option, called a friend who 
had a cutting torch, cut the guy wires, and laid that 275-foot tower down in 
one heck of hurry. I wish I could have seen that!

I had made arrangements with a friend of mine in Arizona ... you know the 
type ... he has enough room at his house for a collection of almost 
anything. He bought the 20V for only $200 (as I recall). As a finder's fee, 
he gave me the prettiest, cleanest, most operationally perfect Ranger II you 
could ever want.

Did my friend get the better deal? Yep. Did I have a place to store a 
Collins 20V? Nope, even though I knew it would bring a few thousand dollars.

For all practical purposes, I traded a 20V for a Ranger II.  Gasp.

And that is more information that anyone wanted.

But the Ranger takes up a lot less room. Weighs less, too.

I use my Ranger to drive a Johnson Desk, by the way, and I barely have room 
for that in the shack!

Richard
WB5NEN