[K6NCG] Is it REALLY Electric Apple Juice?

[TC Dailey]

Yep... it's me, alright.  After getting the NOVICE at TI, I was pulled out
of ET-A, and sent to RM-A school in SDIEGO.  After doing AC problems on a
slide-rule, these guys give me a piece of GRAPH PAPER to do 'em...
obviously, I pretty much aced RM-A school, and already knowing the code,
getting the 22wpm to graduate was pretty easy too.

I was with B-A from December of 1977, till February of 1979 in their
Pro-Industrial Division, later as Denver Regional Service Manager... they
went down the tubes, not many months after that.  I managed to run a couple
of shops, go back into avionics (former King Radio eng. tech), work in A-V
for several years, run a cable station head-end, play pro-photographer, flew
and sold airplanes, and a bunch of other stuff.

Long about 1991, I took up being a contract engineer for a fire alarm
company, and have had my own company since about then.  Every kid's dream
job, you know... make noise, bother people, and get PAID for it!

I just got through restoring (total rebuild) a 1954 Heathkit AT-1, like the
one I first used at K6NCG... look at the website and that's me, sitting in
front of one that I think was configured for 80m and 40m only... maybe just
40, can't remember.  It was in the back room, right in the center, between
the 6m position, and the 2m position.  The AT-1 I was given had NO caps, and
was miswired in some bizarre mod... so I took EVERYTHING out of it, less
transformers, tube sockets, and RF coils, and built it OVER AGAIN from
scratch, using a copy of the original manual.  Silly thing works.

I still have a K6NCG QSL card, along with my membership card (if you look on
"The 60's" on the website, you'll see my liberty card, and membership card
from those silly daze, along with a page from a QST, showing how we did in
the sweepstakes - primary operator was K9IHG, now K4TO... he and Bill
Axlerod (w4WA i think) gave me the NOVICE test.... after I got the ticket,
they blindfolded me, escorted me out to the water's edge, smeared peanut
butter and mustard on my face, stripped me down to my skivvies, had me get
into a washtub, and pretended to float me out in the bay... scared the crap
out of me, as I really thought they did it!  Of course, I was only about 3
feet from the rocky shoreline, and they froze their asses off, standing in
that cold bay water!

So was there an old 5" DuMont O'scope there?  I think it was either a DuMont
or EICO... I bought from a pawnshop on 6th. near Howard St.  When I got
transferred to SDIEGO, I had to leave it behind, so chose the shack...
hopefully, somebody got some use out of it.

I got the GENERAL while still in Radioman school (heck, the 13wpm was
actually hard, 'cause I was used to 22!), and had the WAØEAJ for 43 years!
I got the itch last month for the WØ, and due to the amazing story of how I
came to work within 15 feet of nearly the same call, I opted to go for it.
I'm STILL saying that damned first "A" all the time, but guess it will
pass.... at least, I'm STILL "Electric Apple Juice"     (Dave Sublette - now
K4TO, used to use "Easy Affible Jerk", but I didn't think it'd ever catch
on... HI HI HI)

My true hero of K6NCG, was Frank Mizzell - K4DGU "Dirty Gertie's Uncle"...
he was the ET-1 who was the "custodian" of the club, and when I struggled in
math' water above my collective head, Frank helped me get RM-A school.
 Dave - K4TO - did his best to help me struggle through, but even with his
splendid assistance, I was sunk, until Frank came to the rescue. In 1975, I
looked him up and called him on the phone... he was in Florida and I was in
my shack, in the middle of a raging ICE STORM in Kansas City.... I'd been
advised of what he did, nearly 6 years after the fact, so finally got to
thank him for his guidance and confidence in me.... true to Frank's spirit,
he asked what my GPA was, coming out of RM school... I said 3.94... there
was a silence, and he laughed... then said, "I haven't been wrong yet!"  He
died a few years ago, and the only way I found out, was that his QRZ listing
was removed.  He was a great man, and a fine sailor.... that's why his
picture is on the site.

Current projects are:

1937 Hallicrafters SX-16 receiver
1955 Hallicrafters SX-62A receiver (I already have another one, that I fully
restored)
195? National NC-183D receiver (another guy's)

73

Tom "T. Carl" Dailey
WØEAJ

270 S. Lafayette St.
Denver, CO  80209
303 / 455-0889