[K6NCG] Fwd: National HRO-60

[billgibson at fuse.net]

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: billgibson at fuse.net 
To: "TC Dailey" <daileyservices at qwest.net> 
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 12:27:39 PM 
Subject: Re: National HRO-60 



That HRO-60 is almost as old as I am but speaking singularly....better looking than me for sure. Did you use a polishing wheel on the cabinet? Beautiful. 
The real art is "under the hood" and I'm sure you tweaked it very well. Yeah, too bad about Frank, the good ones die young - he must not have been very old. 
My dad is a WWII vet still doing well. That reminds me, I'm leaving tomorrow with my dad (and mom) for a week, traveling to the Mayo Clinic. It's time for 
their annual "tune-up." 
  
P.S. Hey Tom, where can I find new metal-can chassis-mount electrolytics....or do you "wire around" the old stuff with new axial lead capacitors underneath? 
  
Bill - K4UC 

----- Forwarded Message -----


From: "TC Dailey" <daileyservices at qwest.net> 
To: billgibson at fuse.net 
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 11:01:05 AM 
Subject: Frank 

 


Unfortunately, Frank is a Silent Key - I only found out in 1974, what he'd done for me, so called him at his home in Florida... it was Christmas Eve, and I got to finally thank him - he DID remember me, and was pleased that I "grabbed" the opportunity.  He told me he'd told the board (and this sounds JUST like him)... "Hell, he's got a ham license and ALREADY knows the morse code - damn, don't waste him!"   He was an old WW-II & Korean War vet, so didn't mince words much. 
  
Yeah, when the RMA school instructors were teaching AC theory, they had those guys doing the phase-angle and total impedance work on GRAPH PAPER...I was doing the problems on my slide rule (still have it), like I'd been taught.  I'd almost fall asleep sometimes, so finally tested out of most of it, and ran the CW practice room for a bit.  I like to joke about the fact that I was one of the VERY FEW RM's that the ET's "allowed to carry a screwdriver".. ha ha ha  Heck, I spent a lot of time doing PM's and fixits, which reduced the load on our ET's a lot - hard to believe the crap I fixed with a PSM-4 and an OS-8 scope.. most of my "twidget" peers didn't have the slightest clue about how to use a scope, unless it was attached to a URA-8. 
  
Yep.. quite a bunch of terrific guys. 
  
--- 
  
Yeah, I play with HF mobile a lot, and 40cw... The wife and I are trying to "get out of Dodge", and move about 40m South of Denver in the foothills (not in the fire-prone mountains), so I took down many of the antennas I had up.  I'm still running a little company, doing commercial fire alarm systems, but also love repairing/restoring boatanchor ham gear (some new stuff, but not much)...  My pride & joy was totally redoing a 1955 National HRO-60.. all new caps, and all new RESISTORS, too.  Oh, it's pretty and works doggone good.. but recently I resurrected a Drake 2B, which I'd forgotten was such a quantum advance in receivers.  I've attached my story I wrote about it, but suffice to say, that with it's PTO, that baby is STABLE.. current project is an old Gonset G-66B mobile receiver... it had a tough life, apparently.  I got it working, but the BFO isn't cooking right, and boy is that critter "crowded" underneath.  My original Elmer from WAY back, had the "chrome Gonset" pair in his '58 Buick with a Webster Band spanner on the bumper - whoooooah.. so VERY cool.