[NJARC] Weird homebrew from tonight's NJARC auction

Sat Sep 15 11:05:14 EDT 2007

Hi Joe,

"Had this been an actual emergency, you would have
been instructed where to tune...."

I think the receiver only covers .52 to 1.5 MC (I'm
using "cycles" in honor of the receiver's vintage).

The "band" switch has three positions -- one is AM
broadcast, one is signal trace, and the other is dead.
Ray Chase thought it had Short Wave coverage, but I'm
not so sure. Need to do a little more digging. It may
be just a dead position -- perhaps the guy had a
three-position rotary switch that suited his needs, so
he used it. 

Not sure exactly what the eye tube is doing, but it
appears to be unresponsive on AM. Perhaps it's for
Conelrad or signal trace.

Thank you for the offer of a 2D21 -- I think I have
some. I have a funny "teenage homebrew" story
involving 2D21's that I will relate sometime.

One of the things that always fascinates me about
homebrews is that there are always a few
"headscratchers" -- things that I find myself
mystified by -- that the builder did. This guy spaced
one of the end bells of the power xformer out about
1/4 inch away from the xformer. Why??? For
ventilation? I had the set on for less than an hour,
and I did notice that the power xformer runs a bit
warm (considering it wasn't on all that long). A
better solution might have been a *bigger*
transformer. [But who the heck am I to criticize? --
he still did a great job.]

A couple years ago at the Mullica Hill hamfest, I
spotted a 2-meter FM transceiver homebrew, beautifully
done, and the most advanced HB I had ever seen. And
with documentation. Nice guy that I am, I let another
guy buy it -- fella by the name of John Dilks. ;-)

Seeya Later,

JR
--- JOE CRO <n3ibx at verizon.net> wrote:

> Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> _______________________________________________
> Hello John,
>                 I too, thought the strange homebrew
> receiver was 
> interesting, and was glad to see it get into the
> proper hands that would 
> appreciate it. The construction technique looked
> very good, and a lot of 
> thought went into the receiver before it was made.
> 
> I'm curious if you know what the total bandcoverage
> is?
> 
> Conlerad equipment was made mandatory sometime
> during the 1950's in case of 
> civil emergency or in case the "mushrooms strating
> sprouting".
> 
> I'm jealous. You'll be the only one I know of with a
> true "Conelrad 
> equipped" Hamshack!
> 
> In case you need a 2D21, let me know. I have a few
> in my "stash" I can let 
> you have.
> 
> The very best of luck with it. I think it's a kewl
> addition to anyone's 
> Hamshack or Listening Post.
> 
> Best Regards,
>                      Joe Cro N3IBX
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "john ruccolo" <jr6v6gt at yahoo.com>
> To: "New Jersey Antique Radio Club"
> <njarc at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2007 2:04 AM
> Subject: [NJARC] Weird homebrew from tonight's NJARC
> auction
> 
> 
> > Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> > _______________________________________________
> > Hi Folks,
> >
> > I test fired that weird homebrew receiver that I
> got
> > at the auction tonight. Actually, it's a pretty
> basic
> > 5-tube AA -- well, mostly AA -- 12BE6/BA6/AV6 plus
> > 12A6 output and 5Y3 rectifer. It is exceptionally
> well
> > made, however.
> >
> > Here's where it gets really interesting -- at the
> > other end of the chassis is another miniature tube
> --
> > a 2D21 thyratron (kinda like a tube SCR). I
> thought
> > "hmmmm...." With that BIG red light and a
> threshold
> > control that fires the 2D21 (and the light) I can
> only
> > think of one thing: CONELRAD.
> >
> > For those of you who don't know, CONELRAD stands
> for
> > CONtrol of ELectromagnetic RADiation, a Cold-War
> era
> > US Govt. thing. Those Civil Defense marks at 640
> and
> > 1240 on so many 1950's and early 60's radios were
> for
> > CONELRAD. The idea was that if the Russians
> decided to
> > drop some H-bombs on us, people would tune to one
> of
> > those two frequncies for news and information, and
> > maybe the latest Elvis record. Seriously, the idea
> was
> > that other stations would go off the air, so the
> > Russians couldn't use broadcast stations for
> homing in
> > on targets.
> >
> > I don't remember the details, but I believe it was
> a
> > requirement during some part of the 1950's for Ham
> > radio operators to have a CONELRAD alarm.
> Basically, a
> > receiver that was tuned to 640 or 1240, and lit up
> a
> > warning light to alert the ham operator that
> something
> > was happening. In fact, Heathkit sold a CONELRAD
> alarm
> > kit (which is *very* rare today). I think this
> > receiver was built for that purpose.
> >
> > It also has a signal tracer function. The guy got
> a
> > little carried away -- he's got two headphone
> jacks
> > wired in parallel (so more than one person could
> > listen in?), and he's got both 1/4-inch and RCA
> jacks
> > in parallel for audio input for the tracer. I
> think
> > one or the other would have sufficed. ;-)
> >
> > Still, a very well-made and unusual homebrew.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > JR
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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> 
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