[NLRS] "Minnesota Six Meter Phone Net"

[Rex Greenwell]

Sounds like 6 M AM fun!  I remember checking into nets with my Heathkit
Twoer.  That was a blast back in the early late 60's and early 70's, the
waning days of 2M AM.  Many fellows were converting Motorola FM rigs
abandoned from the commercial market but non-the-less too expensive for a
high school student like me.  I still have the Twoer proudly displayed on
the credenza at my work office.  Anyone have an original Twoer microphone
laying around?  Such fun!  

For the sakes of nostalgia I am building my original novice HF rig, a
homebrew 6DQ6 oscillator-final crystal controlled rig.  Uses a 5U4 rectifier
and an OD3 regulator on the screen of the final to reduce chirp.  Has a neon
lamp relaxation audio oscillator that gives a raspy sounding CW note to
monitor the keying.  I made tons of QSOs on 40 and 15 M with it.  As a
novice I even made a 20 M QSO from the 2nd harmonic of the 7 MHz crystal
while transmitting on 15 meters.  Turned out to be a general class ham
across town operating way up high in the 20 M CW band.  He called a very
chirpy CQ on 20 M and I came back to him on 15 M and he copied my weak 2nd
harmonic.  His name was Jerry WA7EVI and we became very good buddies.  My
old receiver was a National NC77X, an "All American Five" design (50C5, 35W4
... series string filaments powered directly from 120 VAC) five tube AM
radio with an HF oscillator and a regenerative BFO - of sorts.  What fun to
think that year of novice operation.  Back then the novice was good for only
one year, non-renewable, only one per lifetime ticket.  You had 12 months to
upgrade to general or go permanently QRT.  You got 80, 40, 15 meters CW, 75
W input power, plus 2 M AM phone, only crystal controlled on all bands.

Another early years buddy had a converted Motorola 2M FM rig in his car.
Complete with a five element yagi on a TV mast stuck out the passenger
window.  I would ride shotgun as we drove around town working locals on 2M
FM.  I played the "armstrong rotator" function reorienting the yagi as
WA7GQD turned corners while "mobile in motion."

Thanks for the bandwidth to reminisce.  

73 Rex K0KP EN36vw