[SFDXA] KB6NU's Column for October 2012

[Bill]

Here's my column for October 2012.
73, Dan KB6NU


25, 50, and 75 Years Ago in QST (October 2012)

By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU

QST publishes a column every month towards the back of the magazine that highlights from issues 25, 50, and 75 years ago. Now that the QST archive is online, it’s really worth taking a look at these articles. Here are a few that caught my eye in October:

October 1937
   * Modernizing the Simple Regenerative Receiver (http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/19076) by Vernon Chambers, W1JEQ. This a nicely-designed and built regen using two tubes, a 6K5 pentode and 6C5 triode. I’m going to keep this design in mind if I ever get around to playing with all the tubes I have. As an aside, I searched on W1JEQ's callsign and found out that he wrote 87 articles for QST from 1936 through February 1958. This was his third article.
   * Concentrated Directional Antennas for Transmission and Reception (http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/19078) by John L. Reinartz, W1QP, and Burton T. Simpson, W8CPC. This article describes two different antennas. The first is a  half-wave loop antenna that the author says works on 2-1/2, 5, 10, and 20m. The second is a square loop antenna called a “signal squirter” for 14 Mc.

October 1962
   * In “New Apparatus” (http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/46246) on page 27, a key made by J. A. Hills, W8FYO, of Dayton, OH is shown under the heading, “New Key Mechanism for Electronic Keyers.” The photo clearly shows a key whose design was adopted by Bencher for the BY-1 paddle.
   * The Towering Problem (http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/46122) by Jay Kay Klein, WA2LII clearly shows that putting up towers have always been a problem for amateur radio operators. This is a humorous take on the problem. What’s notable is that this type of humorous article almost never appears in QST anymore. Amateur radio seems to have lost its sense of humor, or at least its cadre of humorous writers.

October 1987
   * Stalking Those Fugitive Components (http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/81357) by Doug DeMaw, W1FB. Today, we often complain about the demise of local parts suppliers, but this article shows that this was a problem 25 years ago as well. W1FB gives some advice that I gave not long ago on my blog. That is, stock up on parts, especially when you find a good deal on them, and you won’t have to scrounge around for them when you want them.

Digitizing all of the back issues of QST and putting them online is one of the things that the ARRL has done right. This is a wonderful resource for members. If you have a favorite QST article I'd love to hear about it. Please send me the title and the month it was published. My e-mail address is  cwgeek at kb6nu.com. Thanks & 73.

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When not perusing old issues of QST, Dan is the station manager for WA2HOM, the amateur radio station at Ann Arbor's Hands-On Museum. He also writes amateur radio license study guides. In fact, by the time you read this, the No-Nonsense Extra Class Study Guide should be available on Amazon. Just search for "KB6NU."