RAN Technology

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Equipment from my collection and others
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The Stancor 10P Transmitter

There weren't really many commercial transmitters in the 1930s as most hams built their own.   But many of the ones that were offered came from the transformer companies who had two chances to profit.   First, from those who would buy the kit, and two, from those would would see it in the (free) booklets the companies provided to their distributors who would then sell the iron to h...  READ MORE
ranickels
02/01/2024
Vintage Ham Radio
The Care and Feeding of the EF Johnson Courier amplifier

The EF Johnson "Courier" is a grid-driven amplifier using two 811A tubes.    Switching is provided for operating in either class C for CW or as a class B linear amplifier for AM or SSB.   Rated power is 500 watts input for CW, 500 watts PEP input for SSB, and 200 watts input for double-sideband AM with carrier.    Since all amateur power levels were me...  READ MORE
ranickels
12/21/2023
Vintage Ham Radio
"Winter Projects"

I know many of us who enjoy restoring and repairing vintage gear look forward to winter when there is less competition for time and energy, and a chance to really make a dent in our "to be fixed" piles.     A couple of years ago I set time aside for "Heathkit Singlebander Week" and went through every one of them I had, with the result that they're all workin...  READ MORE
ranickels
01/19/2023
Vintage Ham Radio
The Galaxy COMM2

Leo Meyerson had been in the ham radio retail and manufacturing business for over 25 years, and by 1970 he was ready to retire.   His son took over the WRL distribution and retail business but the Galaxy Electronics manufacturing operation was sold to his long-time friend Andy Andros WØLTE, founder and president of Hy Gain Electronics in nearby Lincoln NE.   The CB radio ele...  READ MORE
ranickels
11/26/2022
Vintage Ham Radio
The Pioneer 530

In 1917 a missionary named William Cameron Townsend went to Guatemala to sell Spanish Bibles. But he was shocked when many people couldn’t understand the books. They spoke Cakchiquel, a language without a Bible.   He believed everyone should understand the Bible, so he started a linguistics school (the Summer Institute of Linguistics, known today as SIL) that trained people to do Bibl...  READ MORE
ranickels
07/02/2022
Vintage Ham Radio
The Mosley Commando II

The Mosley CM-1 receiver is quite well known and not especially hard to find in the US even though it was the only radio produced by the company that has been well-known for antennas since 1939.    Or is it...? A full-page ad (advert for you on the other side of the pond) appeared in the RSGB Bulletin in 1963 for a nice looking and very capable SSB transmitter called the "...  READ MORE
ranickels
04/15/2022
Vintage Ham Radio
My Johnson "Five Hundred Desk" Story

Not a lot is known about Jacob C. Thomas, other than he was born in 1903 to John and Anna Thomas in David City Nebraska, and died just a few months short of his 90th birthday in the same town.    And that he was a radio man. David City is a small town of 3,000 not far from my home town so it made sense that the auction notice would appear in the local newspaper where my Dad...  READ MORE
ranickels
01/22/2022
Vintage Ham Radio
Hammarlund PRO-310 Restoration

Having grown tired of seeing this rare and somewhat incredible receiver sitting on the shelf, unusable due to slipping dial belts, I bit the bullet and tore it apart to begin restoration.   The quote above comes from Tom Rousseau K7PJT's article in Electric Radio on the PRO-310 and boy, is he spot on! Since I will be depending heavily on what he and others have written about this ...  READ MORE
ranickels
01/14/2022
Vintage Ham Radio
The Multi Elmac A54-H project

Elmac aka Multi-Elmac was actually the Multi-Products company after tube maker Eimac complained that their original name was too confusing.   Most hams just call them Elmacs anyhow! The company was started by Cletus Collum in 1947 to commercialize his design of a radio-controlled opener for garage doors and gates.  That product still lives on through the Stanley Company and it...  READ MORE
ranickels
01/13/2022
Vintage Ham Radio
Meck (Telvar) T-60 transmitter updating

Meck, Telvar, Audar -  three names for the same company's products. The John Meck company of Plymouth IN made exactly one amateur radio product: the T-60 transmitter. It was sold under the name Meck as well as Tevlar and based on a limited sample, they are nowhere near identical. The T-60 did not sell well and was only offered for a year or two. Among the reasons for ...  READ MORE
ranickels
12/16/2021
Vintage Ham Radio
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