DIY version by "RAN Crystals"
Crystal sockets were popular for pluging in ... crystals, of all things! But they were also used for other purposes, such as the antenna relay connection on some EF Johnson transmitters. If you want to connect a VFO to a transmitter with just a crystal socket, for example, you're going to have to either carve up an old FT-243 type crystal or if you want to outboard a synthesizer to a Drake radio or use that Johnson antenna relay connection, that takes the smaller pin version, like the HC-6/U crystal used.
I got tired of having to cobble up something so I made my own. Brass tubing and wire provides the correct fit and a small PC board hold it all together and provides a way to attach a cable, either soldered or to screw terminals.
My novice crystals came from a place that sold surplus crystals that many remember: JAN crystals. So it was only natural that my crystal plug bear the "RAN Crystals" name.
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International Crystal and the crystal synthesizerHow a crystal company reduced the number of crystals neededCategory: Vintage Radio
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 02/19/2021
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Hams, especially those who enjoy operating AM and QRP should be aware of the pioneering efforts of the US Forest Service to adopt and advance the radio art in the early decades of the 20th century.The history of radio in the USFS literally takes a book to cover, but an interesting example can be found in station KBCX, the Region 1 Radio Operations Center in Missoula Montana. It w... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 02/11/2021
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The R-1451 HF Manual Receiver aka WLR-6 "Water Boy" SystemESM-ELINT receiver from the 1960sCategory: Vintage Radio
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 02/09/2021
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The John Meck T-60 Transmitterthe only ham product from this famous radio/TV manufacturerCategory: Vintage Ham Radio
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 01/30/2021
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If, like me, you enjoy flipping through old issues of 73 magazine from the 60s, you're bound to have at least seen the ads for the Transcom SBT-3 three-band SSB tranceiver. Being made in Escondido CA in the mid-60s, my guess has always been that engineers from other San Diego SSB compnanies such as Don Stoner, Les Earnshaw from Southcom, Herb Johnson, founder of Swan or Faust Gonsett may... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 01/16/2021
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This short article about the AWA Forestphone was the last one put on the Midwest Classic Radio Net website by for former webmaster George K9GDT before he unfortunately became a Silent Key. MCRN articleNow that a longer version has been published in Electric Radio magazine I thought I'd include it here as well.Throughout most of the 20th century AWA was Australia's leading electr... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 01/13/2021
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Alexander M. Lewyt died in 1988 at the age of 79, a holder of patents on scores of inventions. His penchant for invention, he once said, was so strong that he had chronic insomnia from lying awake at night envisioning new products. When he learned of undertakers’ difficulty in fastening neckties on corpses, the teen-age Lewyt devised a new kind of bow tie that clipped on. He sold 50,000 of t... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 01/08/2021
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The Korean-war vintage AN/GRC-9 is one of the most useful and fun military field radios for ham use, as with AM and CW modes and 2-12 MHz coverage and a VFO it's all ready to go on several ham bands. The battery tube superhet receiver is also power-friendly and sensitive and stable enough to copy CW and SSB but has one annoying flaw - the 4 volt bias battery used by the audio... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 01/03/2021
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Halogen type MR-16 lamps are commonly used in track lights and other spot lighting applications so what would be cooler than to drop in LED replacements! A lot, as it turns out. The LED replacements are HORRIBLE RFI emitters that totally trashed several ham bands when I unknowingly installed them.Halogen spot lights are 12 volt devices so it's long been common prac... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 01/02/2021
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Ham radio operators honor legacy of Mars Hill companyHammarlund was an industry leader for generationsCategory: Historic
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 12/12/2020
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