VERSA-TR Layout and Connector Locations

VERSA-TR Information 0 Comments 11/11/2018

Posted By: Robert Nickels (ranickels)

For reference - click image to enlarge

Godzilla 2019 uses Boatanchor Radios

Can your SP-600 do this?
Category: Vintage Ham Radio

Watch the video trailer for the 2019 monster movie that relies on a 1950s vintage Hammarlund SP-600 and Collins 30L-1 amplifier.... READ MORE

- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 04/20/2019

Category: Historic

I find the show-biz association of the founder of Allied Radio, Simon Wexler, to be rather fascinating. What started out as a supplier of crystal set parts led to a family that became a major force in the entertainment industry and in Chicago business...including many recognizable names:"Allied Radio (now known as Allied Electronics) is a company with a long history. On August 6, 1... READ MORE

- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 04/14/2019

Hazard E. Reeves - audio pioneer and defense contractor

Making crystals in midtown Manhattan during WWII
Category: Historic

Hazard E. Reeves (1906-1986) may not be a household name, but his work is well known to every moviegoer. He was an American pioneer in sound and sound electronics, and introduced stereophonic sound for motion pictures. He met Fred Waller at the 1939 World's Fair and saw the potential of Waller's "Vitarama" system which he invested in and which soon became the mo... READ MORE

- BRADLEY STONE (NB9M), 04/12/2019

Whatever happened to Globe Electronics

and the Globe Mobiline Six...
Category: Vintage Ham Radio

In his book "In Touch with Leo", the success and growing backlog of CB-100 orders is what drove Leo to his banker, Lou Ross, who asked him why he didn't anticipate the number of orders and required capital. Leo responded "Lou, never on God's green earth could I have believed such an influx of orders!". More funding was needed than the bank ... READ MORE

- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 03/18/2019

Spectral Purity using Epson Programmable Oscillators

Do harmonics matter if there's no way for them to be heard?
Category: Crystal Replacement

In the 5 or so years I've been using the Epson oscillators I've looked at the spectral output many times. Without a doubt the harmonic output from the Epson oscillator is high as would be expected from a square wave device. The question to me has always been "does it matter"?PLL controlled digital oscillators have long been used as LOs in recei... READ MORE

- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 03/12/2019

The Foxhole Radio

aka "Razor Blade and Safety Pin Radio"...from the Boy's Fun Book
Category: Vintage Radio

When I was a kid, my dad gave me a thin hardcover book called "Boys Fun Book - Things to Make and Do". It was printed during WWII on very thin paper as a wartime conservation measure, but was chock-full of interesting projects, ranging from hobbies and magic tricks to sports, puzzles, camping...and the chapter I was drawn to: "Unusual Radios You Can Build You... READ MORE

- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 03/08/2019

Using rectifier diodes as varactor/varicap substitutes

Modern-day solutions for RF part obsolescence
Category: Technical

As anyone who likes building radios knows, it's getting harder and harder to buy RF components. One of the last casualties was the 3-section pi-wound RF chokes made by Hammond, a company that has done more than most to support the vintage radio and audio hobbies. The Toko variable inductors long favored by QRP enthuisiasts have become all but unavailable, and vari... READ MORE

- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 03/02/2019

Harlan Andersson, computer pioneer and co-founder of Digital Equipment Corp.

A native of my town, Freeport IL
Category: Historic

The following obituary appeared in the Freeport Journal-Standard on Febr. 9, 2019. I attended a lecture by Mr. Anderson in the late 1990s after moving to Freeport and working for Honeywell where despite being a supplier to DEC, few realized the local connection existed to the founder of what once was the second-largest computer company in the world. Mr. Anderso... READ MORE

- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 02/09/2019

The Case of the Phantom Voltage

“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
Category: Technical

A Heathkit HW-12 gave me a troubleshooting challenge the likes of which I've not seen before - or even heard of!A few days ago the transmitter wouldn't produce output, and in checking voltages and I measured -75 volts on the ALC line which should be -20. But it corrected itself and I figured it must have been a solder splash or something that cleared by itself. That theor... READ MORE

- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 02/08/2019

The Solvay Conference, 1927

The Smartest Photograph Ever Take
Category: Historic

The Solvay Conference, founded by the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay in 1912, was considered a turning point in the world of physics. Located in Brussels, the conferences were devoted to outstanding preeminent open problems in both physics and chemistry. The most famous conference was the October 1927 Fifth Solvay International Conference on Electrons and Photons, where the world’s most... READ MORE

- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 12/27/2018