The AM Forum

The peanut whistle station is set up and pretty much ready to go, thanks to a visit from W3JN and his EZ-Hang a couple weekends back, and a couple days last weekend of unpacking/moving/hoeing out a space in the garage. Only the Heathkit injuns are set up so far, the rest just came out of bags and boxes to make room.

Hoping to test it out Sunday if time allows. Only 100 watts, but it's a start. The 40m dipole is higher than it's ever been.

That looks mighty fine Todd! What could be better than to grab a cup of coffee, put your feet up on the desk, and call CQ on 40 meters! Hope I tune across your wireless station tomorrow!

Rob

!00W well modulated (if AM as it should be) can be king on 40.. ;).

73DG

Heck yeah, that's an easy 500 pep with our OM voices if we have the right polarity on those mod  plate caps.  ;D.

Your injuns look pretty sweet, rarin'' to meet Pocahontas.

Up and in the clear. You'll be heard. I need to get my station back on the air. :P

Let me know when you fire up on 40M tomorrow Todd and I will fire up the GMS rig. 

Station looks good and the antenna will do a good job for you. 

Joe-GMS

Nice!  What are those radios on the upper shelf above the Racal that look somewhat like Collins S line sets?

Happy to say that the station is back up on 40 meters. Currently in a nice QSO with Buddly. He's booming in at 20-30 over 9.

And you sound pretty good too, Steve.

Looks like the Eldico R(S)-119 "SSB communications system". Consists of of the T-102 transmitter and the R-104 receiver, speaker. Collins clones. Collins was very unhappy and the clones were production killed in less then one year after introduction.

Dayum, you beat me back on the air!  :D Congrats, glad to hear you and Buddly have been burning a hole in the aether. Been taking care of weekend chores this morning and about to hit the road for a few, but it's too damned cold in the garage right now anyway. High 30s and windy here.

Yes, the dipole is a huge improvement, Steve. I'm sure you recall the one out front in NC hanging from the pecan tree maybe 15 feet up at the center, and maybe 8-10 ft up on one end at the plum tree. Johnny really got it up in the air. Can't wait to see how it works.


That's the story I heard years ago too, Pete. But apparently it's not true. Spoke with a fellow in 5 Land who knew the original/one of the original owners of Eldico. He forwarded to me an email message from the gent explaining. Apparently the gov't put out a spec for contract for SSB systems to be used in MARS stations and such. Supposedly they already had Collins S-Line gear but had to second-source it, so the spec was based on the already-proven design. Definitely not a copy or of the same level of quality. Not bad, just not the same.

Anyhow - the reason they disappeared from the market was related to Eldico's financial state: they were going bankrupt or such. The business ended up being sold to Radio Engineering Laboratories (REL) also on Long Island who continued production of the sets until the contract was completed. The last few stations off the line were badge as RELiant instead of Eldico, as these are. There was also a matching amplifier that was never badged as Eldico gear. Would love to find one of those amps, seen a couple in collections.

I think the rub or alleged rub came in with Eldico offering the sets for sale to the public and (supposedly) Collins objecting because the Eldico emblem closely resembled the winged Collins emblem, along with being a similar set up that was (possibly) not intended for private sale or use.

A lot of speculation there. Who knows at this point? Someone must? Photo attached of the RELiant R-104 receiver. Note that even the meter face was changed to say RELiant.

Some days I think I'll get around to restoring it, other days I think about selling it. Time isn't what it used to be.

There are a number of stories floating around but I should have said the "clones" were killed under the Eldico badge. (typing too fast)

One of the stories I heard was that after they got the military contract, they didn't have enough financial reserves to buy parts and pay for manufacturing for the quantities required, so they struck a deal with a well established company like REL to buy them out and take over the product line. Eldico then became a division of REL.

Another rumor was that the 75S-3 and the R-104 were designed by the same person.  :D
Other then for external cosmetic similarities, the internal designs were different.
I would suspect any parties in the "real know" are probably all gone by now. I think Don Merten, W2UOL later K2AAA, one of the principals of Eldico, passed away in 1996.

But, their real claim to fame probably is that they produced the first SSB transmitter for amateur use 2 years earlier then CE's 10A.
And, I believe, they also had the first (or one of the first) SSB mobile rigs, SSB-100M. All tubes, 5894 in final (60 watts PEP), 80 through 10 meters.

A RELiant L-103 linear amplifier was selling on eham back in 2015. The P110 power supply was also included.

(http://www.eham.net/data/classifieds/images/469612.jpg)


Eldico SSB-100M Mobile transmitter

(https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/222376330339_/Eldico-Ssb-100M-Hf-Transmitter-Works-With-Collins.jpg)

Todd -

Nice looking station you have there. I'm located a stone's throw from Ft. Belvoir so maybe we'll run into each other on 40m AM daytime.

Thanks for posting the close-up photo of the Eldico.  I'm almost certain that (or its twin) is the same rig I have seen in two "Mannix" episodes recently, in one show portrayed as a Forest Service radio.  I paused the recording both episodes for a closer look at what first glance appeared to be Collins gear but the wide dial window had me stumped.

73,
Brad K4RT

Good going Todd! yes, that dipole should work marvelous! I'll be listening for ya!

Yes Steve, it was great hooking up with you. Sunday's WFN found Gary The INR checking in and later last night I found Jim N3JUH calling CQ for all the tall ships Cay Man! Chatted with him for half an hour or so. In all a good radio weekend!

Bill (WTK), fire those bottles and say hello!

I hit the WFD on Sat but missed Sunday. Good to hear some blasts from the past back on.

Welcome back to the wireless Steve! 

Looking forward to having a QSO with you. 

Joe-GMS 

Todd that is a very nice looking station. Can it stay so tidy? Does the Golden Eagle work? All very classic gear!

Thanks Pat. The old Browning did work fine last time it was powered up a few years back. Station looks tidy now because I haven't used it plus the space is limited. But someone already sat a GRR-5 on the desk and a few other items. And I haven't even made a contact yet.  ::)

Brad - strange that you should mention the Mannix series, someone else brought up the same equipment question on another list a while back. Haven't seen it in years (decades?) but it recently came back on so I'll have a look.

Good to hear that the old N3JUH is still active! Johnny and I were just talking about him a couple weeks back. With Jim, Gary, and Steve back on, 75m must really be hopping again.

Curious - with all the open space down in the 80m portion of the band, does the WFD group still gather on the same frequency as the Canadian SSB group that moved down from 40m, requiring them to give up the frequency to the SSB group after a half hour or so? Never could make sense of that....

Planning(hoping) to fire up later today or tomorrow. Fingers crossed that it all still works after the move.

Yes Todd, the WFN still meets on 3733kHz at or near 5PM eastern and we do still honor our standing agreement with the Sandbox net to the north. At times, if some are wanting to continue, we just slide down to 3725kHz or where ever there's room.

I really have no problem with the arrangement since they standby patiently waiting for us to close without a bunch of tuning up.

Besides, after 1 1/2 hours the topics are usually exhausted anyway.

True, I guess if that's the only time you're getting on each day it doesn't really matter. Sorta like the old fudd nets discussing new dentures and age spots.  ;D We're getting to be the new old fudds, I guess. It never made sense to me because so many folks who wanted to join in got there too late to enjoy much time before having to give away the frequency. Why no one thought about finding a better frequency is beyond me, but that's what nets are all about.

Fortunately you're known to wander elsewhere.  ;)

Hi Todd.... looking good! I've got one of those amps upstairs too, but I've never had it on the air. I think I have two of the RX/TX stations. The one thing I DONT like is the pinch roller drive on the main tuning.  With the general robustness of the rest of the rig, this seems like a big afterthought.

Hope to see you @ one of the local fests this yr....we can compare age spots.

John

Talking about Eldico gear, a good friend bestowed me with some of his Eldico gear many years ago.    I am pretty sure I also have the 100F although its not shown in the picture. When I restore the 100F along with what you see in the picture, I will mount the 100F above the SSB-100 MIL.  

What you see below is a very unique and uncommon Eldico amplifier.  Its model number is L-100 and the power supply below is the P-100.  Both are labeled serial number 2.  The transmitter is the rack above the linear is the common SSB-100 MIL.  

Joe-W3GMS

Thanks for the photo of the Eldi-Stack. I have a 100F and a 100M (or maybe 2...black face and grey face?) but I've never seen that stack.

Very nice!
John K5MO

This brings back many memories. When I was in HS our radio club had an Eldico station (can't recall he models). I remember that the transmitter had a small round CRT. We got more "OO" notices than QSL's every time it went on the air. One of my classmates fathers was W2KUW, a real equipment trader / reseller. Teddy donated a KWM2A station with a 30L1 to replace the Eldico.

Looked up the club call - today WB2ELE has been reassigned ...

Very interesting amp, Joe. Have never seen or even heard of one. Bet there weren't many made.

Looks like the stars will finally align tomorrow morning so I can get on 40m AM again. Hope to catch a few of you scallywags in there. Rob, you put a nice signal into NC when I was down there so I'm guessing VA will be equally loud. Of course, I'll need to get a new sense of band openings, closings, and when I can expect to hear what stations where. Local vs further out and all that.

Success. Gave the wife and daughter a goodbye hug & kiss and sent them on their way clothes shopping a bit after 10 this morning, then headed to 40m after the Heathkit Injuns had some time to warm up. Starting around 10:20 on 7.290 I worked K1NR, KB2OUA, KE1FT, N1ICX, W2BNY, WB3FAU, and finished up just after noon with Pete/N1HCE near Boston. Took a break to recycle coffee and print more log sheets.

The band was in pretty decent shape - some QSB and a couple of drop outs, but overall pretty stable for 40 meters. To get nearly 2 hours out of one frequency without a total crap out (conditions or equipment) felt pretty good. Definitely good to be active again.

So where is everyone??   ;D

      " So where is everyone??   ;D  "


 Maybe the  carpetbaggers ran them off.


klc

Didn't hear any corntesters until later in the afternoon/evening when I was out sawing off some shelving. And then I only heard a couple.

Did go back out in the mid afternoon and caught up with Russ again, also worked Clark N1BCG. Had a good chat about the upcoming ARRL AM Rally before talking myself out of band conditions. Clark: on the last go 'round everyone just vanished, typical 40m stuff.


Hey John! Not sure how I missed this before. Yes, the pinch rollers and the tuning rack is a bit less stout as well, though not horrible. Just different.

Probably won't see you at Raleigh or such this year as we now reside in northern VA. Not sure if you travel to the Manassas 'fest or others up this way. Certainly enjoyed the Raleigh 'fest along with the Friday night feed, wouldn't mind doing that again soon. If we work at it, maybe we can have some denture stories as well!

Heard N1BCG turning it over to Todd, but no copy. Guess we're too close for the prevailing conditions on 40 meters.

VJB came in very loud here from 10:00 am EDT to 10:30 or so this morning on 75 but he didn't come back to me. His Collins 300D sounded quite strapesscent.  40 meters has been real iffy this morn. too. W1AW, "Bob,"  on about 7290 is working the guys with a 250 watts from a DYY rig.

Just worked Bob. The band has been really crappy since last night here, a lot of rapid QSB. All at once it's as if someone threw a switch and everything settled down.

Steve, we used to work on 40 when I was in NC roughly the same distance, didn't we? Just need to figure out the band timing.

The 40 meter band was quite good in the early afternoon. Hearing stations at much shorter distances than in recent times. Even heard Todd, at S9+20! He's less than 100 miles from my location. Still, stations 300-400 miles out were booming in too. Quite FB.

Yes, finally! Looks like 2-3PM is the sweet spot for local stuff. Was hearing both you and Paul/ORC great. You must be closer to him than to me, as well? You picked the perfect time to sign as your signal declined rapidly to where I couldn't hear you anymore. I knew the band was changing when the northern stations faded out.

Good to talk to you on 40, Todd.  I think the last time we talked may have been at the Rochester Hamfest 2004 or 2005, but my memory could be playing tricks on me.  Steve HX was strapping; he's a bit closer to Va. Beach than to Manassas, I believe.

The Ithaca station, Janis, AB2RA was quite strong here.  But the QSB was pronounced with Timmy up and down to the point sometimes he disappeared into the noise, which is unusual for his signal here (unless he's using the shaded dipole).

Lots of heterodynes and people tuning up on top of QSOs, but it was nice to hear so much AM activity.  I tuned around 20 meters earlier because the propagation forecast was favorable, but I heard no AM activity.

VA Beach is only 60 miles from my place. Manassas is at least 100.