Clegg 6m rigs

[AF9J]

Hi Everybody,

There's a Clegg 99er on eBay going for peanuts (with 15 hours left, nobody's bid on it, and it's going for about $25).  As you know, I've been dabbling in 6m AM.  It's a pee wee power rig (about 5-6W out), but when 6 is happening, you don't need much to get out.  Has anybody ever used these rigs, or Cleggs in general?  I know the receivers are usually pretty deaf compared to what's out there nowadays. But, it might be interesting to use if the price is right.

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[KB1IAW]

Hi Ellen-

I've used a Clegg 99'er that belonged to a friend. It's got a pretty numb receiver. When I was listening to 50.4 I could also hear the local NPR radio station on 90.1 FM. It's a neat little radio but I wouldn't give much more than $25 for one. You can sometimes find a Gonset communicator in that same price range, it's a far better transceiver.

Paul. KB1IAW

[AF9J]

Thanks for the info Paul.   That pretty much goes with my gut feelings on it.  It probably explains why nobody has bid on it.  Considering that shipping for it is $24 via USPS, I'm kind of thinking it's not really worth it.

73,
Ellen - AF9J 

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I have a Clegg 99'er, Clegg 66'er, Thor 6 , Venus, and the Intercepter/Zeus combo for 6M AM although the Venus really is a SSB rig. Of all, for 6M AM "middle of the road work", the 66'er and the Thor are the best. 66'er has a great front end and the transmitter works very well. Has front panel transmitter tuning but is only crystal control. I use an Ameco VFO 621  with it. The Thor also has a great front end and a very good transmitter. Modulator and power supply are on a separate chassis so an interconnecting cable is required between it and the receiver/transmitter. Also has a built in VFO. The 99'er does have a very broad receiver; sort of reminds me of the Heath Sixer in terms of receiver performance. Transmitter is not bad, but just a few watts and modulator could use lots of change.

Of all the Gonset boxes, the G-50 is probably the best in terms of receiver and transmitter performance for 6 meters. Communicator IV isn't bad but they jammed a lot into a small box. Communicator III isn't bad either,  but it suffers from only fair selectivity.

[W4EWH]

Ellen,

I have a special place in my heart for the Clegg 99'er. It was my first-honest-to-ghod-I-bought-it-with-my-own-money rig, and the first transceiver I owned.

I was on six meter AM in the 1960's, before repeaters, before gaasfet's, before Tokyo electric pushed all the U.S. firms out of the market.

After a few thousands lawns mowed, it cost me $55.00 at a radio store in Reading, Massachusetts that has long since closed. Sigh.

I started out with a halo antenna, which was first placed on top of the rafters in the attic and then on top of a cardboard box on top of the rafters, and the extra 24 inches of height gave me about 6db of gain, go figure. Working as a plumber's apprentice on weekends got me a four element yagi: it was originally a five element, but a snowstorm took out one director. It had an Alliance rotor and was at the peak of my family's roof, which had a 15 inch pitch but I was young and crazy and I wanted the gain.

I used a PTT microphone, but I had to bridge the switch contacts with a blob of solder because they opened the mic lead and the 99'er was very much not PTT, so I had to hold the mic button down just to connect the mic until I got fed up and dug out the iron.

The rectifier tube had been replaced with diodes, which gave it about 15 watts of input, and the first crystal I bought for it had birdies at about every 9 KHz up and down the band. It didn't matter to the neighbors, of course: I could be heard in every tv set within a mile even after I bought a new crystal.

Those were the days when a young boy's entire world could be fit into a cane-metal box that glowed blue if you looked at it from the right angle. Before the World Wide Wait, before CNN, before the wife and the kid and the mortgage.

Sigh.

Bill

[AF9J]

Cool stuff people,

I've been interested in the Clegg stuff for some time.  I remember back in the late 70s & early 80s, when I was a Novice, seeing their FM stuff advertized in the mags.  I think I'll keep an eye out for a 66er or a Thor.  VFO control isn't quite as critical on 6 (at least at this part of the solar cycle, when any propogation is mainly Sporadic E in nature), as it is on HF, for AM work, since most people hang out on 50.4 MHz.  Luckily I don't live in my hometown anymore, where I would have had to deal with TV Channel 2 issues. 

I didn't know you did 6m AM Pete.  I'll have to listen for you when 6 is open (which it  WASN'T very much this last weekend during the VHF QSO Party).  I'll keep an eye out for a Thor or a 66er.  I think more so than the Gonsets, Cleggs are overlooked for 6m AM. Gonsets by contrast, seem to be coming a bit more collectable.  Their prices are going up.  If the 99er stayed dirt cheap, it might be worth it for a laugh,  but the guy is talking about shipping it for $24.  For that radio, it doesn't seem to be worth it.  Well, I'd better get going to work. 

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Cool stuff people,

I've been interested in the Clegg stuff for some time.  I remeber back in the late 70s & early 80s, when I was a Novice, seeing their FM stuff advertized in the mags.  I think I'll keep an eye out for a 66er or a Thor.  VFO control isn't quite as critical on 6 (at least at this part of the solar cycle, when any propogation is mainly Sporadic E in nature), as it is on HF, for AM work, since most people hang out on 50.4 MHz.  Luckily I don't live in my hometown anymore, where I would have had to deal with TV Channel 2 issues. 

I didn't know you did 6m AM Pete.  I'll have to listen for you when 6 is open (which it  WASN'T very much this last weekend during the VHF QSO Party).  I'll keep an eye out for a Thor or a 66er.  I think more so than the Gonsets, Cleggs are overlooked for 6m AM. Gonsets by contrast, seem to be coming a bit more collectable.  Their prices are going up.  If the 99er stayed dirt cheap, it might be worth it for alaugh,  but the guy is talking about shipping it for $24.  FOr that radio, it doesn't seem to be worth it.  Well, I'd better get going to work. 

73,
Ellen - AF9J

Most of Clegg's later stuff (mostly FM rigs) were made in a manufacturing location in Lancaster, PA or were imported from Japan. All of his AM rigs and the Squires Sanders stuff were made here in NJ. I actually got a tour of Clegg's manufacturing location in Mt Tabor, NJ when the Clegg 99'er, Intercepter, and Zeus rigs were first in production. Being involved with "The VHF Amateur" Magazine, we were looking for ad revenue at that time even though the editor and I were still in high school.

50.4 MHz is generally considered the AM Calling frequency. If the band opens up, and everyone hung on that frequency to make QSO's, it would be nothing but a bunch of heterodyne's. If you want to make contacts on 6 AM with low power and remain crystal controlled, you're better off getting a crystal 8 to 10 KHz up or down from 50.4. For most of the receivers of that era, you're still close, or still in, the passband of the receiver.

I was on during the contest but focused mostly on late night/early morning scatter contacts and also did some PSK-31 stuff. Longest distance scatter contacts were to AZ and CO and several to the Texas area.

[AF9J]

Well, I took a look at my eBay watch list, and the the Clegg 99er auction ended - with no bidders.  That seems to speak volumes about the rig and/or the sellers terms.  I'll keep an eye open for a 66er, a Thor 6, or a Gonset.  Rodger, WQ9E suggested asking on the Midwest Classic  AM net on Saturday morning.  I'm going to give that a try.  I've been suffering too much from eBay-itis lately.

Thanks for the info on 6m crystal control AM operating Pete.  What little bit of 6m AM I've done, I've found (along with 10m AM), to be a breath of fresh air in my operating on that band.  And, It'd be nice to keep a 6m AM rig in use.  I listen daily on both 6 & 10m SSB, when they open, then I check out (and call CQ if necessary) on AM.  2m AM would be nice too, but around here, the nearest 2m AM net is in Michigan, and it's only on Wednesday nights.  Beyond that net, 2m AM activity is basically non-existent in the midwest.  Well, back to work for me. 

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[The Slab Bacon]

You know itz a friggin shame, a few years ago you couldnt give 6m am gear away in this area. (we have tv channel 2 here in Baltimore) No one wanted the stuff at all.

I had a HA-460, communicator-4, 6m gooney box, and a Poly-Comm6.
I literally couldnt give them away. They all got cut up and recycled for partz!!  People would pay big bux for 6m ssb stuff, and fm stuff, but you couldnt beg them to take 6m AM stuff. Go figger!!  I guess everybody was just scared of the Tenessee Valley Indians.

                                                the Slab Bacon

[AF9J]

Yep, that was my problem when I lived in Manitowoc, WI (my hometown, about 80 miles north of Milwaukee, on the shore of Lake Michigan).  Up there, they have Channel 2 out of Green Bay (about 35 miles northwest of Manitowoc).  I had problems even running SSB, because Channel 2 was only so-so for reception (even with a yagi, and a receive pre-amp) into Manitowoc.  This situation made almost all 6m operation a dicey affair at times.  I've got a watch on a Lafayeete 460 on ePay, but I'm going to ask on the Saturday morning AM swap net.  If anything is available on that net, chances are, it'll cost quite a bit less than eBay.  Well, I'm done at work.  As usual, I'll keep an ear open to 6 & 10m for some AM work, while I'm working on ye olde HP-23A power supply tonight.

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Every year I seem to take at least one 6 meter rig to Dayton to find it a new home. Don't ever come home with them. This year it was a Polycomm 6 (the rig with the blue faceplate in the background). This one was their last run and they installed an additional nuvistor preamp (switch controlled) in the front end. HA-460's are nice rigs too. We sold tons of them "back in the good old days".

[AF9J]

Yeah, I'd forgotten about the Polycomms.  I remember last year when ER did monthly profiles on VHF AM rigs of the past. The Polycomm was one of them.  From what I remember reading, they were quite expensive in their day.  I'm going to add them to my watch list too.

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[W8EJO]

Heathkit had a few also. The Seneca transmitter ran over 100 watts.

Utica also had a 6 AM transmitter/receiver, all chrome, very stylish. Expensive for it's day.

I've got an old Gonset G-50 I'll fire up as soon as openings are a little more consistent.

I remember back in the late 50's, early 60's we had a converted DX-40 & a Tapetone  (I think)  converter.

Terry
W8EJO

[N3DRB The Derb]

I've had 3 or 4 polycomm 6's. about 13 years ago we used a pair of them on 50.4 to maintain communication between entry/exit points at the Howard County Fairgrounds and the main building. They get pretty hot just sitting there.

[w4eal]

Utica also had a 6 AM transmitter/receiver, all chrome, very stylish. Expensive for it's day.

Boy o boy that Utica 650 was one fine radio. The guys on the HPA net useta make fun of mine cause I could heat the shack with it. I actually cooked an egg in an iron frying pan sitting on top of it during the net. Ahhhh the good old days.

w4eal

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I had a HA-460, communicator-4, 6m gooney box, and a Poly-Comm6.
I literally couldnt give them away. They all got cut up and recycled for partz!!

No! Not a Polycomm 6?!?? Say it ain't so!! 

[The Slab Bacon]

I had a HA-460, communicator-4, 6m gooney box, and a Poly-Comm6.
I literally couldnt give them away. They all got cut up and recycled for partz!!

No! Not a Polycomm 6?!?? Say it ain't so!! 

Unfortunately its so!     But I do have an HA-410!!

[WU2D]

I got a Hallicrafters SR-46 a few years ago. It has a very hot receiver. I built up a converter out of a couple of MPF-102's in cascade and a diode DBM and tacked it onto the front of my 51J-3 as a tunable IF. The Hallicrafters matches it.

Mike WU2D