6m & 2m dual banders from the '60's?

[KC4HGH]

I've been fortunate to scarf up some free 73 & QST magazines some months ago from a fellow Ham cleaning out and, while going through them, found in '63 and 64 editions offerings of dual band 6 & 2 meter antennas by Finny Co (Finco)...they look like a TV antenna...and are fed by a single coax!  I've also found Amplidyne's 2m & 6m rig (no nomenclature) as well.

Was 2 & 6 more popular then than it is now, and was gear more plentiful for dual band operation then?  And was it easy to generate the two bands, or was it expedient to build two rigs in the same cabinet?  Just thought it was unique for antennas & a rig made for these two bands at the same time....

Too bad there isn't some more entry-level VHF gear along this line at a decent price, although I love my FT857-D, some "young" ops can't afford something in the numerous hundreds.

Thanks!

[W4EWH]

I've been fortunate to scarf up some free 73 & QST magazines some months ago from a fellow Ham cleaning out and, while going through them, found in '63 and 64 editions offerings of dual band 6 & 2 meter antennas by Finny Co (Finco)...they look like a TV antenna...and are fed by a single coax!  I've also found Amplidyne's 2m & 6m rig (no nomenclature) as well.

Was 2 & 6 more popular then than it is now, and was gear more plentiful for dual band operation then?  And was it easy to generate the two bands, or was it expedient to build two rigs in the same cabinet?  Just thought it was unique for antennas & a rig made for these two bands at the same time....

[snip]

IIRC, separate rigs were the norm: everything from Heath "Sixers" to Clegg 99'ers to Knight TR-106 transceivers. The only "dual band" I remember was using Ameco downconverters for receive and two-band transmitters such as the Johnson 6n2.

Yes, 2 & 6 were much more popular, since Technicians had no voice privileges below 50.1. TVI was popular, too.  I'll never forget how proud I was that I had figured out the correct length of a quarter-wave length of twin lead, which eliminated the interference to my father's set in less than five minutes. The neighbors weren't so cooperative, although they didn't complain in person, but I did hear occasional comments at the grocery store. 

Ah, the good old days, when RG-8 was a luxury and Armstrong made the best antenna rotators.

73, Bill

[KC4HGH]

Interesting...I've seen some of the other stuff, but it just occurred to me, why 6 & 2 and how did they generate it with two such unlikely bands?  Gives one something to think about....

[W4EWH]

Interesting...I've seen some of the other stuff, but it just occurred to me, why 6 & 2 and how did they generate it with two such unlikely bands?  Gives one something to think about....

They used to be on 5 and 2.5 meters: like the low bands, they were harmonically related.

However, the 56 MHz allocation was pushed down to make way for television, which has channel two starting at 54 MHz

The old 2 1/2 meter band was pushed up to allow for aviation radios during World War 2, and aviation (which now occupies 108 - ~132 MHz) is still there.

HTH.

GIYF: http://www.answers.com/topic/1-25-meters see also http://www.twiar.org/aaarchives/WB010.txt .

73, Bill

[KB2WIG]

             "   why 6 & 2 and how did they generate it with two such unlikely bands?"

Don't know  fer sur how the 6&2 did it.            

But 144/8 =18 and 54/8 = 6. Both the numbers are divisible by 3 so the proper combinations of 2X and 3X will give you the range for xtals. For example 3X3X2  8.050MHz(3)(3)(2) =144.900Mhz. No Xtals?  8MHz VFO fed through the freq. mult. will get you out.

Things would have been easier if the 'old' harmonic band setup of ... 20m, 10m, 5m, 2.5m, 1.25m was kept....

klc

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I've been fortunate to scarf up some free 73 & QST magazines some months ago from a fellow Ham cleaning out and, while going through them, found in '63 and 64 editions offerings of dual band 6 & 2 meter antennas by Finny Co (Finco)...they look like a TV antenna...and are fed by a single coax!  I've also found Amplidyne's 2m & 6m rig (no nomenclature) as well.

Was 2 & 6 more popular then than it is now, and was gear more plentiful for dual band operation then?  And was it easy to generate the two bands, or was it expedient to build two rigs in the same cabinet?  Just thought it was unique for antennas & a rig made for these two bands at the same time....

Too bad there isn't some more entry-level VHF gear along this line at a decent price, although I love my FT857-D, some "young" ops can't afford something in the numerous hundreds.

Thanks!

63/64 was on the down side of the biggest sunspot cycle ever recorded, so there was lots of interest and activity. Everybody was getting into VHF manufacturing from the late 50's through the middle 60's. Lots of home spun manufacturing appeared in catalogs, CQ, 73, and QST. Besides the Finco 6/2 antenna, I believe, Cushcraft also made one. Again, more home spun antenna manufacturers appeared with all types of VHF antennas.

As far as equipment, there were a number of major manufacturers that had them. Polycomm had the 62 and 62B; Johnson had a 6N2 transmitter, 6N2 converter, and 6N2 Amplifier(6N2 Thunderbolt); Clegg had the Intercepter and Intercepter B, 6 and 2 receivers and the Zeus, 6 and 2 transmitter. Hammarlund had their HQ-170A-VHF receiver which included 6 meter section, 6 meter preamp, and a 2 meter converter. Heath had their VHF-1 (Seneca) 6 and 2 meter transmitter. This is from off the top of my head; there probably were a number of additional ones, not to mention all the homebrew 6 and 2 meter transmitter and converter articles that also appear in magazines.

[KC4HGH]

             "   why 6 & 2 and how did they generate it with two such unlikely bands?"

Don't know  fer sur how the 6&2 did it.            

But 144/8 =18 and 54/8 = 6. Both the numbers are divisible by 3 so the proper combinations of 2X and 3X will give you the range for xtals. For example 3X3X2  8.050MHz(3)(3)(2) =144.900Mhz. No Xtals?  8MHz VFO fed through the freq. mult. will get you out.

Things would have been easier if the 'old' harmonic band setup of ... 20m, 10m, 5m, 2.5m, 1.25m was kept....

klc

Ok, and I remember seeing the Lafayette HE-89 6 & 2 meter VFO to be used in transmitters using 8 & 9 MC crystals!  Ok, that explains it...thanks!

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

A bit of trivia:

To my knowledge, the first commercial "dual bander" tranceiver was the Hallicrafters SR-34 introduced in 1958. It used VFO rx and xtal controlled tx for about 10W out on AM.

If you ever see one for a reasonable price, you'll definitely want to pick it up, as well as any of the other aforementioned gear.

How many people can boast of having a true "dual bander" on AM? It'll make the VHF and UHF FM guys jealous - hi!

Best Regards,
                 Joe Cro N3IBX