I want my money back

[WA1GFZ]

When I was a novice in 1966 my Aunt took a picture of me at the operating desk with my New GR64 ,my Homebrew 6V6GT rig and alarm clock sitting on it. Today that alarm failed to go off I wonder if it can be repaired. Something hanging up in the trigger.

[KL7OF]

take the safety off

[Carl WA1KPD]

Lets see the pic

[WA1GFZ]

I'll have to scan it.....BTW the tag is still on the bottom. General Electric MADE IN THE USA.....match that chink crap, over 42 years of perfect service. Even fell over in a L.A. earth quake......My son robbed the snooze button about 10 years ago....he must of eaten it,

[WA1GFZ]

Well my Son is on vacation this week so set his beside the old GE.
GE worked this morning. Seems to be the way it is prearmed. Pull the pin in and out a couple times quickly and it works fine. Need to yank it apart and see what is going on.

[W2JTD]

GR-64! My first radio. I picked strawberries that summer to earn the $20 that my dad matched with his hard-earned $20, then I had to wait until Christmas to open the box.

Every day I felt and sniffed that box all over, like a high school jock with a hot date in the back seat of a '49 Merc convertible on a Saturday night.

Opening the box Xmas day was a total gas - I picked through it like an archaeologist on a mummy - carefully removing that puffy tissue packing and removing the chassis, cover, speaker and the paper bags of parts.

Then I built it in 2 evenings - no prior experience - and the damned thing worked! I sat in front of those 4 tubes every night for years. It took me everywhere.

I still have it.

[W2JTD]

I beg the group's forgiveness with my Jean Shepherd-like post above. Got me all nostalgic. I really loved that radio. Still do, piece of crap that it is.

[WA1GFZ]

Yup pretty much the same story with me but i think it took 4 nights working on it.
This became the early days of RX addiction. Soon after I built it I found it had design problems. My egg plant buddy could hear much better with his S40B.
Even had my Dad take it to work so one of his buddies old Ray Slanda (SP, SK)
calibrate it for me. We rebuilt the front end of his car once and after that he provided me a good flow of electronic surplus. I remember building a regen preselector for it and a Heath Q multiplier. It was like operating Flash Gordon's space ship.   

[W3RSW]

You lucky stiffs.
My first real radio was an Ocean Hopper.  

I'd give anything to go back to those days...  (well, almost.)  

None of the 'junque' I have now can even compare to the touch, smell, look and feel of those components.... oh h,... probably even the taste of solder.  Yeah, used to chew it.  Kawman... admit it, a lot of us did and we still have our hair.  What the h.. is the loss of a few IQ points compared to the brilliant days of our younger years?

Built it with an electric soldering iron, paste brushed on... wax caps with big melt marks..  probably some globbed joints.   - ah, still worked though.  

Parts of it found their way into my first xmitter.  yeah, 50c5 with 354w power.
I still have a few parts left,.. all three tuning caps, band, main, and antenna, and wonder of wonder, the bc coil.  I have no idea where the other three coils went.

So don't feel bad about a 'Jean Shepard' moment.
Many years later I snapped up a brand new kit Lafayette Explorair just to recreate that feeling.
Well.... a little of it came back as I built it in the 60's.  But using a Weller, making audio improvements n' stuff, somehow just didn't seem the same.  The audio was so tinny that I added a treble control on the rear to dampen down the highs.  Now I can't even hear the diff. as I rotate it though its range.  

Ah well, out she comes 'cept for a 3/8" hole.  I guess I can always add another pin jack.

[The Slab Bacon]

I beg the group's forgiveness with my Jean Shepherd-like post above. Got me all nostalgic. I really loved that radio. Still do, piece of crap that it is.

Hey Paul,
               We're all sentimental that way about something. My first radio was a Lafayette "Explore-Air" that I begged for for Christmas when I was in the 4th or 5th grade. None of my "elders" thought I could even build it, much get it to work. I built it and to the amazement of my parents and other family "elders" It worked. I got hours and hours and hours of enjoyment out of that crappy little 3 tube regen. I loved and cherished it for many years to come. And, as a matter of fact I still have it to this day!!

                                                                                  The Slab Bacon

[WA1GFZ]

That's funny Frank, I wanted to build a two tube regen but my Dad's buddy Ray talked him out of it. He told my Dad to get a Heathkit.
The GR64 had just came out so that was the one I got. My parents had this deal having 5 Kids that one or two of us would take turns getting something real cool for Christmas each year. The next year was lean for me but I didn't car. My parents were into science and mechanics so if it was cool they would somehow come up with the money to stimulate the brain. My mother was into electronics so it was easy to convince them I needed a RX.

[The Slab Bacon]

Some guys have all the luck!! You were very lucky, Frank!! All my OM ever tried to teach me was how to cut meat. I NEVER had any parental support in any of my hobby endeavors. The only reason they bought me the Explor-Air was to shut me up and get me out of their hair!
                                                                                    The Slab Bacon

[W3RSW]

Here's mine Frank.
Still have the blow up prints with the manual.  Somebody did a lot of good art work making those.

Can't find any record of the exact date I built it, but was around 1967.
Check out the fancy cheeze box with the "bass reflex port," heh, heh.
I have replaced the electrolytics and took back out the treble pot and cap.

Wish I still had the Ocean Hopper in such good shape. Learned a lot between the two about not recycling everything I own for parts.

[WA1GFZ]

In 6th grade my parents got me this kit with 2 6SK7s and a 6J5. It was a number of projects and had a stinkmonium rectifier that I blew up. I remember going to a TV repair shop for a new one. The RX only covered broadcast band. It had a U shaped chassis out of 20g steel.
I built my first 807 rig on it and drove the family crazy with TVI on 15 meters. The line core had resistance wire to make the heater voltage.
One of the last projects was a code practice oscillator so I could study for my novice license.

[Carl WA1KPD]

My first rcvr from about 62 or so. Sorry to say it was sandstate but it was a kit. Sold by Revell.

[W2XR]

Some guys have all the luck!! You were very lucky, Frank!! All my OM ever tried to teach me was how to cut meat. I NEVER had any parental support in any of my hobby endeavors. The only reason they bought me the Explor-Air was to shut me up and get me out of their hair!
                                                                                    The Slab Bacon

Frank,

I was really very lucky to have a dad that did all he could to promote my interest in radio and electronics. He built me a crystal radio when I was about 5 years old, although that did not really strike any major radio interest in me at the time; too young in retrospect. He would buy me copies of Popular Electronics and Electronics Illustrated when I saw an issue at the newsstand that I found interesting.

When I was about 12 years old, I became very interested in photography. My dad suggested that although this was a good hobby to have, he thought that my interest in electronics would be much better served, as it could make a very good occupation for me going forward. Very perceptive by him at the time; most photographers enjoy their work, but very few find it all that lucrative.

In 1969, at the age of 15, when I became interested in building my own telescope, he drove me down to Barrington, NJ (during the Woodstock weekend I vividly recall) to Edmund Scientific, so we could buy all of the materials I needed for constructing a 6-inch reflector.

In January of 1970, he loaned me $180.00 so I could buy the used Heathkit Mohawk and Apache rigs from a local ham just before I received my Novice license. There was a strict proviso, however; it was indeed a loan, and I had to pay him back the full amount, without interest. There was no time period in which the loan had to be repaid, but when I turned 16, it forced me to get my first real job stacking cans at the local supermarket. He kept records of the payments, and I did pay him back in full. Those same Apache and Mohawk rigs I bought 38 years ago are sitting right here in front of me, as I write this to you. Talk about a connection to the past!

When I turned 16 and wanted to buy my first car, a fixer-upper I would get going myself, he said no way. Too much of a distraction from school, and his decision on this was irrevocable. Smart move by him in retrospect.

Little did I know at the time,  my Dad was making a smart investment in my future. He was right; I ultimately did make the field of electronics my occupation, have done pretty well financially by it, and most importantly, I have always enjoyed the work and the constant learning experience that goes with it, along with the wonderful friends made along the way.

73,

Bruce

[W1UJR]

My first rcvr from about 62 or so. Sorry to say it was sandstate but it was a kit. Sold by Revell.

Revell?
The company that made those plastic models?

Man, I used to love trying to glue that injection moulded plastic together, fitting the little pins in the sockets, then carefully painting with my Testor's Master Paint kit.  

[W2XR]

My first rcvr from about 62 or so. Sorry to say it was sandstate but it was a kit. Sold by Revell.

Revell?
The company that made those plastic models?

Man, I used to love trying to glue that injection moulded plastic together, fitting the little pins in the sockets, then carefully painting with my Testor's Master Paint kit.  

Yeah, and they made a great see-thru model of a V-8 engine, and see-thru models of male and female humans. If I recall correctly, the parts actually moved in the V-8 engine!

I used to build tons of plastic models in the 1960s; car models by Aurora & Revell, airplanes from Monogram, to name a few. I bet those few remaining unbuilt kits may be worth a few bucks nowadays. I even built a balsawood airplane kit, and still have the scar in my thumb from the X-Acto knife to prove it. Took three stitches.

73,

Bruce

[WA1GFZ]

Gee I only got the 6. My Dad thought it would be easier to see what was going on inside. That was a fun project.

Bruce,
I remember the day my Dad took a hunk of 1/2 inch copper tubing and bent it into a galena crystal holder so I could screw it to a bread board back in crystal radio days. I had the deluxe model with a slider on the coil with a knob on the front panel.

[W1UJR]

Yeah, and they made a great see-thru model of a V-8 engine, and see-thru models of male and female humans. If I recall correctly, the parts actually moved in the V-8 engine!

I used to build tons of plastic models in the 1960s; car models by Aurora & Revell, airplanes from Monogram, to name a few. I bet those few remaining unbuilt kits may be worth a few bucks nowadays. I even built a balsawood airplane kit, and still have the scar in my thumb from the X-Acto knife to prove it. Took three stitches.

73,

Bruce

Yep, remember those well! I built at least one of two of them.
The engine did move and it even had spark plugs (actually small red lights) that fired!

X-acto knives, now your talking! Weren't they like the ultimate cool thing when you were a kid?
Super sharp, nice point, I was always trying to see what I could with those.
There you have it,
1) Testor's Glue, in the toothpaste type of tube, white cap if I recall
2) Testor's Master Paint Kit
3) X-acto knives

All the dangerous joys of childhood!

[Tom WA3KLR]

I still have my Visible V-8 Engine. 

I did have the visible man and woman also, way back.

And I had the gigantic cut-away missile submarine.  So many parts, I may not have finished it.

[W2XR]

I still have my Visible V-8 Engine. 

I did have the visible man and woman also, way back.

And I had the gigantic cut-away missile submarine.  So many parts, I may not have finished it.

The Revell kit I always wanted, but never got, was an ultra-cool scale model of a nuclear power plant.

It was introduced around 1959, and disappeared shortly thereafter. It may have been a difficult and complex kit to assemble, but I have no idea. I would have liked to have found out.

I saw the assembled kit once in the store window of a toy/hobby shop in Toronto, when my parents took my sister and I on vacation in 1959 or 1960, when I was around 5-6 years old. It was the only time I ever saw it. Gosh, I would love to have that kit nowadays.

For my birthday in 1962, I received a kit by Kenner (remember them??) called the Hydrodynamic Kit. You could make working models with flowing colored water, of petrochemical refineries, etc., and it had two working hydraulic pumps that were battery-powered. I used to love playing with that thing, with the plastic tubing, valves, catalytic cracking towers, etc.

Too bad there is nothing marketed nowadays even remotely parallel to those educational kits as supplied by Kenner, Revell, and others. At least a whole generation of young kids have been deprived of the thrill and learning experience to be gained from "doing it yourself".

Getting a bit nostalgic here.

73,

Bruce

[Carl WA1KPD]

Ah yes
I remember getting a model of a Hovercraft that included a rubber tube that you blew into to make it levitate. Lacking fine motor skills i spilled glue into most of the holes. Turned myself purple trying to make that sucker fly

[The Slab Bacon]

so much kool stuff here!! I do have the Explore-Air here, But I'm gonna haffta go diggin around in the basement at my mom's house. Some of my old crapstal and 1 and 2 tube HB radio projects are believed to still exist somewhere in my mom's basement. I know for a fact that "The Visable V-8" and the visable airplane engines still exist in my mom's attic.

after all of this I'm gonna hafta drag out the E-A and see if it still works. Its been well over 25 years since it was plugged in!

                                                                           The Slab Bacon

[WA1GFZ]

I remember being real pissed off when I found that plastic cut away moror only had a little electric motor geat box turn it slowly. I wanted to use it to power a go cart.