COLLINS 75TH ANNIVERSARY STATION ON 20 METERS

[KL7OF]

On or around 14280khz SSB...  Celebrating 75 yrs since Art Collins started the company....  Using an ICOM 756PRO and a HEIL boom mic was station N0CXX from Cedar Rapids IA... I fired up on AM and gave him a call and he said  "my signal was strong but there was some sort of distortion that almost sounded like a carrier coming along with my signal"  He suggested I check my rig and try later....Did not want to try and work me.....The next station to call in said he hoped that he could make it thru the QRM.......I could almost hear Art rolling over in the grave... 

[NE4AM]

On behalf of the CARC, I gotta apologize -
I had sent out an email to the club members advising that there will be a number of vintage equipment operators who will be especially interested in working an AM QSO.  The Collins club does have many eager younger members who maybe have never heard or worked an AM QSO, and probably didn't realize what was going on.  We are trying to run the station during work hours, and don't have a lot of operators with free time during the 8 - 5 timeframe.

Give us another try.

73 - Dave -  NM0S

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

They were on 75 meters over the weekend. I worked them on 3877.7 slop bucket.

[kc2ifr]

Dave,
Nice to see a positive reply to a possible problem.
Thanks for the reply........
Bill

[AF9J]

Hi Dave,

I hope you're recovering OK from the flooding.  Do you know what the schedule is for the 75th Anniversary station?  Being only a state away, you guys should be easy for me to work.

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[NE4AM]

I tracked down the operator you had called yesterday, and related your experience.  At the time here, 20M was poor with a lot of local QRM, so he had the receiver filter cranked down to 1.8 kHz bandwidth to try to get better copy.  The N0CXX operator you called is a top-notch fellow, with more time behind a mike than about anyone I know.  He pointed out to me that Art Collins didn't have much room for nostalgia, always pushing for more perfect communications.  Once SSB came on the scene, Art didn't mess with AM much anymore.

73 - Dave

[NE4AM]

This is the info re. the op:
Rockwell Collins Amateur Radio Special Event

75th Anniversary of Collins Radio

What: The various facilities of Rockwell Collins’ amateur radio clubs announce a special event: The 75th Anniversary of the incorporation of Collins Radio. The special event will take place in September 2008.

When: Commencing 0001z 20 September 2008 and running through 2359z  26 September 2008

Who: Look for the following stations on the bands:
   W0CXX: Cedar Rapids, IA – South Campus, HQ Station
   N0CXX:  Cedar Rapids, IA – North Campus
   W5ROK: Richardson, TX
   W4CRC: Melbourne, FL
   W6CXX: Tustin, CA
   F6KNZ:   Toulouse, France

Where: (+/- QRM)
   CW (kHz): 3550, 7050, 10115, 14055, 18085, 21050, 24900, 28050
   SSB (kHz): 3910, 7285, 14265, 18155, 21385, 24955, 28455

How: Operators will announce when they are QRV via Packet Cluster.

QSL: Via www.qrz.com for each different facility station. Please include a large #10 envelope SASE with enough postage or funds for first class return of QSL. No eQSL’s

Special Certificate: Collect four (4) or more QSL’s from 4 different facilities and mail them to: W0CXX.  A special certificate and your QSL’s will be returned to you.

Info:   http://w0cxx.us/     http://w5rok.us/ 
 
Questions? Contact: w0cxx@rockwellcollins.com
===============

Not much time left!

73 - Dave

[KL7OF]

Dave ....Thanks for the information and your efforts...I'm going to try again today if I get the chance.....Steve

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Art may not have been big on cross-mode or AM, but in today's world it's yet another avenue available to help keep his legacy (and gear) around.

Good luck Steve, hope conditions are more favorable today.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

He pointed out to me that Art Collins didn't have much room for nostalgia, always pushing for more perfect communications.  Once SSB came on the scene, Art didn't mess with AM much anymore.

LOL. Then he would be appalled that outdated modes like SSB and CW are being used.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Interested. When I worked them, they were running a KWM-2.

[KL7OF]

Today on 20 he was running a collins hf 380

[kb3ouk]

I worked W0CXX last Sunday evening on 40 SSB.  I was trolling for contacts in the Classic Exchange with my HT-37/SX-111 combo. 

I too was disappointed that he was running a 756PRO instead of some vintage Collins equipment.   I asked him about that and he said there was a lot of Collins gear next to him, and said something to the effect that he/they weren't quite sure how to use it; can't remember the exact words, but he sounded a bit embarassed.   In any event,  I got the impression he wished he was using the older Collins gear, so maybe some mentoring up there as Dave mentioned will get those new guys at ease running older gear!

Why an Icom? They really should have been running some old Collins gear and AM, too.
Shelby KB3OUK