new member introduction

[KJ4RIG]

Hello,
I just joined this group last night after luckily stumbling across it in my internet searching.
My name is Guy, and I just passed my General exams two weeks ago, and received my first call sign, KJ4RIG.  I'm 59 years old, and have been in radio and television broadcasting and engineering and video production my whole career.  My last exposure to amateur radio was in high school where I was an "honorary" member of the amateur radio club there.  My high school friends bugged me relentlessly about getting my ham license, but it took another 42 years for it to happen!  When I got my First Phone at 16, that did quiet them down a little bit though...LOL.
I also have some very early fond memories of my dad working on and using his ham radio station in the late 50's and early 60's.  I've been looking at pictures of old equipment, and I recognized the transmitter he had from a picture on eham.net...A Viking Valiant.  I'll never forget the smell and glow of the tubes as he talked to those disconnected voices in the night.  So he was an AM guy, and that is my goal as well.  As a tribute to him, last week I applied for his original old call sign.
One big problem and disincentive I had in high school with ham radio was SSB.  All the guys were using it, and I just couldn't understand it, literally.  My brain is missing whatever it takes to fill in the blanks and make recognizable speech out of SSB. So I never got terribly enthused about the whole thing then.
Having been involved in several broadcast AM stations in my career, as was my dad, I thought that now might be the time to get my license and see if there was anyone still using AM, and I could, in some small way, relive my earlier days of working on transmitters again.  I love the stories about rescuing vintage broadcast transmitters, and I would like to eventually do that.
But I do need to get started first and get some basic knowledge of the bands and the people on them. I'm trying to decide whether to start with some sort of used transceiver, something like a Kenwood TS-850s or go with totally vintage tube equipment.  I really enjoy all the articles about mods for better AM audio, and I would definitely find doing that enjoyable and rewarding...something I imagine a lot of current or former broadcast engineers would be inclined to do!
Any suggestions on equipment to get me started would be certainly be appreciated.  I have plenty of land as well, so I'm thinking about putting up a 160m full wave loop to get rolling with.
Anyway, this got sorta long, but I wanted to say hello, and hopefully, I will be amplitude modulating some carrier in the near future!
Guy

[N3WWL]

Welcome to the wonderful world of AMfone!

[K1JJ]

Hi Guy,

Welcome.

I'd suggest spending many hours reading through the threads here that interest you, especially the ones about building your own gear.

Then pick up a good receiver and start planning out what parts you'll need to build up a basic rig.  A simple 6146 modulated by a pair of 807's.... to a pair of 813's modulated by a pair would be a suitable AM rig.

http://www.amwindow.org/tech/htm/813/813.htm

There's class E rigs, Flex SDR rigs, full broadcash rigs and boat anchors available to you too.  You can get most of what you need for parts on E-Bay, the wanted ads on the various HAm sites or even DigiKey, etc.  Also, there's many old timers who are getting rid of their parts hourds these days. Keep looking around and you can sometimes haul away lots of stuff for cheap looking for a good home.

Put up a simple dipole as straight, high and flat as possible fed with openwire line and build this ant tuner to handle all bands:

http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?topic=18054.0

This will get you started right.


The easy way is to buy your station, but that gets old fast for many. To build it will create a lifetime of enthusiasm.  


Keep on posting and axing questions here. Once on the air, start axing lots of technical questions and you will find a group of like-minded guys to hang with. Developing your own gang to share with is important to having fun.

73,
Tom, K1JJ

[wa2dtw]

Guy
Welcome.   I have been a beginner for 50 years, but enjoy every minute of it.

Hope to hear you on the air soon.

73
Steve WA2DTW

[KJ4RIG]

Thanks for the wecome guys,
I've been devouring all I can on this site and some others....a lot has changed in uh..er...40+ years!
Maybe some of you might be old enough to have heard my dad on the air...W5LOO.  Originally located in the Texas Panhandle, but in Virginia since 1964.  He wasn' too active in his later years, but I remember him being on the air quite a bit from Texas.
I just found a site that had one of his QSL cards from 1948, so I'm thinking about basing my design on his.
Guy

[W3GMS]

Guy,
As others have said "welcome aboard"!  Based on your background, both professionally and what you gained from your Dad and his Ham Radio experience when you were much younger you will be like a duck in water with this group. 

The gang here is certainly knowledgeable and friendly.  I am sure you will get many opinions on what you may ask!  In the end you can pick with the one that makes sense to you and the support will follow.

Thats fantastic that your getting your fathers old call.  Its nice to keep things in the family! 

Regards and Congratulations,
Joe, W3GMS

[KB2WIG]

Welcome aboard...
 W5LOO apears to be available......   you may want to go and get the call...  

klc

[W3RSW]

Yeah, a very warm welcome Guy.  Lots of neat stuff here; lots of neat guys too.

W5LOO apears to be available......   you may want to go and get the call... 

Anybody that squeezes in ahead and gets the call now other you is a dirty rat!

[W3SLK]

Hi Guy! You'll probably get a collection of diverse advice here on anything you ask. But that is the great thing about this board. I'm curious as to where in VA you are located. Plenty of AMer's dot the countryside with in the confines of that commonwealth.

[KJ4RIG]

Hi guys,
Yep, already have the vanity application in, paid for, and just waiting for the final action, which according to one site I found, could be Jan 8th.
I'm just a few miles west of village of Midlothian, which is just a few miles west of Richmond. 
I may try and borrow at least a receiver from one of my ham buddies around here when the snow melts and I can get some sort of antenna up, so I can begin to learn who is where, and some of the "protocol". 
Guy

[WA2TTP Steve]

Guy,

Welcome to the board. You won't find a better place to get your questions answered and not just about ham radio problems. Plumbing, electrical, heating and AC, cars you name it and somebody on here will pop up with the answer or where to get it. Great group of people.

73,
Steve,
WA2TTP

[k4kyv]

Guy,

A lot of the AM ham stations on the air to-day are using retired tube type broadcast transmitters, which have become somewhat of an industrial surplus item as AMBC stations converted over to solid state in order to gain big savings on their power bill along with less maintenance.

My very first real job that actually paid a weekly salary was as CE of a 1 kw daytimer.  $50/week for 20 hours work, plus on call 7 days a week during broadcasting hours.  That was in 1964 and I thought I was rolling in the $$$. The transmitter was a Gates BC1-T.  About 6 years ago a local station gave me a BC1-T for removing it from their premises.  I converted it to amateur use and it's now my primary transmitter for 160m.

Welcome aboard!

Don k4kyv

[W3GMS]

Guy,
You may want to pick up a vintage rig to get you on the air to get your feet wet.  I have seen some vintage transmitters and receivers go for reasonable prices these days.  If you find something and your not sure of its reputation, just put a question out and you will get some good direction from this group.  I really enjoy 160M operation and if you have any interest in 160 make sure the vintage piece covers 160.  For many years we were restricted on the power and range of frequencies we could operate on 160 and due to that many manufactures just left 160 off the rig.  As Don said, retired broadcast transmitters are appearing on 160, 75 and 40.  Its always good to have a rig to be able to put on the air while your home brewing or modifying something in the workshop! 
Have Fun,
Joe W3GMS

[KJ4RIG]

Don,
I also was the "contract engineer" for a 1kw daytimer here back in '67.  I was a junior in high school, and I had a standby guy, another engineer at the tv station where I also worked, who could field "off air" emergencies for me if I was in school when it went down.  We also looked after a Class B FM together a few years later. 
The daytimer was also a vintage Gates transmitter.  I can't remember the exact model number, but it had 833s.
I remember spending more than a few nights alone at the xmtr site trying to get the harmonic distortion down to a reasonable level.  I never did get totally happy with it, but I was probably expecting too much from the old girl.
I would love to hear from you guys on which particular broadcast transmitters lend themselves more easily, and economically, to ham band conversion. Size and weight really isn't too much of an issue, as I also collect, restore, and use in my business here, 1800 lb. quadruplex video recorders.  Sometimes I think "old" and "heavy" are my two middle names.
I definitely will not be waiting to get one to get on the air at first, but I do know some of the former and retired contract guys around here that I need to reconnect with who could possibly give me some leads on what's hiding out there.....just possibly waiting for a rescue.
I can't wait to at least get a receiver so I can hear you guys...and the old Gates BC1-T!
There is a "FrostFest" coming here in February, so I'm certainly going to check that out, since I have never been to any sort of Hamfest.  Some of my old ham buds have said they would come along with me, so I might find something there worth fooling with to start with.  I don't mind doing a little restoration work on a nice piece at all, in fact, that would make it even more fun and personalize it a little bit.
Guy

Guy,

My very first real job that actually paid a weekly salary was as CE of a 1 kw daytimer.  $50/week for 20 hours work, plus on call 7 days a week during broadcasting hours.  That was in 1964 and I thought I was rolling in the $$$. The transmitter was a Gates BC1-T.  About 6 years ago a local station gave me a BC1-T for removing it from their premises.  I converted it to amateur use and it's now my primary transmitter for 160m.

Welcome aboard!

Don k4kyv

[W2PFY]

Hi Guy welcome.

While your waiting to get a receiver you may choose to tune in on line with Global Tuners. These are people around the world that dedicate a computer, receiver and antenna space so many of us can listen in or tune to whatever. They all pay for the power to run all this out of pocket. There are also some clubs out there that have radios that can be run via your computer for both rec & transmit. They all have fees and a bunch of rules. I cannot suggest any because I don't know who they are.

Well anyhow, here is the link to Global Tuners. They have a two week probational period, after that you have full tuning privileges.

http://www.globaltuners.com/

73 Terry W2PFY

[WBear2GCR]

Hi welcome to the insanity! 

I'd suggest that there are two discrete things to consider: AM phone and everything else.

For AM phone, the choices are many and up to your preference. They range from modern SDR & Class E rigs through "boatanchors" out through homebrew and broadcast retrofits...

The other part of ham radio (heresy as it may be) includes CW and SSB modes on HF. For them, you may find that a couple of years old transciever and maybe an amp + beam for 10 thru 20m is a good idea.

A whole lot of this depends on your skills, desire and budget... the main thing is to make progress and have fun. It's not a good idea to "shoot for the moon" and never get on because it takes too long to finish the job!
Get on the air!!

With something!

             

                             _-_-bear

[WA1GFZ]

Welcome Guy, There are still plenty of Valiants around so you should be able to pick one up.

[W3SLK]

Guy, see if you can locate Lamont Bryant. His call sign was KK4BO. He is/was the owner/engineer at a station down there. He used to live over in Goochland Co. I haven't talked to him in years and he used to run a Westinghouse grid modulated rig on 160M.

[N3DRB The Derb]

Guy, welcome. From reading your description I think you have found your new home on the www. This is it!

[KJ4RIG]

As of last night, I'm definitely leaning towards finding a vintage transmitter now and eventually using an external "hifi" audio amp as a modulator.  I really like the idea of this as a way to get great audio and also not having to extensively modify a vintage piece.
Now, as for receivers, I don't know what to start looking at!  I've been reading lots of reviews on eham.net, and Collins keeps coming up. 
I'd be interested in any opinions you guys have on vintage receivers that work well and also respond well to a few "hifi" mods.....
With the Ham/Frostfest coming up here in a couple of months, I want to have a good idea of what to look for.
thanks
Guy
KJ4RIG

[KB2WIG]

G,


Goto the top banner and click onto  'The AM Window'. Go to the Teck section and click onto it. There are a few items about receivers that you may find interesting...

klc

[KJ4RIG]

The one receiver that just keeps coming up with great reviews is the Collins R390A...
What do you guys think of that one for AM and how plentiful are they?  Apparently, a great number of them were built, but....the survival rate is my big question.
Are they likely to turn up at Hamfests?  I've got one coming up here in February.
thanks
Guy
KJ4RIG (temporarily, anyway!)

[K6IC]

Hi Guy,

Welcome to this great site !

In addtion th theAM Window treasure trove of Tech info,  the Receiver button lower on the index page is also very informative.

http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?board=47.0

EDIT:  And  the 390A is a capable receiver.  BIt heavy,   and perhaps a bit tedious if you do a lotta hand hopping,  but solid performer.  Somepick off the audio at the detector and use an outboard audio amp to get the best audio.  There IS much info on the web about this RX.

Have fun,  and hope to hear you on the bands.   73  Vic

[W2PFY]

Collins R390A

There's a lot of documentation on the web where you can download the manual and also for upgrades and mods. They are great until they break. Then your in for an education.

One thing to be aware of is the fact that they have an RFI filter that is connected to both sides of the line and is not fused. I had mine go bad and it blew the breaker.
It puffed up and shot a small trail of carbon onto a panel a couple inches away. I just bypassed it and now it's on to repairing mechanical problems. I can't wait till I can get it going again.Till then, it sits exactly where I sat it down. Normal room vibration dose not move them    

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

Hi Guy,
         Welcome to the world of "Angel Music"! You've come to the right place for help and assistance in getting a station together. I think you'll find the folks on AM a lot more friendlier and technically competent than your average "ricebox and G5RV" or "CQ corntest" kind of op. Just IMHO. Once you get your feet whet and get on the air, you'll find that just about everyone knows each other, has traveled to meet other like minded individuals, etc etc. Like one big happy family!

That said, let me say: "Welcome Aboard" and hope to hear more of you, especially on the aether!

Mod-U-Later,
                 Joe Cro N3IBX