WHERE DO I FIND WORKING AM GEAR

[kg8lb]

KG8IB IF YOU WANT TO DISPOSE OF SOME OF YOUR GEAR GIVE ME A PRICE WITH SHIPPING AND LETS TALK.....EMAIL ME AT....AE1CT@YAHOO.COM  

 

  Sorry but no shipping. It is all pick up only. If I have to move anything it will be out to the curb on trash day    

Regarding the Elmacs, the driver transformers seem to give more trouble than the modulation output tranny. I have seen plenty of crapped out interstage xfmrs but so far not a single bad mod xfmr . Some folks lay the cause for open drivers on the outgassing from the bias battery. That could well be. I have repaired a few of the transformers by opening them up and finding a connection failure right at the terminal tag strip. A little bit of careful surgery often leads to a salvaged driver. The battery can be replaced by a zener modification but timely battery replacements may save the outgassing.
They (interstage) are quite easily, cheaply replaced. For that matter the deed has often been accomplished. Transformers are an issue with a lot of the older gear but not a deal breaker.
  Power levels of 25 to 50 watts are often used by people in this locale with excellent results so don't be too shy regarding a good 50 watt rig.   We work many east coast and midwest stations regularly with 17 watts out of an old Ameco TX86 . We get fine reports from the little half wave coax fed dipole .We don't own an amplifier any longer, the Gates and the Johnson 500 along with other legal limit TXs are long as well and not missed in the least .
 Sure, higher power may be nice at times but not mandatory by a long shot. Indeed some folks need to learn when to cut back a bit on power !
  The main thing is to get on the air and find out just what you want to get done. Use any decent starter type station , you can then build from there. Making contacts on air often will take you to people that can help you find just the right stuff to populate your shack.

[K3ZS]

You can get interstage transformer replacements by Hammond at Antique Electronics Supply, www.tubesandmore.com.

[N8LGU]

Welcome to those who have also been bitten by the A.M. bug. It's a fun affliction. Remember that the antenna is 50% of your station. You can have the best equipment available but you won't be heard on a poor antenna installation. This is especially true on 160/80 Meters. It doesn't have to be expensive, but get it up as high as you can above ground. It's Hamfest season. Go to as many Hamfests as you can and don't spend your time looking at all the shiny new gear. Look instead, in the tailgate area for bargains on tubed AM gear. I prefer gear made from '48 to '62. Also grab a D-104 . You can be a pretty big dog with an HQ-140, DX-100, and a good dipole @ 65' high in the center.This is just an example. Many other rigs will do as well.Good Luck and have fun! Also, meet as many AM'ers as you can and don't be afraid to ask questions.

[K5UJ]

<<Power levels of 25 to 50 watts are often used by people in this locale with excellent results so don't be too shy regarding a good 50 watt rig.>>

I'd shoot for more than 50 watts.   That might be okay with a center fed dipole at 50 feet or more and in the daytime for 100 or 150 mile qsos, but it isn't a power level where you can be reasonably sure of getting something going under a range of times and condtions.   For a ham far from centers of AM activity 50 watts is a no-starter.   It might be okay in the daytime in Connecticut though.   But you don't want to operate a power level where you are limited very much do you?   There are times when the band is open (the low bands I mean) but there is stuff going on like rapid QSB with sigs zinging 30 dB or more up and down.  If you have some suds you don't completely fade out.  With 50 w. you won't have what I call a QSO.   At night some slopbucketeer will move in on you.  Then you have to consider the fact that not everyone operating is out in the sticks with a S1 noise level.   guys like me in town surrounded by buzzies and hash won't hear you at night. 

I'd at least go for a 100 w. rig but if you want to have a lot of solid buzzardly armchair copy QSOs be thinking about QRO, unless you are one of 5 hams in the country who can put a dipole up around 150 feet.   For most of us we have to settle for a combination of power, compromise antenna height and audio punch and get by with that, with antenna height the real tough hurdle.

[kg8lb]

  Had many real good QSOs at 25 to 50 watts , Night time , Day time and prime time. You can start out with low power and make low power mistakes early on. No need to bust the bank early on .

  We have had just about every power here from the 2 watter Retro up to legal limit rigs. Many real fine, real QSOs at decent distances with 25 to 50 watt transmitters .   In fact at least 60% of my AM activity is at the 50 watt level on 75 meters. It is often surprising to some just how little difference there is between a 50 watt TX and a 100 watt tx from the same station.  


  Again, the power is nice at times but not at all a pre-requisite to having a lot of fun and many fine, real QSOs on 75 AM. Don't rule out a 25 or especially a 50 watt tx as a first AM station. You can always get a bigger tx later on, but you may find you want to hang on to the 50 watt rig as well . I did .

 Whatever you wind up getting should work out just fine.  To bad you don't live a bit closer. I could send you home with a good old WRL HG  303 modulated by a Stromberg Carlson PA amplifier . An unusual set up that works fine. A pair of 7027s modulating a single 6146. Or, maybe a Viking 1.

    

[David, K3TUE]

+1 for the Viking 1.  I own one and have been happy with it.  A good starting point for AM.

[KM1H]

I'd at least go for a 100 w. rig but if you want to have a lot of solid buzzardly armchair copy QSOs be thinking about QRO, unless you are one of 5 hams in the country who can put a dipole up around 150 feet.   For most of us we have to settle for a combination of power, compromise antenna height and audio punch and get by with that, with antenna height the real tough hurdle.

Yep, the last thing a new guy wants is to be ignored because he is in the summer QRN, the birdies from home electronics, or splattered by evil slopbucketeers.

I got that 150' dipole beat by 20' which has a nice NVIS lobe as well as a low one with plenty of ground gain due to the hilltop. That helps when in a roundtable with stations covering a few time zones. A sloper starting at 90' fills in some holes but even so there are many times a 20-50W rig just doesnt cut it on either antenna so I almost always run a linear with those rigs rather than have others be frustrated and me being aggravated . It doesnt sound like much but 9-12dB can sure make life easy. Even going from 25 to 100W is 6dB; even a 4 square or a 2 el loop doesnt offer that much.

Carl

[kg8lb]

Yep.
  Heck some guys use a KW to talk across town,and use it always. Some others do quite well with 50W at very  good distances. What one needs another does quite well without.

  
 There are plenty of folks having a lot of fun with 50watt rigs . Still others are miserable with twice the legal limit .