K9DXL
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Posts: 150
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« on: May 05, 2014, 12:36:16 AM » |
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After 53 years of ham radio with never a piece of Collins gear gracing the shack, a 75S3 followed me home yesterday from the Arrowhead A.R.C. Hamfest in Superior, WI.
I was first attracted to the seller's table by dusty but complete SX28, but following a winter's project of rebuilding my DX-100 and an SX-101 waiting to go on the bench, I was thinking lighter is better. Sure, my heart said yes to the '28, but my mind - and my back, said, "no, no, no!"
Sitting pretty right there was a nice, clean 75S3. I'd never really given this receiver a thought, certainly didn't think I could afford one, but there she was giving me a wink and a sultry "hello sailor." A few presidential portraits were exchanged and the rest, as they say, was history.
I sat down at home to try it out. No manual, no problem. I've had communications receivers in front of me for years. But what's this - I can't even tune in a SSB signal! @#*&^%!!! (Those of you in the know are chuckling, I can hear you from here.) Download the manual and discover that "BFO off" (which isn't even marked as such) actually means normal, well how 'bout that! Then there was the mystery of the somewhat reluctant S meter that was solved by a couple of tweaks to the meter adjustment pot. De-Oxit time. My third discovery was that whole segments of the bands were not what they should have been... tuning across the bottom of 40 meters, I found a strong AM signal going "tick... tick... tick." CHU at 7050kc? Comparing the crystals inside with the table in the manual I found I have coverage above and below the ham bands on 80, 40, and 20 meters. Bet this radio was used by a MARS operator.
Investigating further, there was a call sign engraved on the chassis, W8JID. The QRZ.com database had no listing for the call, but their historical reference revealed that W8JID was Earl S. Kleeberger of Springfield, Ohio, who had an Advanced class license from (at least) 1984 to 1994. A Google search turned up an Ohio man of the same name who was born in 1909 and died in 2002.
Adventure, excitement, detective work all a result of bringing serial number 13764 75S3 home from a Saturday hamfest. I got a very good deal and she works just like the seller said she would - but with a little coverage in parts of the spectrum I didn't expect, however. I like the look, the feel of the controls, and the sound - even on AM - is better than what I had been led to expect from comments about the Collins audio sections. And Mr. Kleeberger, you can rest assured that what was once your pride and joy is now enjoying a place of honor in my shack, and will for years to come. Now I just need to remember to order some crystals in the morning.
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