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Author Topic: Moxboro!  (Read 3657 times)
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KD1SH
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« on: September 07, 2021, 09:14:55 AM »

The Boxboro hamfest, now at its new location in Marlborough - "Moxboro" - this coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Weather looks to be awesome; hope to see lots of AM'ers there.

https://hamxposition.org/
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KD1SH
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« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2021, 08:16:53 PM »

  Two great days at the HamXposition - the old Boxboro event in its new location - have passed under the bridge. Aside from a few brief surprise showers Friday afternoon, I don't think the weather could possibly have been better. Good temps, a comfortable breeze - I can only imagine standing around on all that asphalt had it been in the upper 90's like we had a few weeks back.
   Hung around with a few AM'ers: Larry, NE1S; Larry, WA1LGQ; Bruce, WX1O; Ted, K1QAR; and the 'Tron.
   Sold a couple of items; my wife sold more stuff than I did, and had a great time.
   Found a few treasures, including my best find of the day: a Whippany Labs Li'l Lulu six meter AM transmitter, in virtually out-of-the-box pristine condition! Never thought I'd ever even see one, much less obtain one. Maybe I'll find the matching receiver at Nearfest (right next to a row of line-dancing unicorns).
   Missed out on a Johnson Viking 500, complete with power supply, that sold for only $150! Well, it was a bit rough, especially the power supply, but apparently intact. In retrospect, I'm not really prepared right now for a major restoration project like that, anyway. Hopefully it went to someone who'll restore it to its former glory.
   Now, on to Nearfest!

   

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Pete, WA2CWA
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« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2021, 12:01:58 AM »

 
   Found a few treasures, including my best find of the day: a Whippany Labs Li'l Lulu six meter AM transmitter, in virtually out-of-the-box pristine condition! Never thought I'd ever even see one, much less obtain one. Maybe I'll find the matching receiver at Nearfest (right next to a row of line-dancing unicorns).

Only 6 receivers made according to the original designer. One was destroyed; four are in the hands of owners (! have 2); and one, the last I heard, was somewhere in the Phoenix area. BUT, you never know, maybe he was off by one  Smiley
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KD1SH
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« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2021, 07:56:50 AM »

Rare critters indeed, hence my remark about the unicorns. Well, if I never find one, maybe I'll just start collecting those Faberge eggs instead.
I'm glad to know that two are in a good home.
Very impressed with the build quality on the transmitter. I've got some Clegg gear, and that's very well built, too, but I think the Whippany is even better.

Only 6 receivers made according to the original designer. One was destroyed; four are in the hands of owners (! have 2); and one, the last I heard, was somewhere in the Phoenix area. BUT, you never know, maybe he was off by one  Smiley
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Pete, WA2CWA
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« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2021, 12:28:16 PM »

Rare critters indeed, hence my remark about the unicorns. Well, if I never find one, maybe I'll just start collecting those Faberge eggs instead.
I'm glad to know that two are in a good home.
Very impressed with the build quality on the transmitter. I've got some Clegg gear, and that's very well built, too, but I think the Whippany is even better.

Only 6 receivers made according to the original designer. One was destroyed; four are in the hands of owners (! have 2); and one, the last I heard, was somewhere in the Phoenix area. BUT, you never know, maybe he was off by one  Smiley

W2IDZ, Ed Ladd, was the designer of the Li'l Lulu transmitter and receiver. Ed and I actually worked in the same Department at Bell Labs, Holmdel, NJ back in the 80's.
The receiver from the the Phoenix area was sent to Ed back in the 80's because of a perceived alignment problem. Ed contacted me one evening to get on the air so he could do some real time on-the-air checking after he fixed the problem.
Ed passed in June 1994. Here's a brief write-up on some of his accomplishments:
https://www.uksmg.org/content/w2idz.htm
Like Ed Clegg, he was a 6 meter pioneer and I was privileged to know both of them.
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« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2021, 06:00:38 PM »

A quick Google search came up with this:
 https://www.amazon.com/W2IDZ-Ladd-Rahway-card-1936/dp/B0186UB2WA

Odd that one of his QSL cards would wind up on Amazon.
I also found a link to a Morris Radio Club newsletter in which Ed is mentioned.
A very well respected and accomplished engineer; you were indeed blessed to have known him.
Not radio related, but along similar lines: My father was employed in the aviation field as an aircraft mechanic starting the 1930's, in the Navy in the 1940's, and for the rest of his career at Pratt and Whitney. He met many people along the way. We talked about aviation a lot, but I was totally blown away when, after my father had passed away, my mother told me that my father had not only known the Granville brothers - the designers and builders of the famous Gee Bee race planes - but was best man at one of their weddings. Our lives are a conglomeration of many things; not the least of which are the notables we're privileged to meet, and remember, along the way.

[quote author=Pete, WA2CWA l
W2IDZ, Ed Ladd, was the designer of the Li'l Lulu transmitter and receiver. Ed and I actually worked in the same Department at Bell Labs, Holmdel, NJ back in the 80's.
The receiver from the the Phoenix area was sent to Ed back in the 80's because of a perceived alignment problem. Ed contacted me one evening to get on the air so he could do some real time on-the-air checking after he fixed the problem.
Ed passed in June 1994. Here's a brief write-up on some of his accomplishments:
https://www.uksmg.org/content/w2idz.htm
Like Ed Clegg, he was a 6 meter pioneer and I was privileged to know both of them.
[/quote]
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由obin, in the 1960's Batman TV series.
Pete, WA2CWA
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« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2021, 09:03:36 PM »

A quick Google search came up with this:
 https://www.amazon.com/W2IDZ-Ladd-Rahway-card-1936/dp/B0186UB2WA

Odd that one of his QSL cards would wind up on Amazon.
I also found a link to a Morris Radio Club newsletter in which Ed is mentioned.
A very well respected and accomplished engineer; you were indeed blessed to have known him.
Not radio related, but along similar lines: My father was employed in the aviation field as an aircraft mechanic starting the 1930's, in the Navy in the 1940's, and for the rest of his career at Pratt and Whitney. He met many people along the way. We talked about aviation a lot, but I was totally blown away when, after my father had passed away, my mother told me that my father had not only known the Granville brothers - the designers and builders of the famous Gee Bee race planes - but was best man at one of their weddings. Our lives are a conglomeration of many things; not the least of which are the notables we're privileged to meet, and remember, along the way.

[quote author=Pete, WA2CWA l
W2IDZ, Ed Ladd, was the designer of the Li'l Lulu transmitter and receiver. Ed and I actually worked in the same Department at Bell Labs, Holmdel, NJ back in the 80's.
The receiver from the the Phoenix area was sent to Ed back in the 80's because of a perceived alignment problem. Ed contacted me one evening to get on the air so he could do some real time on-the-air checking after he fixed the problem.
Ed passed in June 1994. Here's a brief write-up on some of his accomplishments:
https://www.uksmg.org/content/w2idz.htm
Like Ed Clegg, he was a 6 meter pioneer and I was privileged to know both of them.


My Uncle who lived in Wallingford, worked for Pratt and Whitney for many years.

I don't recall if Ed Ladd ever mentioned that he lived in Rahway, NJ. It's a WOW, because I lived in Rahway for roughly 16 years (graduated from Rahway High). The QSL is dated 1936 which is years before I was born even though I'm old as dirt  Cheesy

Rahway for years had many amateurs. You couldn't go a few blocks in any direction without spotting an amateur antenna. Another notable from Rahway was Amp Fagans who produced a line of VHF converters back in the 50's.

The VHF Amateur magazine was also started in Rahway by Bob Brown, K2ZSQ, and his father. I was the circulation manager. We did this stuff while in high school. Later on the magazine was bought up by CQ Magazine and rolled into a monthly column. By then, I was already off to college.
 
Another Rahway notable, Carl Sagan, graduated Rahway High School in 1951.

This is what your Li'l Lulu transmitter looked like as a club project at the Morris Radio Club before it became a commercial product.



Here's a blurb with more pictures:
https://www.qsl.net/wb1asl/lulu.html
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KD1SH
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« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2021, 12:20:31 PM »

Thanks for posting that link, Pete. For some reason, none of my searches turned up that one. I'm glad there are people out there paying attention and preserving items like that. It also reminds me of how important it is at hamfests to pay attention to some of the seemingly mundane stuff on tables - or often under them - rather than just scanning for the more glamorous stuff. That boring looking little box that's being ignored by everyone might just be a treasure.
When my wife saw me coming back to the table with Li'l Lulu under my arm and a big smile on my face, she thought someone had just handed me a million dollars. I might just have been the only one at the hamfest who recognized it for what it was.
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"Gosh, Batman, I never knew there were no punctuation marks in alphabet soup!"
由obin, in the 1960's Batman TV series.
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