The UJR Project

[W1UJR]

Some of you may recall W2UJR, Dick of Lancaster, NY.
Dick passed away in 1998 and his trademark 160 meter transmitter sat in storage for the last 7 years.

Until now....

After his death, Dick's homebrew 160 meter transmitter, perhaps best associated with the man due to his early morning net, was purchased by John KF2JQ and placed in storage in Buffalo. This was the transmitter which Dick used on his early morning 160 meter net, a very well-built homebrew unit running a pair of 811 tubes in the modulator and another pair in the final section, all constructed neatly in a 6 foot rack.

Knowing of my fondness for W2UJR, John recently offered the transmitter to me, and I jumped at the chance to get the voice of W2UJR back on the air. Coincidently the annual Antique Wireless Association (AWA) Conference was being held just down the road in Rochester, NY. So with the able assistance of Larry NE1S the transmitter was moved from Buffalo, NY to Wiscasset, ME on our return trip from the AWA meet in August 2005.

To facilitate transport from Dick's hamshack to his storage unit, John had carefully tagged and removed the heavy plate transformers and chokes from the bottom shelf of the rack. Some wiring was cut, which will need repair, and 7 years worth of dust and grime need to be cleaned, but otherwise the transmitter is like the day it rolled out of Dick's ham station. Throughout the next couple of months, I will be working to get Dick's transmitter back on the air from my QTH. I intend to first get the unit operational and back on 1888. Once experience is gained with the unit, I plan to attend to the cosmetics, and then selectively improve and enhance it. 30 years have a way of taking their time on anything, especially something electronic, and the wiring and connections are showing their age. A friend and fellow AMer, Bill K2LNU, graciously donated a large black crackle rack to the cause, which should fit in nicely with the project.

Thinking about this further, I felt it might be a sound idea to document this project as it progresses and save both the written data and schematics which Dick used during the transmitter construction and for later modifications. Hence "The UJR Project" was born, and the transmitter which served Dick so well will be given a new lease on life. The UJR callsign will once again pulse through its modulators, this time bearing a "W1" prefix. This page will be updated from time to time with text and photos as The UJR Project progresses.
 

73 Bruce W1UJR

http://www.brucehowes.com/the_ujr_project.htm

[K1MVP]

Hi Bruce,
Nice looking homebrew transmitter, and will look forward to hearing it
on AM in the near future.
Was wondering how much power it runs with the 811`s in the final?
                                     
                                    73, Rene, K1MVP

[W1UJR]

Thanks for the kind comment Rene, nice to hear from you.

The answer is I don't know yet.
I would imagine a few hundred watts on output, but it depends on final voltage and loading.
I'll post more details once I get it up and going.

Hope to catch you on the air some time soon, will be on this weekend.

73 Bruce

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

Bruce - It looks fantastic and I hope to hear you use it on the air when you get it going!

Best Regards,
                  Joe N3IBX

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

Bruce - I'd love to see some of the construction techniques W2UJR used to build it. It looks like a pre-war job. There were a few circuts around at the time on 811X812 or 811X811 transmitters. Both tubes were only $3.50 ea. at the time, and it was a good way to get something on the air with real "sock" without spending a fortune in tubes. My guess is that with 1250VDC on the plates of the tubes it should make around 250-300W output if given enough grid drive to drive the final tubes into class C. The modulator should do likewise with audio in class B. One very popular thing with 811's or 811A's, is that they're zero bias, and don't require a seperate bias supply if run at or below their ICAS ratings. 812's usually required about 27VDC of bias if run at the same plate voltages.

I recently acquired a very similar rig (811's X 812's) I'd like to compare notes with you on. It's in a 6' rack, and has a speech amp that uses a pair of 2A3's in it. The exciter is a seperate self contained desk unit that was built sometime after the main transmitter, and uses a pair of 807's to drive the 812's.

I have a few pre-wwII  construction articles for our transmitters from the ARRL and "Radio" mag's left coast handbooks. If you think you may need any info from them please let me know.

When I get my rig out of the garage and down into the basement shack, I'd like to do a fotoshoot of the construction techniques used, and could send them to you so we could compare notes.

Best Regards and congradulations on saving another piece of Amateur Radio history from becoming part of a landfill, or part of a new Toyota Camry!
                                                                 Joe Cro N3IBX

[Herb K2VH]

Bruce,

What a labor of love!.  I could hear Dick smiling from above this morning 

I could just feel the presence of his old shack through reading your vivid description.  I hadn't been there since 1962, but nonetheless, your narrative brought it all back.  In those days there were two big rigs:
1) pp 250THs X pp 810s in two seven foot rack cabinets for 75 meter phone only;

2) pp 35TGs X pp 809s in one six foot open rack for 20 meters only.

He also ran his uncle's 32V-1 with 75A-1 to band hop.  In addition to the 75A-1 his receivers included an HRO-50 and an NC-183.  His favorite was the NC-183.

Later on, he dismantled the 75 meter 250TH rig, and converted it pp. 810s on 40 meter cw only.  Then as 160 meters came back he first built up a single 807 at 25 watts (the legal limit around the mid 70s), then he built up a single 811 moduated by pp 809s, and finally, the one you have: the pp 811s X pp 811s.  And I believe those ARE 811s--NOT 811As.  Dick was an old-fashioned kind o' guy.

Thanks from all of us who knew and loved Dick for all you have done and are doing to keep his memory (and rig) alive.  We'll never forget him.  And, we'll keep watching.

73,
K2VHerb

[W1UJR]

Hi Joe,

I recently posted the schematics on the website.
You can click on each image to enlarge, they are high resolution files.
Check and see if they are clear to you, if not I can send via snail mail if not.

I am not sure of the exact date of the original build, Herb knows more about it than.
It does appear that revisions had been made, the most recent was 1983, marked on the schematics.
The VFO is solid state! Or at least it uses solid state componets, see the schematic.

Herb,

I just wish that someone rescused his other transmitters.
I have checked around, KF2JQ left a note on the front door a year or so ago after Marie's passing, no response.
I do hope that the remaing units and parts were not trashed.

Dick also had another rack TX from the 1940s, not sure it was his work or just ended up in his shack.
I found some schmatics of that rig in the pile of paperwork, dated 1948.
I recall that he had it out of service, it sat by his bookself near the entry door to his shack.

I do intend to follow up with a letter to his son, now that Marie has passed away things may be more simple to deal with.

Tnx for the kind comments guys!

-Bruce

[W3SLK]

That's pretty cool you got your Elmer's rig Bruce. I talked to Dick a few times on 160 in the morning. As I recall, he was the one resource you could talk to about UTC transformers. I wish I could have bought my Elmer's rig. Eric WB4VVI (SK) would be on 160 with his Globe King 500 'E' model. The 'E' model was a CCA 1000 that he had worked over with his failing eyesite. He made an outboard modulator that used a pair of 833's to modulate the pair of 4-400's in the CCA. I did manage to get an 813 amp that barely survived an acid trip by his son and one of the first items he ever gave me was a modulator deck using a pair of 807's (From the ARRghL Handbook), and a CVM-2 mod transformer. I could tell it was prior to his eyes going since the construction was awesome. I plan on using it for my HB rig when ever I start it. I did buy a HB 2X813 rig that he rescued from a landfill. Commonly refered to as my Hosenose-500. That was the moniker we would refer to each other since we were both swabbies in the USN.

[W1UJR]

That's pretty cool you got your Elmer's rig Bruce. I talked to Dick a few times on 160 in the morning. As I recall, he was the one resource you could talk to about UTC transformers. I wish I could have bought my Elmer's rig. Eric WB4VVI (SK) would be on 160 with his Globe King 500 'E' model. The 'E' model was a CCA 1000 that he had worked over with his failing eyesite. He made an outboard modulator that used a pair of 833's to modulate the pair of 4-400's in the CCA. I did manage to get an 813 amp that barely survived an acid trip by his son and one of the first items he ever gave me was a modulator deck using a pair of 807's (From the ARRghL Handbook), and a CVM-2 mod transformer. I could tell it was prior to his eyes going since the construction was awesome. I plan on using it for my HB rig when ever I start it. I did buy a HB 2X813 rig that he rescued from a landfill. Commonly refered to as my Hosenose-500. That was the moniker we would refer to each other since we were both swabbies in the USN.

Yes, Dick was quite a guy, really miss the 160 meter morning thing, that was always interesting to listen in to.
833s are the tube OM, that would be a most excellent rig, lots of glowage in big bottles.

You know Mike, the longer I am in the amateur service the more I am grow interested in the early gear.
The new solid state whiz boxes are fun for a while, but they soul...and glowage.
I use my Icom ricebox as a freq readout on the tube gear, and to set up the transmatch, works very slick for that.

Ah, the Hosenose 500, yes indeed, great name, post some pixs of that gem.

73 Bruce

[Herb K2VH]

Bruce wrote: 

"I just wish that someone rescused his other transmitters.
I have checked around, KF2JQ left a note on the front door a year or so ago after Marie's passing, no response.
I do hope that the remaing units and parts were not trashed.
I do intend to follow up with a letter to his son, now that Marie has passed away things may be more simple to deal with."

Indeed, Bruce.  You know there was no way I was going to go out there at the time.  I learned my lesson years ago.  Hope you can get ahold of one of the sons:  I guess you know they are John, James, and Joseph.  Jean is no doubt married with a new last name.

Good luck, OM.

VHerb

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Bruce -

Ditto the comments everyone else has made about the saving and ressurection of this relic. I, too, will be interested in hearing about your progress and eventually hearing it on the air.

The old HB gear is indeed nice stuff. I like the unique nature of each piece, knowing that some OT ham cared enough to put the effort into making it look as it does through the hours of construction, debugging, and breathing life into the final product. No assembly lines here!

Best part of all is that the more you play with the older stuff, the more proficient you'll become at recognizing specific circuits, workarounds, and the rest. I have some old rigs from W1PEG that are beautiful, but will need a thorough going over if they are ever returned to the air. Now I'll know who to pester for the answers. 

Enjoy, OM!

'KAQ

[Gary - WA4IAM]

Nice transmitter Bruce, sorry I didn't get a chance to see it at the AWA conference! Any plans to add additional bands, or shall it remain on 160 meters only?

[W1UJR]

Think its going to be a monoband unit for right now Gary.
It always was Dick's 160 meter rig, think I will keep it that way.
We had it under wraps during the meet, quite a chore to unpack.

-Bruce