Johnson Valiant or Heathkit Apache

[WB2G]

Name is Joe Granica was frist licensed in 1963 and am geting back into the hobby{taking the test on 12/16/06} I've got the receivers fixed and working [HQ-145X,SX-111,Drake 2B}Would like to get a Johson Valiant or Heathkit Apache to round out the station.Is there anyone within 250 miles of Rochester ,N.Y.that has one of these for sale for local pickup{I hate to ship anything this heavy}I do have a working DX-60 but would like a real AM Transmitter.Thanks.Just got back from exam,I am now a general with a viking valiant on its way.Thanks for the leads on tranmitters.

[N8LGU]

    Welcome back. Joe! I was first licensed baxk in 1962 as KN3ZFW. I used to listen to the AM'ers as a Novice and would dream of the day that I could actually join them in thier roundtables. I got back into active ham radio in 1989 and paid cash for a new IC-751A and all the trimmings. Did the DX thing then 2 Meters then put up a packet BBS - but something was missing...
    One afternoo, I happened upon several nice AM signals on 7295kc. Thei quality of thier signals was remarkable. They were actually discussing building a homebrew rig. They were actually polite and kind towards one another AND they sounded like  they actually knew what they were talking about! To my surprise, they all were using OLD metal radios that had vacuum tubes in them. One gentleman had a Viking Ranger and I was amazed at how great it sounded. It was like the guys  I had listened to in my Novice days. Maybe these new plastic radios with digital readouts weren't the answer. After several trips to hamfests I became a dedicated AM'er. Guess what? the magic is back! It was there all along.
    By the way, I use a Valiant. There are many Dixie 60's out there that do a great job- as well as Globe Scouts et al. Many prefer a Viking II to a Valiant.
    But the important thing is the fun you will have being in a true Fraternity of some really great guys who are real HAMS.