1937 Bartlesville Transmitter

[WA3VJB]

Brian, W5AMI recently had his 1937 Bartlesville transmitter on the air, and it was the first time I've heard an aircheck recording of it. What a wonderful sounding rig, Brian !!!




The story of his finding and saving this artifact has been on amfone.net for quite a while. If you haven't read the tale, it's really worth your time.

http://amfone.net/ECSound/BartlesvilleTX/bvilletx.htm

"The speech amp is a wonderful piece of work.  Having two adjustable balanced mic inputs and one line level input.  I will detail the design later.  The drivers for the modulators were a pair of 6L6's in push-pull.  The modulators were a pair of 849 triodes.  In 1937, the price of one 849 was $169.00!  849's were a commercial tube design mainly for audio applications in the broadcast industry.  Rest assured, Fred did not skimp on "talk power"!  Each modulator has it's own grid bias control to facilitate in balance, in addition to a level control to the 6L6 drivers."

And it sounds like THIS:

[W5AMI]

Thanks Paul!

I wish I had had you at the mic for the air check instead of my ol' slow drawl. 

I am quite pleased how it has come together, but I still have a lot to do.  At present, I have a bc-610 case crammed full of all the Bartlesville TX components, except for the mod deck, which is standing external to the tx portion.  I did away with the original case (it was an old tool cabinet) as it was dangerous due to its semi open sides and front where one of the grandchildren could possibly stick something into the power supply.  I have a 72" gates cabinet that everything will ultimately be transferred to.  It will use P-P 450TL's in the final.  Right now I'm running a single 450TL with a large HB Pi-network.  I was also using that old '37 speech amp in that recording.  All the tubes on the audio side will be 70 years old next year, including the 849 modulators!

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

That southern drawl sounds good. Your low voice tests the response of the TX, and it proved up to the task. Thanks for keeping a piece of history alive.

[kf6pqt]

An amazing story!

I cant stop thinking that tx looks like one of the big fancy BBQ's.

[The Slab Bacon]

Brian,
         I read the article on your rescue and restoration of that rig, I loved it!! That was so cool to find it still sealed in the room untouched where it was laid to rest! That was an incredible story and a really neat find. If I may interject a thought in your restoration scheem??  I thought the original cabinet was pretty cool looking. changing the cabinet would seem to take so much away from the original flavor of that rig.

Why not keep it in the original cabinet (restored and repainted) and possibly figure out some way to make plexiglass covers for the more dangerous openings. that way it would still have its original appearence. It was just too neat looking to rebox.  Just my take on things.

                                                                           The Slab Bacon

[Mike/W8BAC]

Slab hit the nail on the head. Some way could be found to childproof that beauty and keep the charm of a hand made cabinet. It would sound even better in the old box I'll bet. 

Keep up the good work

Mike

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

Brian,
       I mimick the thoughts of Frank, KB3AHE, and Paul, WA3VJB. I'd love to heat that transmitter on the air, and have followed the article about it for sometime.

Should you ever "pop" a 450TL, I have an "in" with the 450TL fairy and could possibly help you out. I consider your transmitter to be a great piece of Amateur Radio History and quite a find!

What receiver are you using with it? For some reason I can visualize a nice RME-69 with it's mating RME DB-20 preselector on a table next to the transmitter!

Looking forward to hearing you on the air!

Best Regards,
                  Joe Cro N3IBX

[W1ATR]

Sounds awsome Brian The relays make that great 'ka-teesh' sound to let everyone know a real tx just put down a key.

While using the old cabinet would make it the ideal restoration, I kind of agree on the choice to not use the old tool box. Kids can get into everything no matter what you do to safeguard things and a couple thousand volts,God forbid, couldn't have a good outcome on a 50lb body. I installed a gas direct vent gas fireplace a couple of weeks ago, and it wasn't even two minutes after I turned my back to put the tools in the truck that the customers kid was screaming from touching the hot glass front.

[W5AMI]

Brian,
         I read the article on your rescue and restoration of that rig, I loved it!! That was so cool to find it still sealed in the room untouched where it was laid to rest! That was an incredible story and a really neat find. If I may interject a thought in your restoration scheem??  I thought the original cabinet was pretty cool looking. changing the cabinet would seem to take so much away from the original flavor of that rig.

Why not keep it in the original cabinet (restored and repainted) and possibly figure out some way to make plexiglass covers for the more dangerous openings. that way it would still have its original appearence. It was just too neat looking to rebox.  Just my take on things.

                                                                           The Slab Bacon

Well, in all honesty, the damn thing was just plain ugly.  There were also some mechanical issues regarding some bad rust on some of the supporting structure.  I suspect the 60+ years it sat out in that shack, there were no controlled heating or cooling to prevent high humidity.  I guess I could go to the sheet metal shop and have an identical repro made, but then we still have the "ugly" factor

Thanks to all for the positive audio comments.  I do appreciate it.  Now if I could only learn how to speak like Paul, I'd be in good shape.  I doubt that will ever happen, however.

Hoping to work you all this Winter....

73 - Brian / w5ami

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Listened to the audio clip, MAN does that sound nice Brian! Can't wait for more quiet conditions and the chance to work you on the air again soon.

I remember reading about this rig in ER some years back. A true time capsule, like the story about 'grandpa's radio' in northern Michigan a while back. And a true rescue as well, bringing it back from the edge of 'extintion by parting' of the remains. I remember it had a rust issue, sometimes you just can't save everything.

The cabinet does have an interesting shape to it, almost a cross between a couple of high end audio amps w/cages on top and a 1940s liquor cabinet beneath. The uniqueness is in the history and original configuration, so I hope you're able to find something more than just a box to move it into. There are already plenty of plain jane boxes out there, I have a bunch of 'em. After all, even the original owners changed and reconfigured their big rigs over the years. Look at it as your opportunity to create an equally-unusual configuration for the transmitter as it continues into history. Give folks something to talk about 50-60 years down the road! 

Now if I could only learn how to speak like Paul, I'd be in good shape.  I doubt that will ever happen, however.

Ha! I was surprised the first time we talked just how clear and 'fast' you spoke. Hearing descriptions from you and a few others on the reflector, I was expecting something else. There are definitely a few guys on there who leave us hanging...on...every...word. You're not one of them.