The AM Forum

New in the box, Never used. RF, deck, Power supply, tubes, cables, manual and even the KEY to turn it on. Cant wait to set it up and try it out. I will probably set it up with my Restored HRO60 side by side and use it on 10, 15 and 20 meter AM through the mosely beam. Lucky find.  Will probably never sell it.

Any one ever owned one?  Going to leave her stock for now.  Bring up slow.  Maybe recap if needed.  Dont care to hack it up.  I got other rigs for that.  This one will be covered up with a sheet every day.

C

How the heck did you find THAT Clark?  How much?  You must have paid an arm and a leg!! SO COOL!

Just seeing the boxes is XXX radio porn.  :o :o :o

Mike

I think that has to be the find of the year. I know the Tron has/had 2 of them, one was renamed the Viking 400 and the other was the Viking 600, can't remember what exactly he did to the pair of them, but if I remember, the way the 400 was rebuilt made it less powerful than stock, and the 600 was more powerful than stock.

Once upon a time, back in the 90's, I saw two of them all in pieces sitting on a cellar floor of a CB'er. He was selling off the parts, piece by piece.

Clark,
The Johnson 500 is a great rig.  You will definitely enjoy it.  

I have had mine for about 15 years now and although not currently on the air it could be in an instant.  Mine was not new in the box, but is in excellent condition.  

The Tron's is known as the "Johnston 600". 

Joe, GMS

Thanks guys.  I see they only made 800 of them.  I wonder how many are left?  I have listened to Tims 600 for the last 5 years on various bands.

I have been selling off or trying to sell off alot of my gear.  I realized that peak enjoyment for me is an old 50's Ham receiver/transmitter and a D104.  I decided to look for a J500 and a a Desk KW.  I will keep the GK500 and the GC300.  But the rest are going to be sold off.  Just 4 or 5 radios I really want. No other crap around here.

I was very lucky to have found this 500.  It really is new. I dont even see dust on the chassis. I will keep it and use it until I am gone.  I Just hope she fires up and comes to life with minimal effort. 

I think it will. The shipping bill says it was sold to a distributor in Sioux city IO.  Then to AZ.  So its been sitting here in AZ in the boxes for 55 years or so.  No water, NO rust or corrosion.

C

I opened the RF deck and looked inside.  Its brand new.  Here are some teaser pics.  Its like Xmas morning!!! 

Clark,

I searched for a long time for a clean 500.. Finally found an almost mint example.. BUT..

That is an amazing time capsule! Congrats!!

This one is serial #41559 , so in the last quarter of production..
500 operating position:
http://qrz.com/db/W2NBC

Make sure you check the value of the meter shunt resistors before you load up!

Good luck,
Jeff

The Johnson 400 must be the one he said he sold.

Serial 42117.  What does that tell u?

Tron's Johnson 600 has a pair of 811a's for the modulator as I recall.

Yes sitting boxed in the arid climate of AriDZone-ah.... perfect!

No way would I want that piece of hazardous waste. Too heavy. Butt ugly. Poor ergonomic design - was known to cause carpal tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow just because of knob design. Paint chipped and scratched too easily. Ever try to find those long machine screw thingys that hold the cabinet together? 4-250's too expensive. Dial lamps burned out too frequently. VFO unstable. Horrible audio, sounds like a 1920's recording. Inadequate shielding........caused more TVI than all other commercial rigs put together, not to mention low sperm counts in ham operators and their neighbors. Fire hazard. Known to cause gravitational vortices and shifting of magnetic poles. Cited as one of the main causes of global warming and ozone layer thinning which started in the 1960's.

No sour grapes here ;D

Enjoy your good fortune Clark. Hope to hear it booming up to ND someday.

Ron

Hmmmm.............. 2 arms, one leg, the left one and yer first and second born, that should just about cover the cost. (or did I forget something)

Ah, yes................now you have a BIG Johnson............ ;D  ;D  ;D

You should have a lot of fun with it!! Way kool find to find one N.I.B.!

This HAS to be THE find of the year!
Congrats and enjoy!

You're killing us.  Perhaps you could take a lot of photos so the rest of us can live vicariously.

On the 500, I guess its probably best that each piece be unboxed, Layed over a blanket, taken apart and recapped?  I would hate to have a 60 year old cap take out a transformer.  What would you do?

Oh and the serial is 42119.    I thought it was a 7 but its really a 9 at the end.
According to the manual the 500's came with PL175s or 4-400s. 

Sure.  I will take some video and pictures guys.  I have not had the energy or time to do much. Dad is sick in the hospital with heart trouble. They are supposed to do a bypass in the next few days and I have to travel to texas to see him. I am waiting for the call to pack my bags.  I am getting all my work done and making plans for someone to watch Toby the dog ect.  No time for radio. 

Its not like I can use the radio now anyways.  We are smack dab in the middle of monsoon season here in AZ and there are storms every day/night.  As I type this at 8am, I hear distant thunder.

I hope your Dad's surgery is uneventful and successful.

Super find Clark.

Question for J500 owners....how stable is the VFO on the higher bands?

Carl

I use mine almost daily on 10 in the morning with a couple of local guys. She's been a daily driver for a very long time. For the first half hour, I have to bump the vfo on just about every transmission. Not really a big deal to do as I mostly use the front transmit switch to key it up anyway. Basically, I'll bump the switch up one click to "zero" while turning on my 390a's bfo with the other hand. A quick bump on the 500s' vfo, then push the transmit switch up the rest of the way to start the transmission. It all takes less than 2 seconds, and your good to go. After about a half hour, she'll be warmed all the way up and I maybe have to touch it every 20-30 minutes after that. I know my 390a is right on the money, so I don't bother to keep a frequency counter or anything going. It's much faster to zero it against a good rx beat.

Some other notes in case anyone cares. I find the best spot to run the 500 is around 175-250w carrier and let the monkey swing. (and swing it does.) 1100w pep ain't hard to make with crystal clear and loud audio. Just personal preference, but it's 60 years old, and taking it easy on the old beast is beneficial. She'll roll on with 325+w of carrier, but that's a bit rough on such an old box. I only run it wired for 220 with a bucking transformer because the line coming in will run around 245v or so. Out of all of Junkstons' offerings, and I've had them ALL, the 500 is by far the quickest and easiest tx'er to tune up and operate. The damn thing almost tunes itself.

That's a helluva score Clark. Nice job. Flip over the power supply and get rid of the cardboard electrolytics first thing before applying power. I used an outboard oil cap, but my psu is nowhere near new like your's is. On the bottom of the rf deck, you'll find a fairly large green 'tapped' wirewound resistor. The metal clamp fatigues and loosens up over time. It caused an intermittent static problem that was a real pain till I finally found it. Make sure the screw is tight. I would only run it wired for 220. I ran mine on 110 at first, and regulation was a mess. She's much happier on 220. Keep in mind that the 500 uses Johnson's favorite Rube Goldberg "cords and strings" design to move switches and caps. I make a habit of lubing control shafts once a year or so to keep the controls smooth and effortless. I've had the cords break in the past and they can be a pita to get them right again.

73  

Clark, You'll may get as many answers as there are members of the forum. More, in fact, because some people like me will give you two.

The value of the transmitter is highest as is, never been plugged in. Some collectors go nuts for things like that. Doing nothing, never using it, is one answer. That's not my answer, though.  I would want to use it  but keep it as  original as possible. I'm of the re-forming electrolytics doesn't really work school even though I've sometimes done it. So I'd re-place them before I poweredg anything.  I have never re-stuffed caps but for that piece I would. Then I would do the usual cautious bring up, rectifiers out, see how things look. Rectifiers in slow bring up on a variac. Does this power supply have mercury vapor rectifiers? If so, it's an even more cautious dance involving no B+ and a burn in. Others know more about that than I do. Let's see what they say.

Yeah that's a good point and I forgot all about the damn 866's. I wouldn't use them at all. Iron is too hard to come by these days. I run a pair of diodes in the sockets, but a pair of 3b28 xenon gas rectifiers would be great also. It's a huge risk with the 866's.

The tubes are all original Johnson tubes including the 866s.  They dont even have dust on them and have not seen the light of day since it was made.

Any luck in decoding the serial number Jeff?  I dont know how to read it.

I am kind of on the cross roads with this thing.  Everyone is telling me to never open it and never use it. Its a "collectors" item. So that means, Its useless? It sits in a box?

I can open it now, Bring it up slow and hope for the best, Probably foolish.  I think the PS caps should be replaced at minimim.  If I replace the caps, Then the thing is no longer new and its no longer factory correct.

I can open it and try to slip new caps into the old caps cardboard. Then it looks like new and factory correct, but its still not new. 

Lastly, I can just open the damn thing, Recap it, Get it on the air and enjoy it the rest of my days. 

I really dont know..  Maybe I should just trade/sell it to some millionaire for a 7800 or 9000D.  I would probably use that rig every day for the next 10 years, I know I use my 756 pro almost every day of my life.

Why do I feel guilty opening this damn radio up and using it?

C

Don't even consider not using that beauty on the air. You are not a financial institution, you are an amateur radio operator. It is not a financial investment, it's a work of radio art that will grace your shack and make it a special place like no other on earth. You have been shown favor by unseen forces. Don't squander your good fortune for a few dollars. One humble opinion. 8)

Ron

The gentleman I bought mine from said that the last three digits indicate the serial number and the first the production lot run.. (41,42).. So I researched and of course found nothing.. What is relevant is the date of your shipping invoice.. and there could be a date code on those original caps..

Here's my take on keeping it hermetically sealed.. Yours would always be the "newest" 500 ever on the air.. PERIOD.. It would be a legend with most hams, could make for a really cool article in one of the rags, a YOUTUBE sensation, and you would get really BORED with any shiny new big Icom or Yaesu.. (trust me).. But most importantly you would always kick yourself, real hard..

Keep the original caps, keep all the original everything you replace.. And get on the air with the newest old 500!!
J

Alright.  Thanks for the wake up.  I am going to unbox it today. I guess I will video tape it and take some photos.  I have no table space for the rig in the shack. I will have to take the FT101 Station down and box it up so I can make room for the 500, next to the GK500. 

This thing cost $950 new.  Thats $8000 in todays dollars.  Those where some lucky hams in 1956!

C

2007 had the chance to purchase a NIB "500" from a person in Bellview, WA. Asking price was $15K.


Craig,

I remember back in the 90's someone purchase a new/in the box HT-37. Got it home; set it on the floor for several days in the shack before he opened it up. Lifted the box to the work bench and half way through the lift, the bottom of the box let go. He wasn't happy when the HT-37 hit the floor.

Hi Clark,

Best wishes to your dad,  and his quirk recovery!

WOW,  great find.  Congratulations.  Altho,  i'm envious,  but could I not afford even a beater j500.

Have Fun,  hope to hear you on and work you soon.  Vic

Thanks Vic.  I talked to Dad for an hour on the phone. That really eased my mind...


The J500 is out of the box.  That PS was heavy.  I am a pretty big guy and in my 30s so I was able to lift it out. I was a bit winded on the video though :) I was pleased to find the cables are there.  I will plug it into the variac in a few moments and start feeding her some juice.

C

No B+ on the 866's until they have warmed up a good long time. Mercury vapor experts. How long?

The failure mode is dead short kill the transformer, or so I'm told, having never had a J500

We're rooting for your dad and happy for your acquisition.

Half hour minimum for new ones or unused for so long that the mercury has pooled. After that, ten minutes or so if it's used seldom. Most of the big rigs here have a time delay of some sort built in. But I'd strongly suggest following Jared's earlier advice and pop some Xenon 3B28s in there for this beast. Especially considering its age and condition. It's not a 'modification' per say, as you can always swap them out for 866s later if you just wanna press your luck.


Yeah, well.....that "R@RE Collector's Item" argument sounds better than it actually is in reality. Not a lot different than the old 'never build an unbuilt Heathkit' argument. I think these folks lose sight of what we're dealing with here. Ham radio is a tiny sliver of the overall population. Old tube ham radios are an even tinier sliver. And old tube AM/CW gear, even more so. Or specifically Johnson. You can get as granular as you want, at the end of the day Jeff and others are right: you'd kick yourself if you didn't enjoy using it. After all, it's only a radio if it functions as a radio. Otherwise, it's just a door stop. And years from now when someone finds it boxed up in the corner of a dusty basement or garage it'd most likely get sent to the curb as some weird old toaster oven than no one recognizes, has a use for, or wants. The scenario has played out over the decades and still does to this day.

Doesn't mean you need to pound the snot out of it or drill and blast. Just do the sensible things to protect it from damage and get it on the air. To have survived this long in that condition it deserves to be heard. A truly great find, congrats.

Ok. The rig is out of the boxes, On the table lined up.  I hooked up all the cables. Turned the variac up and heard buzzing from the PS. I got scared. Then realized its just the relay coil.   I let it sit for a while at 20%.  The filiments where lit.  After inching it up over time, The fans turned on at full speed, All the lights, tubes ect all came up as normal.

I let it run for about an hour at 80% or so.  No issues.  I turned the Zero on and got the expected PA grid current.  All normal.  I tuned the NC183D into the signal. Its there right on 3900.

After more time and some guts, I flipped to operate and dipped the PA current. I was in TUNE mode so only about 20 watts out on the Bird 43P.  I let it run this way for a while to make sure nothing funny was going on.  Everything seemed normal.

I then turned to operate which puts the full 2200 volts on the plates.  I hit the switch and dipped the final at 250 MA.   I ran this way for a while and touched up the PA Grid.  Everything seemed normal.  After I was sure there was no problems,  I loaded it up slowly to 300MA.  No problems. 

After sitting at 300, I went to full load of 330 MA.  Everything is by the book. Power output on the bird 43 is 325 watts carrier using a 1000 watt slug.  Keep in mind, I am on the 120 volt wall socket out in the game room!

Next, I hooked a D104 to the rig,  I keyed it up and checked mod current, About 45 MA.  I slowly advanced the mic control so the modulator current was peaking 120.  I looked over to see the Bird 43P pegging in the corner at 1 KW. 

SUCCESS!!!

I listened to the rig on the NC183D sitting next to it.  Sounds very tinny.  No bass.  Just like a stock valiant with a D104.  I think I will grab an EV638 from the closet and try that.  The stock audio will likely sound better with the EV. 

Its been on for hours now.  No problems at all guys.   Dont worry about the 866s.. I put some known good 3b28s in the PS before starting.  I did not want to take any chances here..

The only thing I wish I had was a 50FT Coax cable so I could put the rig on the air. Oh wait, I cant,  There are storms outside.  I guess I get to have a Miller and talk to myself on my J500 tonight :)

At least It took my mind off Dad.
C

Here is the video of the J500 running on 80 meters.  The video is uploading now and it says 20 minutes left. 

http://youtu.be/itlSdNherlI









 

Congratulations Clark!

Thanks J!  I sure am enjoying it. I wish I had it on the air!   I did already realize that I was overloading it at 330.  You are supposed to deduct 50MA from the meter.  So max load is 280.  Not to bad. Still does 300 AM from the lamp socket.  I will wire it for 220 volt when its in the shack.  Maybe she will come up a bit in power.

C

Clark,

The audio of a stock Junkston "500" gonna sound a little tinny. It has a clipper & filter network in it just like a Valiant. I think the correct loading is 300 mils for AM.  Meter reads cathode current.

Craig,

Thanks Craig. I got confused. The correct loading is 300ma.  They say to deduct the screen current and grid current to get to 250ma x 2000 volts for 500 watts input.  I loaded it to 300 and its happy there. 

C

Was the final tube a newer one or did it come with the rig?

Jeff

My eyes have been permanently spoiled!  That was just too much eye candy - art - whatever for my poor 75 year old eyes to handle.  Just take me by the hand to the nearest mortician and let me lay peacefully in repose.  My life had been fulfilled. There is nothing else to experience.   ;D

Al

Congras Clark

I would have gladly paid that price if I had run across it.  Use it, enjoy it.  It's now live history / art

Al

I agree.  VERY nice.  and, hey, the crisp audio is from a LOUD Johnson, very commanding and air secure.  Nothing like 300 watts carrier and up to identify a solid QSO.

Who knew.. ?  The Last Johnson built for 21st century FCC proclivities.  ;D

WOW! SO COOL!

So I ran the rig for 10 hours now at idle and about an hour of key down.  No trouble.  I tried all bands,  They all tune up.

Somethings I have noticed:

This is the easiest transmitter I have ever tuned.  The ganged system is fantastic.  The GK500 has to have all stages tuned.  This rig is so easy.  Turn band switch, Set VFO, Key up and dip plate, Go to operate. Done! 

The J500 does more power on the higher bands.  Incredible.  Most rigs fall off badly as you go up in Freq.  The 500 has that huge silver plated coil switched in for the higher bands.  I think that is the reason it makes full power on the higher frequencys.  The GK500 falls off badly up on 15.  It only makes 250 watts output.  The J500 makes 375 watts carrier on 15!   Awesome.

C

Yes I noticed that on my Viking II, it makes the same power on 10 meters as it does on all the other bands.... really sweet.

The silver is more conductive than copper is, so there would be less power lost in the coil. Johnson knew what they were doing when they designed the RF deck and used the silver plating.

Thats neat. I never owned a 1 or 2,  I know the ranger and valiants sure fall off on higher bands.  

I just ran the J500 and NC183D for the AMI net.  I used the EV638 mic.  Sounds better then the D104 since this is a stock radio.  No trouble at all.  The band was noisy but I got through and checked in.  Those 811s run hot hot hot.  After a solid 5 min key down, I could smell them and felt the heat at the top of the modulator.  After another 5 minutes of off time, the heat was gone.   So yes, They run hot, But unless your an old buzzard or you are playing music. I doubt it would be a problem.

Whats amazing is that the caps seem to be in good shape so far.  I would think from 1958 they would be shot. But I guess being in the boxes, in AZ, kept the caps in decent shape.

Clark,

If you ship that J500 out to me, I'll be able to take a picture of it sitting next to my 183D.

Seemed like a good idea when I first thought of it.

Anyway, let me know what you think.

Fred

PS  It was very hot today in NJ,  the above wasn't the only great idea I came up with today.

And it sounds fantastic Jeff!

Ron
N2FFL

Does Jeff ever sound less than fantastic?

Update.  Got the J500 and HRO50T running last night.  We ran RG217 from the game room to the ham shack. 75 ft made it. I found satelite TV cable installer come out to run the cable through the attic.  It was 135F in there.  Poor kid.  He came out with wall plates for the huge RG217 coax.  It really looks nice and charged me $100. Cant beat that, I tipped him $50.  Anyone that would go into an attic during an AZ summer deserves a tip.

Why RG217?  We had 75ft of it here with factory installed N connectors so we used it. 

I set up the J500 with the HRO 50T. I recapped this radio last year. It has all caps changed, All new tubes and all resistors changed as needed.  I have 9 coils for this radio. I never used it much after the rebuild.  It really sounds great.  Much better then the HRO60 as far as sound quality on AM goes.

I ran the station for an hour on 80 meters and an hour on 40 meters today.  No issues. I am running the J500 on 120 volt wall socket for now.  The wall socket is on the wall next to the power panel so the run is very short.  I loaded the rig up to 350watts and it ran that way perfectly.  I will have an electrician come out soon to run a 220 volt line for the transmitter.  I am searching for a desk KW now and when I find one, I want it on 220 as well.  The Desk will sit next to this station with my HRO 60.

Here is the photo of the bone stock J500 and HRO50T.  The EV638 mic is smooth and clear.  No modifications will be done to the transmitter.  I have other rigs that sound better but I want to leave this one alone and just enjoy it the way it was supposed to be.
C

Very nice!
RG217 is good stuff N connectors not common.

With the power supply/modulator under the table like that, it will give you a great place to prop yer feet on and keep yer toes warm on a cold night! ! ! !
 ;D  ;D  ;D

Looks good, Clark. Now you just need an old buzzard desk or table to complete the look, maybe an old WRL map and some QSLs tacked on the wall. It'll add 2db to your signal, at least.

It was 117 Degrees here at the house yesterday and that heat is NOT NEEDED AT THIS TIME :) 

Nice short contact with Clark this afternoon on 40M. The 500 really sounded good, 20 over 9, very nice clear audio and he was even able to copy my 50 watts from the recently acquired Ranger.

Bill - K5MIL

Bill. It was a real pleasure making the contact today on 40. Maybe we can try again tomorrow? Your ranger sounded great here!

Transmitter is running strong.  20M has been open across us so I tried to get the station loaded up.  No RX out of the HRO50t with A coil.  

Could not get any osc working with the A coil. Tried B coil and nothing.  40, 80, 160 and BC band coils all work perfect.

The HRO 50t uses two 455 KC IFs and both stages are active all the time.  Both stages where working also. I could detune each one and see a change in Gain.  Spent an hour measuring voltages and changing caps that did not need to be changed.  

THen my Good Friend Jon came over with his A coil.  His A coil was dead in my HRO50 so we then knew it was the RXer.  After a few minutes he found that the Screen bypass cap was missing from the MIXER tube!

It was simply never installed at the factory. The Resistor was soldered directly to the screen pin and had never been unsoldered.  It was glazed over like the rest of the solder joints in the rig.

The man that owned the rig probably never tried the A coil and if he did, maybe he did not feel like trying to fix it or ship it off to have it fixed.  The radio has noise but it was in no mans land so maybe he figured the band was dead :)

I grabbed a .01 from the bin and soldered it in.  Bingo.  A and B coils started working.  I aligned the osc coil for both Gen and band spread and set the RF coils for max signal.  

TIP: I find its easier to just turn the rig off, yank the coil, turn the screw, put the coil back and turn the rig back on.  The scews are very soft metal and will strip easy if you try to adjust them from the top. Mine where damn near frozen so the problem was worse.  Use a 1/4 inch nut driver.. You can get a nice purchase on the scew and adjust the coils without damage.

After all of this, I pointed the Mosely beam east and loaded the J500 and HRO50T up on 14.286 and started calling CQ.  The J500 does 400 watts Carrier at full load. I backed it off to 280ma where it makes 375 on the nose.  The plate current stays rock sold at 280.  At 300, it back swings a bit so I figure 280 is where the rig likes to be.

After 10 minutes of an SSB'r screaming into his mic yelling at me for calling CQ above the "DX calling frequency"  what ever that is...  I got a reply from W6PR/0.  He was at his dads house in Iowa using a DX100 and SB303 into a Thunderbird beam. We had a nice chat and said my J500 sounded clear and strong.  Paul had just recapped and repaired his dads DX100 and was testing it.  His station sounded great!

What a neat old transmitter this Five hundred is... I am just loving it!

C

Edit.. The mising cap was on the mixer tube. The OSc tune is a triode and has no screen.  The missing cap was on the 6BE6

There is something to be said for enjoying these things and not putting the closed box on a shelf and revering them.

It's true for all things, from that brand new transmitter to the smallest item. When something significant like this transmitter is found, I have to ask myself why it was never used by previous owner(s)? Was it because they didn't want to ruin the pristine-ness by un-boxing it?

I have an NE-1W lamp. It's a big T8 bulb, candelabra base, internal resistor lamp probably at least as old as that Johnson. It sat on a high shelf for over 10 years me not wanting to 'use it up' for some frivolous purpose until I found the cat playing with it on the floor. Its a night light now, only on when I have to get up, but still, what's the point in having something that's never used? Who will value our equipment after we have no further use for it?

Enjoy that new transmitter! You will have more fun with it than anyone else ever will. I'll make the best of the neon lamp 8-)

I have several. Use them to check for stray RF when working on a transmitter. Hang one on your wire antenna and scare the heck out of your neighbors at night. Very effective on CW.

That's an interesting and good use for them. You are lucky to have a few. When the antenna went up I considered doing something like that with a little black light bulb but thought I would get the blame for TV interference if anyone saw it flashing. PC speaker interference is worse. darn part 15 equipment, ought to be a law.

Thanks for the comments. I am really enjoying the 500.  The Lamp looks really cool! 

Pete your story reminds me when we took flouresent bulbs up to the top of South mountain (TV and radio towers) and they lit up in our hands at night..

C

Did that many years ago. Strapped two florescent tubes, one at each end of a 40 meter dipole. Although the tubes could be seen in daylight hours, at night when on the air, it provoked neighbors pointing to the house with the crazy guy talking to aliens with light beams.

 That must have been a sight.  I remember being a kid and heat shrinking a Radio shack Neon lamp to the tip of our mobile antennas.  They would light up super bright as we keyed up and talked.   That was a big craze around here.  All these cars running around with flashing Red lights on the top of the antenna. ha

C

I think Antenna Specialists (or one of those 70's antenna manufacturers)  sold CB mobile antennas that had a lamp on the end of the antenna.

 

There were also 'add-on' neon lamp tips that could be bought. In those days there was an adapter to allowed the CB to use the car's AM/FM antenna for CB too. In those days the 70's GM vehicles had the antenna wire embedded in the windshield.  I used to have a 75W Palomar amplifier and one of those adapters and it worked OK for short transmissions. An 8 watt T5 green-colored fluorescent xerox copier lamp was mounted just above the rear view mirror in a 1970 Cutlass. That is right where the two little embedded wired tee out to the sides. The glow at night was astounding.

Transmitter is running great.  A few more hours of use on it.  40 meters today for about an hour.  No trouble at all. Gets good comments on audio with EV638 mic.  All the old caps and tubes where still good after all these years. 

C

Glad your having so much fun.  Great to put new old stock on the air.
About all those " old tubes and caps," obviously they were sequestered in an entropy proof safe room for all these years. ;D

You can remove them from the pyramid's "focus locus" anytime now.  We won't tell.  ;D

Try a hall closet in PHX AZ with a year round 70 to 80F temp in total darkness :)   Like a fine wine in a cellar,  This J500 only got better with age :)

Got a new viking valiant.  Lets see if that one comes up and talks the talk or pops the pops.


C