Anyone going to the Dayton Hamfest?

[bob91343]

I was just talking to a ham friend (on the cell phone) and told him about my pioneering back in the day. In 1957 I designed and built a 10 meter xtal controlled rig, tubes of course, but since that modern car had no B+ in the radio I also designed and built a solid state power supply to get the B+ for the transmitter, as well as another smaller one for B+ for the Gonset Triband Converter. I believe I am the first amateur to build and use a solid state power supply in a mobile setup. And I worked HL9KS (Korea) on it! AM of course.

A while back I got on an AM net on 75 meters and confessed to the group that I was using a rice box. One old timer came on to say that it was okay, he was using one too.

My friend (mentioned above) really wants to get an SX-101A, an SX-115, an HT-32B and an HT-33B. He has a Knight T-60 I sold to him, that still works.

[Cassiel]

Take it easy on your way back home. I'd hate to hear about broken tubes, broken bones are easier to fix.

[tubelab.com]

I think many feel that ham radio is on the decline but I suspect much of that apparent decline is from the many lower class licensees that only used 2 meters for what cell phones are now used.

The numbers don't lie. The number of licensees has declined steadilly for years. Yes the 2M repeater yacking has declined due to cell phones, but there are other factors at work here too.

Back in the mid 60's I build a 40M set up from old WWII surplus. My father never found the time to take me to the FCC field office to take the ham test (a requirement then if you lived close enough). I wound up giving the equipment to someone who could use it.

In the mid 70's I got a "tech plus" license. I also got an old Heathkit radio which I could use on CW if you had one hand on the key, and the other on the VFO knob (big time frequency drift). I had this radio for about 10 years but used it rarely. The SSB phone segment of 20M sounded so much like CB that I had no desire to turn on the radio (or upgrade my license so I could talk there).

I found it much more interesting to design and build radios than to actually use them. During the 80's I spent much of my ham time designing, building and testing equipment for VHF and higher frequencies. I was the first user of the 902 MHz band in the area since I had my radio working on the day the band became available to hams. I had the first repeater on the air in Florida for this band, although it was used mostly for phone patch.

In the mid 90's the "dark days" came. The local city code nazis decided that my 12 foot dish that was used for EME was a TV antenna and had to be removed or I would face a $200 per day fine. Threats were made on both sides that resulted in the mayor ordering me to remove ALL antennas from the house or a retroactive fine would be levied, enforced by a lien against my house. So much for PRB-1. I even had to take down the flippin TV antenna!

That city government is mostly gone now, so about 2 years ago I stuck up a wire dipole. Nothing bad happened. Now I have a 25 foot mast with my 902 loop yagi on the top and a multi band "mystery antenna" hanging from it. No warrants for my arrest have been issued, so I may add more antennas slowly. With all of the empty forclosures in the area, maybe the code cops have something better to do, or maybe they have all been laid off. I recently upgraded my license to extra. Why? Because there is a group of people who I used to work with that have a nightly net on a frequency that can only be reached with an extra class license.

What does this have to do with tubes, audio, and the decline of ham radio? When I first started playing with electricity there was only one technology available to hobbiests on an ordinary budget, tubes. Free tubes, parts, and such were everywhere. All you needed to make a ham radio, audio amp, or whatever was an old TV set, and they were in the trash by the dozens. Schematics and construction details in full color were as close as the magazine rack at the corner drug store. If you had the money, you could build a Heathkit, Eico, Knight or other kit (ham or audio). If you went to a hamfest in the 60's most of what you saw there was homebrew or kit built.

Sadly that generation of radio and audio equipment builders is mostly gone now. It got to where you could buy a well designed complete radio for less than a comparable Heathkit, so Heathkit went away. For those entering the ham radio or audio hobby in the 90's, you had only one real choice, buy a radio, plug it in and use it. Not much technical knowledge was needed. The technical electronics publications went away too. The technology changed so much that the devices (ham radios and audio amps) became much more complicated than soldering a few tubes together). Even those with a fair knowledge of electronics couldn't understand the technology. Then things began to change.

Yes, it can be said that the internet and the cell phone killed ham radio, and it certainly had a strong effect. I used to carry my battery powered Yeasu around at hamfests (including Dayton last year) but when I asked one of my friends what frequency and mode he was on, his answer was "850 GSM" (cell phone). I left the radio home this year. I didn't use it much last year, and it wound up back in the car due to the rain.

I believe that the internet took a big bite out of ham radio a few years back, but I think that it helps sustain and foster a new generation of radio builders today. Just as we meet here to discuss diyAudio, there are forums and Yahoo groups to discuss the building of ham radio equipment. Thanks to the internet and open source software, it is now possible to build a complete HF ham radio that works better than my Yeasu for less money than the Yeasu costs. Yes, I built one. Yes, it works very well. And, yes, it has motivated to redesign it so it works better (I am a dadio design engineer). Google "soft rock sdr".

I have seen a full kit HF transceiver sold at the Orlando hamfest for the last two years. The manual looks exactly like the old Heathkit manuals. It even has a yellow cover. Will it be sucessful? I don't know. Will I go to the "Discover Homebrew" area at Dayton to see what people are building
? You better believe it!

studied up, went in and took the tests and walked out. They kept hounding me all the way to the parking lot to take the extra written too. They had never had a guy do it all in one day.

The rules always stated that holders of a "tech plus" license would be granted a General class, just by filling out a form, provided you had proof that you held that license in 1978. I had long since lost my original license. Recently it was decided that a current tech plus and other proof was OK. I had called several ham clubs that gave tests but no one understood what "other proof" was. I finally got hold of a club that took the tome to email the ARRL who verified that I did indeed qualify for an automatic upgrade. They said that I needed to come to their meeting, fill out the forms, and pay the testing fee. I asked that since I had to pay for a test, could I take the extra test, and get a general if I didn't pass. They said yes, but the tests were the next day. Again thanks to the internet (QRZ.com) one day of online studying and practice tests netted me an extra. They really wanted me to join their club, but it was 25 miles away. It is just too easy to get a ham license now.

For those going to Dayton, this year I too will be on "850 GSM". PM me for the digits if interested.

[bob91343]

Terrific post, tubelab! Yes homebrew ham radio is history. But there are a few old timers like me out there who still do the old stuff. I just built a guitar amplifier (and I am not really much of a guitar player, more into other instruments) and upgraded my electronics workbench. Last night I worked France on 20 CW and I hope I'll always have CW and HF to play with.

At the other extreme, I have been seriously reading and rereading a book on DSP. Soon I may try to make something work. I am awaiting a class D amplifier chip so I can see how that works.

But digital isn't new. Back in the early 1960s I helped design a sampling oscilloscope, large screen, magnetic deflection, with 5 MHz bandwidth. It worked great but the company wouldn't put any money behind it so it died.

My friend, an aerospace engineer, says he can't understand electronics because he can't see it working. I replied that I can't understand carburetors because I can't see them working. He says but it's just the venturi effect. I say how is that different from electronics? And so it goes.

[kevinkr]

Originally Posted by tubelab.com

<snip>
I found it much more interesting to design and build radios than to actually use them. During the 80's I spent much of my ham time designing, building and testing equipment for VHF and higher frequencies.
<snip>

I had a novice class license in the early 1980s and a Drake TR-4CW with the matching supply and antenna tuner. Nice rig. George I relate completely to the comment above which is why I ultimately gave up on Ham Radio and ended up focusing on audio. Same gratification designing and building gear, but I enjoy the end result with audio gear a lot more.

The NEAR-FEST I attended in Manchester NH this year was the best one in quite a few years. Lots of gear, lots of hams, and lots of traffic. The pickings were actually pretty fine.. Around here in recent years most of these events have degenerated to nothing more than junk/trinket dealers (literally) and purveyors of computer hardware that you would not even consider on eBay. This one was different, and harkens back to time when many of the local ham fests were well worth the trouble to attend.

I hope Dayton is good!

[tubelab.com]

The hamfests around my area have all died. The Miami hamfest used to be one of the largest in the country. I think I missed about 5 during its 40+ year run. Sadly is is no longer held. The other local hamfests around my area went away too. Orlando (200 miles away) is still one of the larger ones in the country and even with severe weather this year it was crowded.

I have been to Dayton twice and left with far too much stuff both times. Last year the weather was nice on Friday, but prices were high. Saturday afternoon the rains came and much of the swap meet crowd left forcing prices down for those who played in the rain. That is how the car got filled up. I am trying not to get carried away this year.

Around here in recent years most of these events have degenerated to nothing more than junk/trinket dealers (literally) and purveyors of computer hardware that you would not even consider on eBay.

I noticed that about the hamfests that went away. Miami, Broward County and the Palm Beach hamfests turned into computer shows in their last years. I have seen some computer stuff at Dayton and Orlando, but not too much. Could there be a correlation? The local monthly computer shows in Broward County are gone too. Now there is a gun show in the same venue on the same weekends. Maybe there is more money in guns?

[kevinkr]

Originally Posted by tubelab.com

The hamfests around my area have all died. The Miami hamfest used to be one of the largest in the country. I think I missed about 5 during its 40+ year run. Sadly is is no longer held. The other local hamfests around my area went away too. Orlando (200 miles away) is still one of the larger ones in the country and even with severe weather this year it was crowded.

<snip>

I noticed that about the hamfests that went away. Miami, Broward County and the Palm Beach hamfests turned into computer shows in their last years. I have seen some computer stuff at Dayton and Orlando, but not too much. Could there be a correlation? The local monthly computer shows in Broward County are gone too. Now there is a gun show in the same venue on the same weekends. Maybe there is more money in guns?

No local computer shows around here anymore as far as I know. Still a few good fests (MIT monthly in the "warmer' months) and a lot of antique radio stuff that is still quite healthy - I find these to be a good source of 2 and 3 digit tube types which I use in my system.

Gun shows seem to be a good business to be in these days, although they and their organizers are not very popular in the more liberal parts of Eastern Massachusetts..

[airboss]

I'm mostly building guitar and audio amps too. Been away from the audio scene as I've become obsessed with guitar amps. The last real Ham building I did was converting the Gates BC-1J to 3870.

I've aligned and repaired tons of tube ham gear for newbies though. I hope it doesn't die completely. I love HF gabbing. You guys are getting me stoked up to get the Gonset on the air. Always wanted to do 813s driving 813s in plate modulated mode. Wind my own tranny's too. I got lots of old heavy Iron I can steal the Es&Is from. Drive the PA with a solid state rig in CW mode. Drive the modulator with Dynaco MkIII build. Build a LA-2A to stay in bandwidth. That's pretty much what I had with the Gates. I had a real La-2 AND GAVE IT AWAY! waaaaaa.

Then move away so I don't have to fight the HOAs. I got lot's of lawyers in the family. Maybe they won't see the screwdriver........will they take a Kw PEP?

You know what. Everybody loves the R390s and Collins A line for receivers in AM circles but I loved my little 75S1. It's got that 3kc wide LC filter in AM mode. Super quiet. Blows away sand state receivers of all types.

Ramble ramble

[bob91343]

The R-390A had a nice wide range of filters that should satisfy most people. But one would tire of cranking the tuning knob; so much going on inside that it took a strong arm.

I need to get a transformer or two, something that will handle a half gallon. I am about to try to make a class D audio amplifier with substantial power that will require a 50V supply (single ended).

[firechief]

About 30 years ago I worked as a tech at marine radio manufacturer, and the old guy next to me took me under his wing. Every day we would eat lunch and he would ask me questions from the exam or send code whild I copied. This was when the test could be administred by anyone holding an extra class ticket. Well it worked. I have been going to the local Ham fair/flee market for quite some years, and while the flavor of it has changed, there is are still a lot of attendies and good stuff. This year I decided it was time to test for General and will get back on HF as time permits. I also worked for two years are the North America service center for ICOM specializing in HF rig's. They really are doing some cool stuff. The hobby is not dead yet N7ECR