On Tue, 31 Jan 2006 00:58:14 UTC, wrote:

Just a question that has been rattling around in the gourd. What age
group are B/A enthusiast-type folks here on the Net? I know we have the
folks from when they (the B/A's) were the most active (and I'm talking
SX11 here), but I wonder if there's a large following of Boomers that
picked up on it too. I only say this because I don't see as many
30's-40's-50's people at the Hamfests and other gatherings as I see my
elders (Gentlemen, all). So the question bubbles up outta the tar? How
old are the folks on rec.radio.amateur.boatanchor?
rgds, Mark S.


Just turned 59. First licensed in 1963. Novice about 8 months then
took the general. First rig was a DX-60 and SX-101A. I had built a
Knight R-55 but never got it working well enough for ham radio use.
It was a sort-a OK, AM SWL radio.

Gotta say that 75 watts CW, crystal controlled on 15 meters (this is
in Hawaii) was the most fun of all. Used to work VK's, ZL's, and
JA's in the afternoon.

Kinda dropped out of ham radio over the years, what with computers,
programming in assembler and PL/I.

Now restoring a Signal/One CX7A as well as other boatanchors. I
have a theory that these things are way under valued as collectables
and relics of a never to be seen again, technological era.

I know folk who collect civil war stuff. While that is
"interesting", most of that can be made with blacksmith technology,
because, that's how it was made.

No one will ever make a Collins 75S-1 again. Ever. The technolgy
doesn't exist any more.

I've bought a couple items from list members, Collins. Good folks
to deal with.

For a number of reasons, health, miserable employers, some poor life
choices on my part, I don't have a lot of spare cash but what I
have, I've been investing in boatanchors.

The weird thing about the 75S-1 is that it looks modern, sorta. You
can tell that it's not a SX-28 or 75A-1 or NC-188. If I had the
cash, I'd buy every 75S-1 I could. It's right at that cusp where
they still used vacuum tubes but wanted to build smallish radios.

Adopted a SX-100 from a fellow who threatened to send it to the
landfill. If he had only known to put a red dropcloth behind it, he
could-a sold it for $1,600.

I just built the transmitter half of a PIXIE2 and plan to use it
with an SB-303. Maybe get a WA6OTP PTO kit and use it with the
SB-303. What fun that would be.

I built the PIXIE2 transmitter into a mini-DX-60. I submitted the
pictures to eham but they haven't put them up yet. You can preview
this at www.kiyoinc.com/dx60.htm

Let me know what you think. It's just a fun project.

I think of the SB-303 as another landmark piece of technology
history. Solid state but not digital. 100% analog circuitry pushed
to the limit to get the stability and frequency readout.

In the full range of history, there's an incredibly brief period
when those things made sense. After about 1970, 1975, it's digital.
Before 1955, 1960, maybe, the look was completely different.

I had a page up on Heathstuff but took it down for re-hosting.

I've been looking at the DVFO project sites and wonder why no one
has set up one of those as a "all-bander" for S-Lines. Program
the readout for the Collins 1st IF offset and 200 kHz steps.

Similarly, the Ten-Tec 1284, can it be that hard to program the PIC
for 100/1,000 Hz steps? Anyone have a PIC de-compiler?

What a nice little receiver it would make.

de ah6gi/4

I'm 56, and got my Novice in '64, General in '65, Advanced in '69, and
Extra in'78 (or somewhere around there). I was interested in
electronics since I was about 10, maybe before that. Like others have
said, I used to pick up old TV's and radios that were being thrown out,
either to strip out the parts or to fix up and use.

I don't have a whole lot of boatanchors, but I do have the Heath
SB-301/401 line that I use for my main operating equipment, and I also
have a DX-40, HG-10 VFO, and an NC-300 that I recently fixed up and
aligned. Also a Swan 250 that I use on six meters once in a while.

When I get tired of a piece of equipment, I buy a better one to replace
it, then usually sell the old one since I have a limited amount of
space in the shack.

Al, WA2AS