Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
|
Post by Sandbagger on Jan 1, 2014 22:10:22 GMT -5
For the first CRR of the year, we were treated to some very unusual short skip conditions. We were hearing stations in upstate New York, Connecticut and other places in New England. Usually we never hear that area. But there are some Classic Radio guys out there too. Radio of choice tonight was a Lafayette Comstat 25 (My original 1974 base) Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by cbrown on Jan 2, 2014 9:49:15 GMT -5
Nice! Always liked the Lafayette radios! Looks in good condition, too.
|
|
Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
|
Post by Sandbagger on Mar 6, 2014 22:14:26 GMT -5
During last night's roundup (3/05) it was mentioned that High Street in Pottstown was one of the top ten best cruising places in the country, back when it was still going on. So here's a tribute to High Street:
|
|
|
Post by MonkeyMan on Mar 7, 2014 11:56:09 GMT -5
During last night's roundup (3/05) it was mentioned that High Street in Pottstown was one of the top ten best cruising places in the country, back when it was still going on. So here's a tribute to High Street: If I could have back the gas money I spent running up and down High Street back in the day I'd be loaded! There is a proposal currently on the board with Pottstown borough council for a 3 day "car show event" in September, similar to the big shows they have out in Carlisle, Pa. I'm watching this closely. If you met someone on High Street you wanted to race it was out to the Stowe exit of Rt. 422 for some late night fun...
|
|
|
Post by MonkeyMan on Mar 10, 2014 20:34:20 GMT -5
...There is a proposal currently on the board with Pottstown borough council for a 3 day "car show event" in September, similar to the big shows they have out in Carlisle, Pa. I'm watching this closely. I received the following email 20 minutes ago.... MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Tonight during a Pottstown Borough Council session, our 4-day car show was approved to progress! ‘Cruising Pottstown Summer Nationals 2014’ is anticipated to occur after Labor Day, beginning Thursday evening, September 4th with a 'kick-off party' near Smith Plaza. In addition to car show [details to follow] there will also be a Battle of the Bands and a Chili Cook-off! This will climax on Sunday with awards. Details to follow soon! Anyone interested in helping should contact me.
Best Regards, John Prutzman Co-Chair Pottstown S.C.O.R.E. Chapter 484.942.8062
WOO HOO!!!
|
|
Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
|
Post by Sandbagger on Mar 11, 2014 6:26:54 GMT -5
...There is a proposal currently on the board with Pottstown borough council for a 3 day "car show event" in September, similar to the big shows they have out in Carlisle, Pa. I'm watching this closely. I received the following email 20 minutes ago.... MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Tonight during a Pottstown Borough Council session, our 4-day car show was approved to progress! ‘Cruising Pottstown Summer Nationals 2014’ is anticipated to occur after Labor Day, beginning Thursday evening, September 4th with a 'kick-off party' near Smith Plaza. In addition to car show [details to follow] there will also be a Battle of the Bands and a Chili Cook-off! This will climax on Sunday with awards. Details to follow soon! Anyone interested in helping should contact me.
Best Regards, John Prutzman Co-Chair Pottstown S.C.O.R.E. Chapter 484.942.8062
WOO HOO!!! Well, that sounds like a great place to have a classic radio roundup mobile edition.......
|
|
Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
|
Post by Sandbagger on Mar 12, 2014 18:54:10 GMT -5
Tonight's CRR candidate, to hopefully cut through the massive skip noise: Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by cbrown on Mar 13, 2014 8:54:49 GMT -5
Looks to be in nice shape.
|
|
Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
|
Post by Sandbagger on Mar 13, 2014 11:24:18 GMT -5
Looks to be in nice shape. Yes, it looks pretty good for a 35 year old radio (Wow! it really is that old ). The only thing that was wrong with it when I picked it up, was it was missing the relay. Since the original is pretty much made of unobtanium, I had to wire up a more generic replacement. But the radio works good now.
|
|
|
Post by cbrown on Mar 14, 2014 12:41:26 GMT -5
Amazing how old these radios are getting, isn't it? Luckily I haven't aged as fast.
|
|
Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
|
Post by Sandbagger on Mar 14, 2014 16:04:49 GMT -5
Amazing how old these radios are getting, isn't it? Luckily I haven't aged as fast. We all tell ourselves that.........
|
|
|
Post by BladeRunner now OLD FLASH!!!!! on Mar 16, 2014 18:05:44 GMT -5
Hey, that was the second base I had back aroud the same time period. I had an omnidirectional antenna in the top of a 75 foot oak. Lightning hit it one night. It sheared the antenna off at the base. completely fried the rg8 coax all the way to my window. It knocked out the final tube in the radio. I replaced the tube and the radio was perfectly fine. It was a great talker.
|
|
|
Post by "Doc"Hammer on May 1, 2014 22:15:01 GMT -5
Well, I got all my equipment moved to the new place.. 3 trips packed to the roof in the van...You honestly don't know how much stuff you have until you gotta move it! Masts and antennas all went to storage, as did all the extra coax. Living room will have a "static display" of my MIDLAND, ROBYN, and SBE Equipment on one wall and across the room, the "working" station will display the TRAMS, Browning MKII, Hallicrafters, and my 148GTL and of course the brand new PACE sidetalk 1000B. Underneath the bench will reside my little 1x1446 driver, as I can't run the 4 pill in the house anymore..BooHoo..It will take up residence in the van, along with a well tuned Galaxy radio. I havn't lived in an apartment since college, much less had to devise a decent talking antenna for the balcony..(28 feet off the ground!)Thats the next project! Now that my internet issues are fixed, I again have the TRAM hooked to the computer for Wednesdays..Yippee! Some prelim pics of the "new" station...a ghost of it's former self..More to come!
|
|
Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
|
Post by Sandbagger on May 2, 2014 5:50:50 GMT -5
Well, I got all my equipment moved to the new place.. 3 trips packed to the roof in the van...You honestly don't know how much stuff you have until you gotta move it! Masts and antennas all went to storage, as did all the extra coax. Living room will have a "static display" of my MIDLAND, ROBYN, and SBE Equipment on one wall and across the room, the "working" station will display the TRAMS, Browning MKII, Hallicrafters, and my 148GTL and of course the brand new PACE sidetalk 1000B. Underneath the bench will reside my little 1x1446 driver, as I can't run the 4 pill in the house anymore..BooHoo..It will take up residence in the van, along with a well tuned Galaxy radio. I havn't lived in an apartment since college, much less had to devise a decent talking antenna for the balcony..(28 feet off the ground!)Thats the next project! Now that my internet issues are fixed, I again have the TRAM hooked to the computer for Wednesdays..Yippee! Some prelim pics of the "new" station...a ghost of it's former self..More to come! Well, at least you can still get on the link and keep up with us on CRR. So it's not a total loss.
|
|
|
Post by ab5ni on Oct 6, 2014 22:44:21 GMT -5
Hey Doc,
You might want to take a look at a magnetic loop antenna on YouTube. There are numerous designs out there, or you can even purchase one. They are perfect for apartment dwelling. Also, if you are fortunate enough to have access to a balcony, u can just put the thing out there when you want to operate. Where there's a will there's a way!
One other thing: if you can, see if you can become friends with the apartment manager. Not all, but some of them might eventually let you setup an antenna on the roof, such as a stealth inverted V or small vertical with radials.
73,
Randy AB5NI
|
|
Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
|
Post by Sandbagger on Nov 6, 2014 8:41:50 GMT -5
Another great Classic Radio Roundup on 11/5/2014. Pete was sleeping on the job and was a no-show, but his was not the only absence. Also conspicuously missing was all of the trashy skip noise that had been plaguing us for the last several weeks. It was quiet enough that we made contact with Capt. Berry from the forum all the way from Cecil County Md, a distance of at least 45 miles depending where in the county he is. He was sounding choice on a vintage SBE Console II. Hopefully the set back of the clocks will help to see the skip rolling out an hour sooner and the quiet "laid-back local" conditions will be the norm for a while. At least until the winter sporadic-E skip hits and we'll hopefully hear Night Ranger blasting in again from So. Carolina. Other people in attendance were Sparky (BBB), Skeeter, 1/4 Wave Dave, Operator Ron, Tickle, Ken, Chuck, and Night Train, and a few internet check-in's to the audio streamer. But since Pete was not around, no video gates were made. Radios on my bench for the Roundup consisted of a new (to me) plain Jane unmodified Cobra 139, which had (has?) a problem in the transmit section. When I got it, it had no output, an apparent short on the driver transistor suddenly disappeared in the process of unsoldering it, and now it's transmitting again, although PEP output seems a bit low at 9 watts. But it worked ok for the roundup. But it will need a thorough going over including cleaning the channel selector and a complete alignment, and possibly replacing the driver and/or the final if I can't get the power up to where it belongs. I switched to my Hi-Fi galaxy when the local bleedover proved to be too much for the Cobra.
|
|
|
Post by Night Ranger on Nov 6, 2014 10:08:28 GMT -5
Another great Classic Radio Roundup on 11/5/2014. Pete was sleeping on the job and was a no-show, but his was not the only absence. Also conspicuously missing was all of the trashy skip noise that had been plaguing us for the last several weeks. It was quiet enough that we made contact with Capt. Berry from the forum all the way from Cecil County Md, a distance of at least 45 miles depending where in the county he is. He was sounding choice on a vintage SBE Console II. Hopefully the set back of the clocks will help to see the skip rolling out an hour sooner and the quiet "laid-back local" conditions will be the norm for a while. At least until the winter sporadic-E skip hits and we'll hopefully hear Night Ranger blasting in again from So. Carolina. Other people in attendance were Sparky (BBB), Skeeter, 1/4 Wave Dave, Operator Ron, Tickle, Ken, Chuck, and Night Train, and a few internet check-in's to the audio streamer. But since Pete was not around, no video gates were made. Radios on my bench for the Roundup consisted of a new (to me) plain Jane unmodified Cobra 139, which had (has?) a problem in the transmit section. When I got it, it had no output, an apparent short on the driver transistor suddenly disappeared in the process of unsoldering it, and now it's transmitting again, although PEP output seems a bit low at 9 watts. But it worked ok for the roundup. But it will need a thorough going over including cleaning the channel selector and a complete alignment, and possibly replacing the driver and/or the final if I can't get the power up to where it belongs. I switched to my Hi-Fi galaxy when the local bleedover proved to be too much for the Cobra. Last year the Winter skip season started right with the month of December. I was surprised to see it start that early. Currently I'm already hearing Wisconsin and Minnesota coming in at times on 38 LSB. For whatever reason Minnesota is usually the first to come in to South Carolina on the Winter Sporadic E skip season followed by the Canadian side of the Great Lakes. I wonder if it has something to do with the "lake effect". Night Ranger
|
|
Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
|
Post by Sandbagger on Nov 19, 2014 8:02:12 GMT -5
Well, now that the frost is officially on the pumpkin (and just about everything else), and my radio room has shed its summertime warmth, it's time to fire up the tube rigs. So for tonight's roundup, I think the Tram D201 will fit the bill nicely. It also throws off a lot of heat, so it won't be too chilly.......
|
|
|
Post by cbrown on Nov 19, 2014 9:40:39 GMT -5
Well, now that the frost is officially on the pumpkin (and just about everything else), and my radio room has shed its summertime warmth, it's time to fire up the tube rigs. So for tonight's roundup, I think the Tram D201 will fit the bill nicely. It also throws off a lot of heat, so it won't be too chilly....... Always liked the Tram, especially paired with a Turner +3. Great audio.
|
|
|
Post by BBB on Nov 19, 2014 17:35:16 GMT -5
I'm with you, Big Tubes tonight to help heat things up.
Let's start with a 12BY7A feeding some 6JS6C's pushing some 572B shack heaters. Check
1970's Analogue RF Technology. Check
Wide-Banded Big Audio. Check
Beers... oh shoot, only 2 left...gotta run!
|
|
|
Post by spitfire441 on Nov 19, 2014 18:29:39 GMT -5
I'm with you, Big Tubes tonight to help heat things up. Let's start with a 12BY7A feeding some 6JS6C's pushing some 572B shack heaters. Check 1970's Analogue RF Technology. Check Wide-Banded Big Audio. Check Beers... oh shoot, only 2 left...gotta run! Tonight I am going to take the Bus out. Cobra 98. 441
|
|
|
Post by captbarry on Nov 27, 2014 0:18:37 GMT -5
So good to finally catch you guys on the roundup. Many of ya sound great here in Cecil County. I too am rolling out the tube equipment for winter warmth!!! Have my Model T ready to go for this week and hopefully will have the Mark IVA back in shape shortly. Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving.... Barry
|
|
|
Post by Night Ranger on Nov 27, 2014 13:07:44 GMT -5
I'm with you, Big Tubes tonight to help heat things up. Let's start with a 12BY7A feeding some 6JS6C's pushing some 572B shack heaters. Check 1970's Analogue RF Technology. Check Wide-Banded Big Audio. Check Beers... oh shoot, only 2 left...gotta run! Tonight I am going to take the Bus out. Cobra 98. 441 Nothing but static in South Carolina during last nights C.R.R., although I have heard some sporadic E skip from Maine, New York, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Erie, Pennsylvania on other recent nights. The "Lake Effect" may have some bearing on Sporadic E skip in the winter since I tend to hear stations near the Great Lakes during this time of year. Night Ranger
|
|
|
Post by captbarry on Dec 1, 2014 20:48:23 GMT -5
Yes it was noisy last week, did get to talk to a few folks Tuesday night. Sporadic E has been showing up every once in a while in the last week. That could be fun on the roundup, looking at some older posts I see that has happened like last winter. Catch everyone Wednesday night. 73's Barry
|
|
|
Post by BBB on Dec 4, 2014 9:52:54 GMT -5
Heard you loud and clear Capt on your nice Washington-Hornet combo. I was running a Courier Royale (by Whitaker) The receive audio is awesome so everyone sounded great, again! I'm diggin the low noise Nuvistar tube in the mixer, the Collins mechanical filter and a 6BQ5 tube modulating the 6BQ5 final Pulled this interesting info from BRENT JESSEE on the 6BQ5's : "The 6BQ5 is a small beam power pentode vacuum tube. It is a finger sized tube, all glass, and has a standard 9-pin base (like a 12AX7) with a large cylindrical plate structure inside. This tube is truly a mouse that roared, as it can handle 12 watts on the plate at 300 volts, and 300 volts on the screen at 2 watts! The early Beatles music was all heard through 6BQ5 tubes (Mullard EL84s actually) as they exclusively used VOX British made amps that were full of these little guys. This tube was also popular in the 1950s and 1960 in larger hi-fi table radios, hi-fi amps, smaller console stereo systems, and "portable" tube amps that were found in better record players and tape recorders. The USA factories were primarily RCA, GE, and Sylvania that made this tube, despite what the label says. RCA has the number in the "stop sign" octagon, GE has the number and a code of dots etched into the glass, and Sylvania usually has 6BQ5 and the letters U.S.A. in dark grey paint at the top of the tube. Both grey and black plates (early type) were used. The early RCA tubes had black graphite sprayed on inside the glass for shielding. Some are quite dark, others have a variable density "smoky glass" look to them, giving them the term "smoked glass" types. This "greyglass" makes the tube look used, but it is normal, and these tubes are rare and excellent sounding! Later 1960s and 1970s USA 6BQ5 tubes were often made by Amperex, Mullard, or Siemens, and can be spotted by the factory date code near the bottom of the tube. This tube is currently being made in China and Russia, but caution needs to be used when using these in a vintage amp, as some of the current tubes cannot handle more than 200 volts on the screen or plate" FYI, anyone looking for the service manual for the Courier Royale can find it here: www.oldtuberadio.com/data/Courier/CourierRoyale_ServiceManual_DaveH.pdf
|
|
|
Post by Night Ranger on Dec 4, 2014 10:07:19 GMT -5
Heard you loud and clear Capt on your nice Washington-Hornet combo. I was running a Courier Royal (by Whitaker) The receive audio is awesome so everyone sounded great, again I had my Drake TR-7 and my Lazy H listening for Pennsylvania, but the skip was not cooperating. I only heard static. Night Ranger
|
|
Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
|
Post by Sandbagger on Dec 6, 2014 6:37:40 GMT -5
Heard you loud and clear Capt on your nice Washington-Hornet combo. I was running a Courier Royale (by Whitaker) The receive audio is awesome so everyone sounded great, again! I'm diggin the low noise Nuvistar tube in the mixer, the Collins mechanical filter and a 6BQ5 tube modulating the 6BQ5 final Pulled this interesting info from BRENT JESSEE on the 6BQ5's : "The 6BQ5 is a small beam power pentode vacuum tube. It is a finger sized tube, all glass, and has a standard 9-pin base (like a 12AX7) with a large cylindrical plate structure inside. This tube is truly a mouse that roared, as it can handle 12 watts on the plate at 300 volts, and 300 volts on the screen at 2 watts! The early Beatles music was all heard through 6BQ5 tubes (Mullard EL84s actually) as they exclusively used VOX British made amps that were full of these little guys. This tube was also popular in the 1950s and 1960 in larger hi-fi table radios, hi-fi amps, smaller console stereo systems, and "portable" tube amps that were found in better record players and tape recorders. The USA factories were primarily RCA, GE, and Sylvania that made this tube, despite what the label says. RCA has the number in the "stop sign" octagon, GE has the number and a code of dots etched into the glass, and Sylvania usually has 6BQ5 and the letters U.S.A. in dark grey paint at the top of the tube. Both grey and black plates (early type) were used. The early RCA tubes had black graphite sprayed on inside the glass for shielding. Some are quite dark, others have a variable density "smoky glass" look to them, giving them the term "smoked glass" types. This "greyglass" makes the tube look used, but it is normal, and these tubes are rare and excellent sounding! Later 1960s and 1970s USA 6BQ5 tubes were often made by Amperex, Mullard, or Siemens, and can be spotted by the factory date code near the bottom of the tube. This tube is currently being made in China and Russia, but caution needs to be used when using these in a vintage amp, as some of the current tubes cannot handle more than 200 volts on the screen or plate" FYI, anyone looking for the service manual for the Courier Royale can find it here: www.oldtuberadio.com/data/Courier/CourierRoyale_ServiceManual_DaveH.pdfThe 6BQ5 was certainly a workhorse tube in many old CB radios. The Panasonic chassis used them exclusively for RF finals, and some used them for audio/modulator power amps as well. Other brands used them as well. They were the perfect tube for a radio designed for a 3 watt (12 watt PEP) output.
|
|
|
Post by No Streak on Jan 4, 2015 20:28:32 GMT -5
Good Year for Classic Radio RoundUp thanks to SpitfiRe for the YouTube postings good information to be learned.Looking forward to 2015!
|
|
Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
|
Post by Sandbagger on Jan 5, 2015 7:19:41 GMT -5
Good Year for Classic Radio RoundUp thanks to SpitfiRe for the YouTube postings good information to be learned.Looking forward to 2015! After having to miss the last 2 CRR's due to Wednesday falling on the holidays this year, I'm anxious to kick off the 1st CRR of 2015 this Wed. night...
|
|
|
Post by No Streak on Jan 5, 2015 17:40:12 GMT -5
Well I think I'm going to have a spring project to put my V-Quad back up so I can been in the Classic Radio Roundup LIVE! Right now I can only hear Chuck and that's about it. And thanks to Spew network I kinda can be a local.
|
|