Issue 14: Collecting the Classics

Thanks. I appreciate your comments, and I agree as stated that reminiscing plays a big role here. Thanks for jumping in, as your posts are always very much appreciated, Brando. Dave

 

Haha, apologies on that front. I meant no insult, and I didn't mean to imply that the whole article was factually wrong. That is very much what a re-reading of my comment says, though. I was initially referring to the specific point I'd called out, not to the article as a whole.

I blame poor copy-editing on my part; I copy-pasted part of my comment while I was writing it to a different part and didn't re-read before hitting "Post". QRZ isn't letting me back in to edit it for whatever reason, so unfortunately it stands as-is for now.

In any case, I want to make it abundantly clear that I find absolutely nothing at all wrong with wanting to find, purchase, restore, and play with older radios (or cars), as I do exactly that with computers. That certainly didn't come through very well in my original comment!

 

Another thought that I had here in thinking about my own experiences with "retro" electronics . . . My history comes out of the audio (stereo Hi-Fi) business, where for years now sterophiles have spoken about the differences between the sound of the "old" versus the "new." I worked for the first company that introduced the CD (when everyone had records), and this company Telarc Records had the best sounding audio of all the CD companies (through award winning sound engineers like Bob Woods and Jack Renner.) Despite that, I noticed from day one that they didn't have the presence and beauty of a fine LP played with a great tonearm and phono cartridge. I wasn't alone. Today, the very best stereo systems have top of the line phono players and sophisticated tube equipment. The appreciation for this sound has spread to the masses.

 

Which is easier to work on?

This (overlook the lethal high voltages)

(H/T to Antique Radios)

or this?

(H/T to KL7KN)

Different worlds, different requirements. I get that folks love their old Drakes, Collins etc (hollow state)
I'll stick with Solid State.....

YMMV

 

Good use of photos to make a point! Dave

 

https://www.qrz.com/articles/node_1674752338

"...that the quality of radios will likely never be the same, as manufacturers have lost control over the total build because so many components come from China. It’s this global supply chain that has impacted so much of today’s technology in the ham radio world."


“The newest technology does have issues. We’ve nearly lost all ability to make these radios here. Even Japan buys most of their components from China,” he advised. Of course, the big question is whether today’s radios will be the classics of the future."


"They’re much more likely to end up in a trash can, which is a real shame. Personally, I’d have less hesitation dropping any of today’s SDRs into a garbage can than I would a 50-year-old Collins. There’s nothing all that special about the former, and the Collins will always represent those times when companies were able to put together something unique, something truly built to last.”

I know that maybe not so old but still a classic IMHO is my decade 'new' Icom IC-7000...

(wish there was an ID-7000 upgrade)



... there are things even today I am discovering in the manual that I never knew were available to me on this set!

Still living the dream hobby!

 

Some years back I purchased a known dead HW-7. I ran a series of posts on how I troubleshot and fixed it. I did have to play cross-reference Bingo, but it played.
I helped that I had the original technical manual (Thanks Heathkit) - something very rare with Chinaradios.

A lot of SS rigs have died owing to chips no longer in products. My SWL WM-20 has a few chips (common right now) and a couple of transistors I am getting spares for possible future need. The ones that I worry over are the PIN diode and the balanced mixer. I'll keep working on spares, but...it will be a low dollar effort.

I did sell my SG-2020 when the company announced EOL for the rig - owing to a chip shortage....

 

Beg pardon, what is a "Real Ham", and how would one accurately differentiate said "Real Ham" from an unreal one?

 

"Unreal" denotes a super cool operator, where as the other is "we got ourselves a "real" one here... hmm!"

JK...

 

The timing of this excellent article is, to say the least, serendipitous. Last night I gave a presentation at our club (RST - Radio Society of Tucson) about the joy and benefits of restoring some of this beautiful old gear. And this morning I shared this article with the club as yet more evidence of just how thrilling it can be to restore and operate classic equipment. We're hoping to start up a vintage radio special interest group within RST in an effort to try to pool the technical and experiential knowledge base.

One point I made last night, that I'd like to reiterate here -- is that "nostalgia" is often believed to be the primary factor motivating those of us who are interested in vintage gear. If that were true, then why do hams like me restore radios from well before I was even born? And how do we explain the young, 30-ish ham who attended our meeting last night and is a recent addition to the club at least partly because he's interested in vintage equipment? Nostalgia may be a reason for some, but it's often not the main factor. Operating a classic radio isn't just a throwback -- it's a real pleasure to restore and operate a beautifully designed, unique piece of American technical ingenuity that's steeped in history.

73 - Steve, KW4H

 

I remember the "good old days" using cheap used tube equipment back in 1975, when there was still expensive new tube equipment available. My first HF station was a pre-war RME69 ($75) receiver and a HT-37 ($75) transmitter. No receiver muting needed - just a cheap T/R relay and good old receiver blocking when keyed.

Now the HF station includes a 1965 TR-3 ($130) and a 1976 Tempo One ($75) for later generation tube equipment. One of the big advantages of those is they are space heaters that also transmit and receive. No such thing as waste heat in the winter! I swear when I put my cold hands on the TR-3 to warm them up, the VFO changes frequency.

And I agree on the best modern vintage radio being the IC-7000 - way advanced for its day. It has many IC-7300 features without the waterfall, and this is why I have two of them. Perfect mobile radio, and a decent base as well - no buttons "behind" the channel knob like the new Yaesus. My 7300 is a perfect new radio and will become a classic eventually - you can get that "radio nostalgia" sound out of it with a large speaker and the filters set to wide sharp.

 

Dave when you were first licensed in 1966, you arrived right as SSB was ending its struggle for acceptance. Before that, "phone" communications on HF were primarily on AM, and I am surprised that your article on the popularity of vintage gear did not mention this continued part of the hobby. The vacuum tube equipment, the sound of the mode, and the information conveyed by the carrier, comprise an alluring package for interactions on the radio using our voices.

I participate in a variety of Facebook pages that overlap among enthusiasts for vintage broadcast radio as well as the use of AM on HF among licensed radio hobbyists. Recently, someone posted a beautiful old Gates broadcast mixing console from the 1960s. The photo included a stack of the junior Collins HAM radio models, and he mentioned that he also enjoys using a Collins AM transmitter with such gear. Among the respondents, someone who said "how do you set up an amateur radio station?"

Presumably, the question was in the context of an amateur broadcast station, but the original poster and myself both clarified that licensed radio hobbyists can re-purpose vintage gear for use on shortwave. And this is where we get to the thrust of your article, researching why this part of the hobby favoring old gear has such a strong following. Here is my response to him. I am hoping that he eventually explores getting his Amateur radio license. The details of licensing were beyond the scope of his question, but I've encouraged many others to do so.

HiYa, welcome! Mark and I are both part of the hobby of Amateur Radio, a federally licensed group, who, in exchange for passing an exam, is allocated frequencies to “play radio.” The sponsor of this page is also among us, eh Bob?
My part of this hobby is on shortwave, and using AM as a voice mode of communication; Amplitude Modulation, just like on the broadcast band, but higher in frequency where it goes a greater distance. This is a place for hundreds of like-minded licensees to re-purpose a lot of old gear from radio stations, like the pretty console that Mark opened this posting with.
This same part of the hobby does not resemble a certain stereotype that has persisted over the years, of men yelling into little plastic radios to see how many stations they can work per minute. Ours is a relaxed, storytelling activity, with good audio, and plenty of time to hear out a story from someone, and to respond with remarks of your own.
Hope you can join us some day. It’s very satisfying.

In closing, Dave, please indulge me by listening to some of a half hour QSO that I was fortunate to have a few weeks ago. I was only testing the placement of some video cameras ahead of a more formal demonstration of our part of the hobby, but I ended up having an impromptu, but perfect example to show people like yourself and the readers of your article.

 

Thanks Steve. I couldn't have said it better myself, Dave W7DGJ (from Scottsdale -- great to meet you)

 

Thanks for this, Paul. Yes, I have a friend and Elmer (Woody, K7CQX) who still loves his AM and will often join others on "today's AM." I'm not sure if he's using vintage equipment, but he's had so much fun with the mode. I prefer a smaller signal myself! Dave, W7DGJ

 

Did you find it hard to separate the use of AM from "vintage" gear?

Or was it an oversight not to have included it in your writing?