Old Radios (Sort of...?)

[kb2vxa]

That's where the 20V on the right came from, the 20V2 on the left came from WOON in Woonsocket RI, both are on 160M. I personally don't know anything about the backup but it was a long time coming. That 20V2 was quite a project disassembling and hauling down to West Creek in a trailer, they don't call it Heavy Metal for nothing!

I used to listen to WDHA when I lived within range and not listening to WNEW-FM. Drexel Hill Associates were pioneers, I met the bigwigs at a hi-fi exposition back in the 60s where they introduced me to the Sony SQ system and it wasn't long before DHA was the first and only quadraphonic broadcaster in the New York market. There were a few others around the country but short lived, the Who's Quadraphenia album was one of very few, quad never did catch on. I had a quad system and it told me why, ain't nuthin special.

 

[AirScan1]

I think that is cb jogging for helicopter, trucker talk

 

[AC2OY]

As long as the mods don't mind the topic(s) drifting a bit, good luck with the amp, sounds like a plan.

MIT is a wonderful place with such diversity, I wonder if the robotics guys still have the competition I so loved to follow. They come up with the weirdest ideas but weirdness is thinking outside the box and key to development. I used to follow developments on their technical website open to the public, DARPA and others but post 9-11 Homeland Security with their terrorist paranoia put the kibosh on them.

"And by the way I have one of those fancy degrees from a fancy engineering school in Cambridge, MA."

Then you should appreciate the lettered humor I picked up at NCE, now NJIT in beautiful downtown Newark, NJ. I say that with a silly grin, the main parking lot was in the shadow of Central HS on High Street where the kids would toss junk at us out the windows. Thankfully the school no longer stands so today's students don't suffer the indignity.

Along the lines of graduate letters the one I find most amusing is PE, Practicing Engineer. If you want to see how it can be misused with a hysterically funny twist check this out but before clicking on the link put on a girdle or you'll bust a gut and keep a barf bag handy just in case.
http://www.k1man.com/physics.pdf

Wow that's sad....I knew a few people who went there actually I think my neighbor graduated from NJIT. As far as the people who threw stuff at students...well you don't want to know my opinion on that one. One thing I have always pride myself on was I never really tried to judge people.

 

[902]

{(WMTR is) where the 20V on the right came from

Please do say hi to Phil next time you run into him! I'm going to have to start listening to 1885 kHz now that we're cruising toward winter. I used to listen to WA0RCR on 1860 kHz. He was local to me before I moved and was just the station to keep me up to date on happenings in the ham world most Saturday nights. I haven't tried from where I am now. I've got real neighbors now, and the consumer junk they run gives me a very high noise level, even up into 440.

I used to listen to WDHA when I lived within range and not listening to WNEW-FM.

Oh! DHA has been one of my favorite stations, even now. I loved the open houses they had going back to the 70s when they were in the house on Rt. 10 in Randolph. I used to hang with a Seton Hall graduate ham buddy who went to school with and was at WSOU with most of the on-air people from that time.

Drexel Hill Associates were pioneers, I met the bigwigs at a hi-fi exposition back in the 60s where they introduced me to the Sony SQ system and it wasn't long before DHA was the first and only quadraphonic broadcaster in the New York market. There were a few others around the country but short lived, the Who's Quadraphenia album was one of very few, quad never did catch on. I had a quad system and it told me why, ain't nuthin special.

I find myself taking advantage of technology "teachable moments" with my kids, but first, I have to explain the concept of a Rock Opera (and with what passes for music today, I have to first explain what "rock" music was and tell them that singers didn't pretend to sing and get corrected in post-processing back in the day), so it gets pretty involved. I could never afford a good stereo system and was just old enough to be on the tail end of high-end component systems. One of my friends was an audio nut who traded me a Drake UV3 for a Denon turntable (I had to buy it for him to make the swap). And so that went. My foray into craptastic technology was "BT Vision" coming to me from W2HWJ's tower on Eagle Rock Avenue.

 

[kb2vxa]

Not likely I'll run into Phil anytime soon since we both moved, he west and I north. You can do that yourself, his contact info is on the main page of his website: K2PG: Vintage AM Radio and Other Delights Each of his transmitters is crapsalized for 2 frequencies but I don't know the nature of his "STL" to the West Creek station so it might be something other than his favorite 1885 you catch him on. You can arrange a sked via e-mail, likely you'll hear the Collins Monster from PA since his NJ location took a big hit from Sandy.

Ah Satan Hall and WSOU, I never liked that head banger junk they played but I was a listener of WFMU and a frequent visitor to the basement studios in Froburg (sp?) Hall at the now defunct campus and that spooky old house on Dormitory Row where they started out. They stole the ID of my old pirate station, the rats. (;->)

Explain what rock music WAS? This is one of the few times I'm at a loss for words. No problem with Rock Opera, get a DVD of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and tell the kids it's a Rock Opera with pictures. Then you might have a problem with explaining audience participation and what a movie theatre was.

You're not alone, only one in my circle of friends could afford a high end stereo system but the ones we cobbled together were just as good. Used big name components like Sherwood, Scott, Macintosh bristling with tubes made up the electronics and home made speaker systems using plans from Speaker Lab sounded as good as the big boys when stocked with Electrovoice and Alec-Lansing components. BTW that quad system was some middle of the road combo abandoned by a customer of the radio and TV shop I worked for, nothing special but you can't beat free.

"...singers didn't pretend to sing and get corrected in post-processing back in the day),..."
I got a laugh out of that sneaky allusion to the singer (don't remember the name) who got caught with her pants down when on stage the vocal track failed. Actually back in the day of R&R TV shoes like the famous American Bandstand everything was pretend. Check out the videos, no mics and the instrument's weren't plugged in, no amps. Same thing with MTV and music videos IF it has anything to do with the music and it usually doesn't. Then there are the screamers, that little troll from ACDC CAN'T sing and there are others. Post processing in the studio and today there is active processing on stage that can make Satchmo sound like Pavarotti.

"My foray into craptastic technology was "BT Vision" coming to me from W2HWJ's tower on Eagle Rock Avenue."
I'm not sure what you mean by that, I remember WBTB-TV on the mountain (Uncle Floyd) and a ham with a tower farm not far away, his ATV station? I never got into it but I could receive 3 stations using a TV in cable mode on my BMF antenna with rotor. One in Staten Island I never saw in use, another in Greenbrook, NJ the same and one very active one on Tower 2 of the WTC on the same frequency beaming east into Long Island to protect Greenbrook. I had some odd QSOs with those guys, while monitoring the ATV repeater I talked to them on the 2M FM talkaround channel.

There's more to old radio than a Philco cathedral radio, nothing beats the sound of a Scott stereo control center, a couple of 100W Macintosh amps and Altec-Lansing studio monitors. Either way tubes will keep you warm in winter, especially the exhaust of an old Collins.

 

[902]

Not likely I'll run into Phil anytime soon since we both moved, he west and I north. You can do that yourself, his contact info is on the main page of his website: K2PG: Vintage AM Radio and Other Delights Each of his transmitters is crapsalized for 2 frequencies but I don't know the nature of his "STL" to the West Creek station so it might be something other than his favorite 1885 you catch him on. You can arrange a sked via e-mail, likely you'll hear the Collins Monster from PA since his NJ location took a big hit from Sandy.

It would be a shame if these beauties were damaged. I think he has them in PA, which would be good fortune. I can dig out my D104 and fire up my Icom on 160 AM. I have a B&W folded dipole that will go down there (it's a folded loop terminated with a big resistor, so it's a radiating dummy load). But those guys will laugh at me. :lol:

Ah Satan Hall and WSOU, I never liked that head banger junk they played but I was a listener of WFMU and a frequent visitor to the basement studios in Froburg (sp?) Hall at the now defunct campus and that spooky old house on Dormitory Row where they started out. They stole the ID of my old pirate station, the rats. (;->)

I like the "glam band" metal stuff, like Extreme, Poison, Alice Cooper, etc., but then again, I like Lawrence Welk, too. I'm good with most anything except hateful rap and twangy country. I developed a taste for WSOU when a co-worker used to listen to the political shows. It's the antidote.

Explain what rock music WAS? This is one of the few times I'm at a loss for words. No problem with Rock Opera, get a DVD of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and tell the kids it's a Rock Opera with pictures. Then you might have a problem with explaining audience participation and what a movie theatre was.

Explaining what Rock and Roll *was* requires a few road trips to Memphis and Cleveland. The Mrs. and the oldest take care of Rocky Horror. The Mrs. was a cast member back in the day and the oldest is attempting to be one (if she didn't have to drive 140 miles round trip to do it).

You're not alone, only one in my circle of friends could afford a high end stereo system but the ones we cobbled together were just as good. Used big name components like Sherwood, Scott, Macintosh bristling with tubes made up the electronics and home made speaker systems using plans from Speaker Lab sounded as good as the big boys when stocked with Electrovoice and Alec-Lansing components. BTW that quad system was some middle of the road combo abandoned by a customer of the radio and TV shop I worked for, nothing special but you can't beat free.

Beautiful! I wish I could still fish for tube TVs on trash pickup day like I did when I was a kid. There are some really nice audio amps to build. I know of a couple of guitar guys who have a bounty out for any tube amp they can get.

I got a laugh out of that sneaky allusion to the singer (don't remember the name) who got caught with her pants down when on stage the vocal track failed. Actually back in the day of R&R TV shoes like the famous American Bandstand everything was pretend. Check out the videos, no mics and the instrument's weren't plugged in, no amps. Same thing with MTV and music videos IF it has anything to do with the music and it usually doesn't. Then there are the screamers, that little troll from ACDC CAN'T sing and there are others. Post processing in the studio and today there is active processing on stage that can make Satchmo sound like Pavarotti.

I have my favorites. Toni Tennille (cannot believe she's 72), and one of the MTV originals - the Silencers of Pittsburgh (Too Illegal, Remote Control, Peter Gunn Theme), are among them.

"My foray into craptastic technology was "BT Vision" coming to me from W2HWJ's tower on Eagle Rock Avenue."
I'm not sure what you mean by that, I remember WBTB-TV on the mountain (Uncle Floyd) and a ham with a tower farm not far away, his ATV station? I never got into it but I could receive 3 stations using a TV in cable mode on my BMF antenna with rotor. One in Staten Island I never saw in use, another in Greenbrook, NJ the same and one very active one on Tower 2 of the WTC on the same frequency beaming east into Long Island to protect Greenbrook. I had some odd QSOs with those guys, while monitoring the ATV repeater I talked to them on the 2M FM talkaround channel.

W2HWJ was Adam Sadlon. He owned the tower next to the bowling alley on Eagle Rock where Channel 68 was. I used to watch Uncle Floyd back to maybe 1975 or 76. Could never get a good signal even though I was less than 20 miles away. When I finally did go from Novice to General, I got to meet "Philipo Verde" and got to visit the old studio and transmitter site. The house there was rumored to be haunted - story is that someone died in the house, in the room that became the news room upstairs. But BT-Vision was that suppressed sync and audio subcarrier movie system they had. It was Lo-Fi audio and easily unsync'ed video with either a receiver and modulator box, or a $30 pirate kit. My friend down here was a big ATV man. He keeps telling me about the repeater they built back when, and I'm sure he's got one of those Wonderama-style Norelco cameras buried with the rest of the junk in his carport.

There's more to old radio than a Philco cathedral radio, nothing beats the sound of a Scott stereo control center, a couple of 100W Macintosh amps and Altec-Lansing studio monitors. Either way tubes will keep you warm in winter, especially the exhaust of an old Collins.

I miss my Heathkit HR10 receiver and DX-60 transmitter. Then I replaced that with a Hallicrafters HT-32B. My room in NJ had no heat, but after an hour or so, it was nice and toasty in there. When I got to making some contacts, sometimes I had to crack a window open. And, then I got my S-Line. The Mrs. didn't pack my power supply when we first moved from NJ out west and the receiver was damaged (crushed in the truck, breaking the dial assembly). The only thing left is my 32S1. I used to run RTTY with those. My boys have an SX-110 to tune around with. I picked it up with a couple of tubes missing, but was able to find some here and there. Now it works like a champ!

 

[AC2OY]

Wow you guys are bringing back memories!! I remember those stations!! I admit I used to listen to WSOU a lot!! Actually a guy from Belleville,NJ who graduated with my brother,John Nardachone was there when it exploded in the late 80's. I was up at Ramapo College on WRPR ...lol we couldn't get past the mountains!! Maybe 500 watts?! I forget it was like 1989? I always wondered who's tower that was on Eaglerock Ave.if I remember right didn't Montclair State do the hard rock/ heavy metal thing first? I wish I could rag chew with you guys about music now!! I listen to everything and anything...if its good...LOL from Funkadelic to Fishbone,Led Zeppelin to.....wow memories!!!!!

 

[kb2vxa]

That's a nice join-in there Fuzy, as they say another country heard from. WSOU exploded? In what sense? Could it have been Imus' remark about the woman's basketball team being "a bunch of nappy headed hos"? Oh boy did THAT cause an uproar! Heh, I didn't know Ramapo had a radio station, gee, I wonder why. (;->) Along those lines WFMU moved their transmitter site and not only did the signal suffer but they opened a technical can of worms, BIG mistake. BTW my musical taste ranges from Bach to Beatles and everything in between except Chinese Opera, all clanging brass drives me nuts. Funkadelic, play that funky music White boy.

Back to 902:
"It would be a shame if these beauties were damaged."
Very true but considering his NJ location it's not prone to flooding. What is probable is wind damage but considering the placement of the tower and some old cedars not likely any fell on the house. Possibly the beams atop the tower were wrecked and the 160M sloping V gone for sure.

"I think he has them in PA, which would be good fortune."
Not likely or he would have something on his web site about it. Since the tower is a grounded vertical folded unipole for them and it's likely still standing the NJ station should be still viable. Being the station at least was DC to light before he moved he had a Drake TR7 and a Collins S Line station (don't remember the numbers of the transceiver and receiver) with a 30S1 KW amp for HF, a Heathkit SB-110 for 6M and what I don't remember for 2M. What he brought to PA I don't know but he has a 2M vertical atop the tower.

Nobody will laugh at your Icom and folded dummy load but they'll notice a difference in signals. He blankets NA with the 20V and is probably heard a little better in Cuba with the 10KW 21E in the infamous Cottage of Wattage.

You like Lawrence Welk? Anna one anna two... will somebody turn off the bubble machine? Can't say that '30s style music trips my trigger, just trips me. I like the glam stuff too, spooky Alice, David Bowie and a few others somewhere between glam and underground. That's not what I meant about SOU and the head banger music, that offshoot of Heavy Metal gives me a headache which I suppose is why it's called head banger. I lean more toward progressive rock like the older British bands, (Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull, etc.) Mirthrandir and really obscure underground like The Serpent Power. Look them up, they're so far under they're at Earth's core.

The Captain and Tennille, Muskrat Love? (;->) Along those lines there was Hart and the NJ cover band Rhythm of Life that was so good if you closed your eyes you'd swear those were the Wilson sisters on stage. They could do Santana inside out too, when they were in town they'd call me and my friend Dave on stage he playing lead and I doing vocals doing a short set. Not too easy for me remembering the lyrics and daring not to improvise like I butchered them with some friends in our garage band. Wild thing, you make my dingaling ring. You make everything... sticky... wild thing.

Adam wasn't the ham I was thinking of atop a nearby ridge who leased his towers to commercial interests for a tidy little income. I wandered around the channel 68 site but never went in the haunted house. The view from up there is ASTOUNDING, you can see everything from the NY skyline to the Raritan River, just don't get too close to the edge. I don't know if it's actually haunted but it sure looks creepy. Could be past tense, I suspect new digs when Home Shopping Network bought it. OK, now I know what you call BT Vision", I should have connected it with Blonder-Tongue Labs that owned WBTB when after Uncle Floyd they switched to subscription movie service and "scrambled" the signal. Simple to unscramble, H sync was suppressed and using the MTS stereo audio system split the mono and inverted it on one channel. That way a normal mono TV (no stereo at the time) would deliver silent audio as the two stereo channels cancelled. Easy fix, I re-tuned a broadcast stereo adapter from 19 to 15KHz for the sound and used the 15KHz pilot tone to trigger a pulse generator and feed that back to the video IF. That restored the H sync and saved the cost of a pirate chip, junk box parts come in handy.

"I wish I could still fish for tube TVs on trash pickup day like I did when I was a kid."
Years before I worked for the radio and TV shop I scrounged the quad stereo from I scrounged tubes and parts from the junk pile behind it before the junk man took it away. No problem there, the pile was always coming and going. Once I struck gold, a console B&W TV combo with a radio and record player. Hey, this radio has a shortwave band! After a few minutes work it followed me home and found itself connected to a 50' wire strung between trees in the back yard. One fly in the ointment, a pentagrid converter front end with no RF stage isolating the LO from the antenna. At night I had to stay below a certain frequency, above it drove TV channel 2 nuts. Those were the days when CBS was THE network and every TV was glued to it... oh well.
"I know of a couple of guitar guys who have a bounty out for any tube amp they can get."
Even a Fender Champ? Remember John B. Sebastian's Cheapo Cheapo album? (;->)

I don't remember the others very well but the DX-60 sticks in my mind, once upon a time I plinked around on CB with one. Screen modulation is an interesting thing and the 60 could be adjusted for controlled carrier. That's before upward modulation (over modulation) became "swing" and I had the biggest swing since the days of the big bands. It drove them nuts with a down in the mud carrier and S9 audio, technically called suppressed carrier DSB. (;->) Oh, no modifications needed, the 10M position covers 11M with no problem, the trick is in retuning a 40M VFO down to 6MHz and let the multipliers do their thing as they do for 10M.

"I miss my Heathkit HR10 receiver and DX-60 transmitter."
I miss my boat anchors I had to sell when I moved into smaller accommodations and went solid state. What really burned my butt was when I shipped the National Radio NC-303 package UPS crushed it so badly it became un-restorable. Not only did the receiver have a neat AGC modification coming from the Bell Labs ARC but everything was in like new condition, 100% electrical and not a scratch on anything. AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

 

[AC2OY]

I agree Warren...I tend to fancy music with more musicianship lately I buy guitar guy DVD's and watch these guys play like Joe Satraini or Steve Vai in amazement but you can't go wrong with the English bands!!

 

[kb2vxa]

Guitar Guy? He accompanied Jeff Dunham on Jingle Bombs and others until the parting of the ways early this year.

More musicianship? Much of today's pop stuff has NO musicianship due to the lack of musicians. It's synth loops, repetitious and boring sometimes with a vocal track of some unearthly creature. I won't even go into rap crap in its various forms but that BOOM BOOM BOOM does come in handy for testing the structural integrity of a car.

There always was rather little art for art's sake in the industry but today it's more sales driven than ever. Being old school I'm amazed at what kids buy and what passes for music and I wonder if when they get older they'll realize what made them hearing impaired if not completely deaf. Speakers are bad enough but when you can hear ear buds from across the street something's wrong.

This has been a public disservice message from KB2VXA Radio, we now return you to the Old Radio Show already in progress.

 

[AC2OY]

Yeah the music of today stinks...LOL

 

[kb2vxa]

Not as long as there are musicians! Not all play conventional instruments, not even conventional keyboard synths. When you connect them to what amounts to a mainframe computer you can't tell them apart, one musician can sound like a full orchestra.

Case in point; Al Rando W2NCH who lives not far from me and is blind making it even more amazing plays local clubs and demonstrated his "baby in the basement" to me, I was floored by his performance. He has a couple of keyboards connected to what is best described as a collection of boxes with switches, dials and other implements of destruction feeding a couple of Crown amps and speakers. He plays everything from soup to nuts and sounds like everything from a Jazz trio to the Philharmonic.

On the radio side he at least was pre Sandy a 2M FM flamethrower with a 22el H stack atop a 90' tower. Once upon a time at a hamfest in Warminster, PA I was guiding a friend in not all that far away when Al stepped on him like a steamroller. Once I got things straight we QSOed a bit 5&9 both ways, he probably could hear a fly fart on Mars. Another local ham built a 1KW continuous duty Class C amp for him but I didn't hear it on the air, just as well, he'd have to put me off the side of the beam to avoid melting my radio. (;->) I wonder how he made out up there in Manasquan.

 

[902]

(Al Rando W2NCH) plays everything from soup to nuts and sounds like everything from a Jazz trio to the Philharmonic.

Blind people do amazing things. If you never had something, you never miss it. My friend from Seton Hall is blind. He worked in broadcast radio for years and became part owner of an AM station. We met back in the 70s. He was one of the first hams I met when I bought a real FM 2 meter radio. Before that, I tried to varactor modulate a VFO on a Gonset AM radio and was asked by the repeater trustee to never do that again.

I wish I could rag chew with you guys about music now!! I listen to everything and anything...if its good...LOL from Funkadelic to Fishbone,Led Zeppelin to.....wow memories!!!!!

Oh man! We could talk for hours about this on the air. I would love to fire up the station and maybe try 40 or 75 one night!

You like Lawrence Welk? Anna one anna two... will somebody turn off the bubble machine? Can't say that '30s style music trips my trigger, just trips me.

It's okay in small doses, like WNEW and the Milkman's Matinee. I suppose it's like going to the eye doctor. What sounds better? This or that? Lawrence Welk beats out a bunch of stuff that sounds like noise to me, like the stuff with bass that makes walls shake. As far as musical innovation, I was going to say Frank Zappa, playing the bicycle as a musical instrument. Got to find that Heart cover band! I saw them in 1990 at the Meadowlands and Cheap Trick opened for them. Cheap Trick kicked ***, too. My oldest was inspired by Nancy Wilson and wanted a guitar. Now, if only she would pick the thing up and start learning. I might repo the thing for myself, but I had to learn the accordion when I was a kid. Here I was, trying to play Queen while my music teacher wanted me to play Schnitzelbank.

What really burned my butt was when I shipped the National Radio NC-303 package UPS crushed it so badly it became un-restorable.

That's awful. What a sin. But I don't need UPS to destroy my stuff. The young'uns do a good enough job for me. My second oldest is getting better at putting things back together again, though. I might give him the 75S1 and tell him to "fix it!" Let him hunt down parts on eBay or from machine shops. Then all I'd need is a power supply and the universe becomes right again.

 

[kb2vxa]

Yes, blind people do amazing things but I was talking about Al's amazing talent. Not so amazingly he has the house and everything in it so down pat you'd never guess he was blind. Same with a girl I once knew, she had my house to a T after only one visit. One funny thing happened at her house, she had acquired one of those old tube CBs (very SWR tolerant) and in the dining room we were using a metal floor standing lamp for an antenna. Being out of place she walked straight into it, no damage done and we both had a good laugh.

Varactor modulators were common VFO mods for FSK back in the early days of RTTY and Palomar Engineering Group made one as a plug in accessory for the old AM gooney boxes and others. I never modified my Communicator 2 (I collected all 4) but had fun with the SSB ops who never guessed I was transmitting AM. Receive was a bit of a challenge using the spotting as a BFO. You must have done something wrong and had AM with your FM, a rather common problem in the early days. Heh, I was on a repeater with AM a bit off frequency (FM detectors cancel on frequency AM) and it worked only they kept asking what was wrong with my audio. (;->)

Good old WNEW with the Milkman's Matinee, and the Make Believe Ballroom among other classic shows. The theme songs were recorded and published, I'm sure they're in a few old 78 collections. There's an interesting history behind them that takes up too much space here, Google helps. That was my parents' station and it rubbed off on me, I love the classics and big bands can't be beat. Then there were the rock stations, a story in itself but for the late night trip it was WOR for Jean Shepherd (K2ORS SK) and "Long" John Nebel who followed with the precursor to Coast To Coast AM.

Oh no, the inimitable Frank Zappa and the Mothers... we are the other people. (;->) The Rhythm Of Life played the Meadowlands? Wow, they must have made it big especially if Cheap Trick was the opener. Mommy's alright, daddy's alright, they just seem a little weird. Since you HAD to learn the accordion you have your foot in the door for the cordovox. A long time ago I knew a girl who was State Champion, she could PLAY. Then there's Edgar Winter, give Frankenstein a whirl.
"Here I was, trying to play Queen while my music teacher wanted me to play Schnitzelbank."
I can't imagine Queen on accordion, but Animaniacs did a fair job of Schnitzelbank.
Animaniacs - Schnitzelbank - YouTube

Yeah, I can imagine young'uns and their habit of taking things apart. I'd like to be a fly on the wall watching the eldest restoring the 75S1, reminds me of fixing my share of technician unfriendly Collins gear. I think it was a 32V-3 easy enough to diagnose from the top by pulling tubes and taking socket voltage readings, an open screen resistor in an IPA stage. Replacing it was another matter, a nightmare just to get at it. An easy one, an intermittent in a 75A-3 was spotted visually, a lug on a terminal strip wasn't soldered. That 20V transmitter was about the worst, working inside twisted like a pretzel I managed to remove the meter panel and replace the HV voltmeter multiplier and remove the audio deck to fix a noise problem. Phil replaced every resistor and cap in it on the kitchen table (;->) and fixed some "sky wiring" left over by the WMTR CE. Getting it all back together was another nightmare, two weeks work that should have been done in a day. Collins remind me of today's cars, an engineer's dream become a mechanic's nightmare.

I may as well share this with you, one of my inventions Phil never gave me credit for like the TR switching for the 20V and R390 receiver. Once upon a Christmas eve dreary as I pondered weak and weary what to do to replace an antique German glass angel Phil dropped leaving the tree top bare. Suddenly an idea hit me, being an incurable pack rat he still had the 811s we replaced in the 30L1, a filament transformer, socket with hood, and I had some 10ga red and black twin wire left over from installing my 2M mobile rig. I cobbled it all together and used tie wraps to fasten the socket to the tree and VOILE, a Christmas tree suitable for Ham Christmas complete with roast ham and honey glaze, Phil was a beekeeper.

 

[AC2OY]

902 when I get general and a HF rig I will find you!! I saw Queen in 1980 or 81 at Madison Square Garden I will NEVER forget that show they were amazing!! I used to go to a lot of concerts...then I worked for thirteen years an the Meadowlands...LOL So I Got paid to see them!! Chicago and the Beach Boys played three nights worked two then brought all my friends last night...Robert Lamb was so kewl when I told him that I thought he had a most amazing voice!!! I love music!!!! If you MIT or NJIT GUYS can build a time machine I need to go back and see Zeppelin,Doors,Hendrix,Zappa,.....LOL Purple with Coverdale in Japan...I could go on for days here!!! Beatles....Sly and Larry!!! Yarbirds......I havevto admit when I met Robert Plant I froze...then got his Autograph!

 

[kb2vxa]

Working a music venue has its advantages. So does working at one of the busiest international airports, Newark, NJ. A parking lot exit tolls cashier meets the world every day and some of the strangest people on the planet too. That includes celebrities of course like news anchor Tom Brokaw and the odd relative like Brooke Shields' mother. Porn stars like Ron Jeremy and wrestlers like the inimitable Captain Lou Albano who is every bit in person as he was in the ring. Then there are the unrecognizable musicians like the one who surprised me, quite the unexpected. Up rolls this rust bucket primer grey beat to hell Volvo with a long haired creature looking like it just crawled out of a sewer, he paid with a personal check. As I'm doing the required paperwork I looked at the signature, Todd Rundgren. I was in SHOCK! Just for the heck of it I asked "Do they call you Runt?" and he answered "Sometimes." Good for some chuckles and a few minutes of early morning conversation to highlight an otherwise boring night.

BTW David Bowie was right, The Spiders From Mars spot on, if he were any more full of himself he'd explode.

Oh I almost forgot, years earlier working for Ampeg had its advantages too. One day quite unexpectedly the Turtles came by and the rest as they say is history.

 

[AC2OY]

Working a music venue has its advantages. So does working at one of the busiest international airports, Newark, NJ. A parking lot exit tolls cashier meets the world every day and some of the strangest people on the planet too. That includes celebrities of course like news anchor Tom Brokaw and the odd relative like Brooke Shields' mother. Porn stars like Ron Jeremy and wrestlers like the inimitable Captain Lou Albano who is every bit in person as he was in the ring. Then there are the unrecognizable musicians like the one who surprised me, quite the unexpected. Up rolls this rust bucket primer grey beat to hell Volvo with a long haired creature looking like it just crawled out of a sewer, he paid with a personal check. As I'm doing the required paperwork I looked at the signature, Todd Rundgren. I was in SHOCK! Just for the heck of it I asked "Do they call you Runt?" and he answered "Sometimes." Good for some chuckles and a few minutes of early morning conversation to highlight an otherwise boring night.

BTW David Bowie was right, The Spiders From Mars spot on, if he were any more full of himself he'd explode.

Oh I almost forgot, years earlier working for Ampeg had its advantages too. One day quite unexpectedly the Turtles came by and the rest as they say is history.

LOL that's cool!!

 

[kb2vxa]

Cool is but a small sliver of an otherwise work your tush off job punctuated frequently with abusive patrons. I must be a masochist putting up with it for 7 years until Apcoa lost the contract with the Port Authority and the new company's working conditions in themselves looked grim. One advantage though, isolated in a toll booth I had little contact with co-workers and never so much as got a sniffle. Then there was the funny stuff like the funny/odd things scanner thread better in person like the time an extremely obese guy got trapped in a booth toppled by a hurricane. But let's not wander TOO far off topic, wait until I publish my memoirs.

 

[AC2OY]

Cool is but a small sliver of an otherwise work your tush off job punctuated frequently with abusive patrons. I must be a masochist putting up with it for 7 years until Apcoa lost the contract with the Port Authority and the new company's working conditions in themselves looked grim. One advantage though, isolated in a toll booth I had little contact with co-workers and never so much as got a sniffle. Then there was the funny stuff like the funny/odd things scanner thread better in person like the time an extremely obese guy got trapped in a booth toppled by a hurricane. But let's not wander TOO far off topic, wait until I publish my memoirs.

Oh man!!! I used to work full time security in a booth it wasn't so bad.

 

[kb2vxa]

Oh PLEASE don't say it was Whackerhut!