WN5NBJ 1966: My Novice station
consisted of a Heathkit GR-64 receiver (one of the most inadequate
receivers ever designed) with help from a Q multipllier, and a rusty, chirping
Globe Chief 90 CW transmitter feeding a random wire. Most
of the RF stayed in the shack to keep me warm; it is a wonder that I worked
anyone! Also in the lineup, a converted Navy ARC-5 transmitter
that never really worked right on 40 meters. Just for fun, we
did a lot of ragchewing on 2 meter AM with the famous Benton Harbor Lunchbox,
the Heathkit Two'er feeding an 11 element yagi at 40 feet. I think
that was the coolest piece of gear I ever owned! It was the Volkswagen
Beetle of Ham Radio.
Hey, don't laugh at my meager rig; I had to mow lawns and paint houses to
scrape together the dough to buy this stuff, which taught me goal setting
(and that I did not want to make a career of landscaping!).
Photo: Tulsa World, June 25, 1967
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WA5NBJ, age 15, Joint Field Day, 1967
Tulsa Amateur Radio Club, and Electron Benders ARC,
Turkey Mountain, near Tulsa, Oklahoma
WA5NBJ 1967: When I got my
General Class license in 1967, I built a Heathkit SB-100 SSB transciever,
with considerable assembly help from my Dad, who had a lifelong passion for
all things Heathkit. Hell, I am quite sure I caught the radio bug at his
elbow, inhaling rosin vapors from his soldering iron! I'm dedicating
this page to my old man , who would really dig it that I am back on
the Ham Bands!
Special thanks to my 'elmers': Tom Papanno, WA5MAZ, and (SK) Burt Gunn, W5FU
who administered my novice exam at Radio, Inc. in Tulsa Oklahoma.
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