You can find me most mornings on 3546.5 khz. We just happened to have a bag of these XTALS, many years ago. The shop shack is all tube vintage equipment. I love fixing the stuff, Johnson VK2 w/HQ180A, TS520 w/HB 3-500Z, DrakeTwins, TR4CW, Drake 2NT & 2C, Collins 32V3 w/75A4, T368 ison the air. The front bedroom shack is air conditioned. It has a Yaesu FT897 and SB220 amp, FT-901DM. I have them hooked up to the new computer using MixW software and bugs of course. I have a MSEE in Electromagnetics from UT Austin. A member of the STARC Corpus Christi, TX club, FISTS #11301, and ARRL. Also play the piano and accordion. I have had the 1974 British Land Rover, since it was new. It never ceases to be a topic for arag-chew! SKCC 3919 FISTS 11301

E.F. Johnson 122 VFO, Viking II (Estate of Paul K5DKM). I never knew I needed a Viking II, until I owned one. Having the122 VFO external made it more stable. It is rock solid on CW, if you key it with a transistor. Any variation in the contact resistance of the key will cause it to shift frequency.

BELOW:

T368, say 1955, Army AM transmitter. At 700+ pounds it took a hydrolic table to do the extensive work on the decks. Covers 1.5 MHz to 20 Mhz at 500 watts. A R.F. choke across my scope leads and two clip leads, allows me to monitor my modulation. The choke shorts out the A.C. hum in the room.

Back of T368. 4-400 final and 4-125 push-pull modulators. A new 4-400 is present now, with chimney in place, to replace the test victum shown here. Thanks to John KF5GLB, shown in the picture, for his help.

MacKay Marine built in 1945 was used onboard Liberty ships that carried supplies for the Army. With two 813 tubes in the final, it only ran 100 watts on CW.You could close the key as the ship sank. Note, the black rings on top. They were used to lower the transmitter into the radio room through the roof, with a crane. I can not imagine how hot it was in one of those WWII radio rooms. The power supply is missing. I need to scrounge one that is 1KV to 1.5KV at say 500 ma. All the 6V6 tubes are in series with the cathode of the 813's, so everything ran off of one source.

Fifties Collins Station. The 32V3 AM/CW transmitter on the left sat on the floor for years, with a short on the bias supply. I just dreaded diving into all that laced wiring. Itended up taking one day to fix. Just goes to show you. What's easy is hard and What's hard is easy. You just never know. I paid $75 for it at an Auction in Austin, TX back in 1978. The people at the Auction thought I was crazy for paying that much for it. Now what do you think it is worth?

There is a modification tochange the VF1 from cathode to grid-block keying, that is compatible with the Heathkit DX-60. The first time us 13 year old boys built one of these, the Pi-network coil was used as hook-up wire. This picture was taken in November of MMX (2010). I now have a HG-10 VFO.

I think the big red wire needs a fuse in it. The 6DE7 modulator tube shorted out during Straight Key Night, SKN, 2010.

I bought this Yaesu FT-901DM brand new in 1986. I was fooled by an add, showing a Ham carrying it through an Air Port! The 60 Hz transformer in it will handle 120 VAC or 12 VDC. If you end up owning a Hybrid rig such as the TS520 or the FT-101EE, make sure to replace the power supply filter capacitors, otherwise you may loose the transformer, with special windings on it. For me it was a nightmare, but with the help of Joe N5STH, we did the job ourselves. Buy a magnetic wand at the autoparts store. Try electrical tape on the ends of your tools. Most of the time was spent digging out little screws, that lodged them selves inside the circuits. I am still looking for an extender card for the circuit boards inside this radio.

This Drake station is a dream on CW. The Drake twins. In the background you may be able to see the Drake 2NT transmitter and 2C receiver. Most mornings I am on 3546 KHz. The Drake 2NT has a big voice, when I run it into my Home brew 3-500Z amplifier. I run it crystal control. Just to remember what is was like as a Novice, stuck on one frequency.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. 73s Robert K5LYT "The Little Yellow Taxi"

Solon Dunn gave me my Novice test in 1961. When I called him on the phone with the news of my new call sign, the first thing his wife said, was "Little Yellow Taxi". I have used it all my life, and now it is like a second name.