"1963 QRP DX-PEDITION to Sierras"

OK...A family Camping & Fishing Trip with Mom, Dad, and Brother Tim

Summer 1963, Greg, Mom, Dad and brother Tim are camped at the edge of the North Fork of the Sanislaus River. Greg's favorite Fishing Place is nearby. Northern California's Stanislaus National Forest is 50 miles East of Sonora, at 5500' elevation and a hours from home in Marin County.

The dawn breaks, the campfire is already going to warm the morning chill. All Greg can think of is his radio equipment packed in the back of the Station Wagon. He steals away to the tailgate, and unpacks the gear and sets up station next to the tree that holds the end of his longwire antenna in it's lower branches. His thoughts are of the 40 meter CW stations in Japan that he hopes to reach, just like at home in the morning before High School. All is ready, and the power plug is inserted into the cigarette lighter. A low whirl is now a higher pitched whine, the WW2 Dynamotor is running from the battery. The tubes in the converted WW2 Command Set Receiver are warming in the cold air. The Brandes Superior headphones are hearing the faint whine of the dynamotor and as the volume is increased, the musical tones of CW stations fill his head.

A familiar "fist" is calling CQ from Tokyo, Greg returns the call pounding on his WW2 Navy handkey in hope of a reply. Greg gazes at the black metal tube that he chose to send his crystal controlled signal into the ether and wonders if it is working. He looks at the carefullly wound plug-in coil, ceramic crystal socket, plate tuning knob, and the jeweled pilot light remembering how he planned, and built this low power radio transmitter a few weeks before. He sends the familiar "K", and smiles as he hears his call coming back to him from an ocean away. The WW2 receiver's antenna trimmer is adjusted in hope of a little more signal, but 469 never sounded so good!

The historic QSO is short, Greg knows that if the Station Wagon does not start right-up, his radio days are numbered at camp. The power cord is removed, the familiar whine of the dynamotor slows to a lower tone, and then stops. The contact is carefully logged, and plenty of space is left on the page.

P.S.- In August of 1996, Greg and his XYL fished the same favorite place, and afterwards, Greg set up his radio station again. This time a Direct Converson transistor/IC reciever, and 2 watt transmitter powered from an alkaline battery. The same tree held the carefully cut dipole. It was afternoon, and instead of DX, it was Utah. I still sounded pretty good that evening, at 469.

EQUIPMENT-1963 Station

• RX-WW2 ARC-5 Aircraft Receiver (Command Set) 6 Tubes- Conversion: Filiaments to 12 volt configuration, Addition of BFO Switch, an audio gain control, 1/4" headphone jack, and a tuning knob. The informatin was from a Surplus Conversion Manual.
• TX-Homebrew CW Transmitter (From Old ARRL Handbook) 1 tube-6AG7: Ceramic Xtal Socket w/FT-243 crystals, Plug-in coil for 40 meters and a 1/4" key jack. A grometed power cable left the clean aluminum chassis to the power source at the back of the RX.
• PS-WW2 Dynamotor (12motor turns 220VDC @.08A generator)- It was mounted on a new chassis, with a choke and filter capacitors to smooth out the dyanamotor's whine, with a fuse holder and terminals to connect the power cord to. 10' of red and blue wire connected to a cigarette lighter plug brought power to the unit.
• ANTENNA- A longwire, 250' of surplus #20 hook-up wire. Tossed in the lower branches of nearby trees. A homebrew tuner with parts from a TCS WW2 transmitter (Roller Coil, Capacitor,etc) that coupled the TX to the Antenna.
• ACCESSORIES- The Headphones, a pair of Brandes "Superior" head phones from the late 20s. The KEY, a WW2 Navy flameproof key, with a "Navy Knob" on a piece of pine board. (Used same key with modern QRP set on 96 DX-Pedition.
• POWER SOURCE: 1958 Ford Station Wagon

Recent QRP DX-Peditions...KL7, VE7, and W6. A new and improved one tube transmitter is being built, now if I can just find that dynamotor...