At the Breezeshooters Hamfest in Butler, PA, I setup a 1930s style station for an on-air demonstration.  We made a few contacts on 40M CW, as far as NC.  The transmitter was only producing about 30W output (work in progress).  There were also some issues with the receiver which were brought on by the trip to the Hamfest.  It was “rattled” out of alignment, causing one of the IF tubes to oscillate (manifesting as a loud squealing when the gain control was high enough) and developed an intermittent “raspiness” (later found to be a bad BFO tube).  Overall, it was a fun time and nice to see old friends and meet many new friends.

On-air Reception Test. COMPLETE.

---

After about three-weeks of construction, the time had finally arrived to test the 1934 QST De Luxe Superhet Receiver on the air!  With power supplied, tubes lit, dial indicator lamps lit, and coils installed, I plugged in the louspeaker and connected the antenna lead (active vertical in backyard) and began tuning around the 160M band to find that “first” on-air signal…Continue reading …..

Wiring, Smoke Test, Alignment

The construction process continued with wiring the underside of the chassis.  I acquired NOS lacquered, cloth covered wire in several different gauges.  All components (carbon comp. resistors, caps, etc.) are NOS, mostly 50/60s vintage.  Wide, waxed covered, white dental floss was used for lacing the wire bundles where needed.  In commercial gear with wire harnesses, lacing was generally done first, then the harness installed.  For this one-off homebew project, I just laced the wire bundles in-place after installation.Continue reading …..