Going back in time…

It is no secret that I have a love for CW and use it regularly on the air. Back in February I went to Orlando Hamcation and while there I bought a little 40 meter monoband QRP radio that was built by silent key. W9SR most likely built this radio in the 1970s from the looks of the design. From the project box, to the 10 turn potentiometer for a “VFO” of sorts, this thing just oozes “vintage” radio…

Fast forward a couple of months and I am finally caught up enough at work to be able to goto a park in the early part of the day and work some 40 meter POTA! I have tested the radio on the bench at home to confirm it does, in fact, transmit and receive by making some contacts with it on the air. Armed with this knowledge, I packed it up along with my Ten Tec Argonaut 5 and headed to a park.

Today saw me at US-2169 (Cloudland Canyon State Park) in Georgia as it is close to home and I know the park staff well having activated it over 150 times already to date. I went to my usual haunt expecting to find a bunch of people playing frisbee golf, but it was abandoned for some reason. I had the place to myself!

So I didn’t want to fool around with the long wire antenna today and instead opted for the 40 meter hamstick. I figured, why not, I am already limiting myself on transmitter power to something like 3 or 4 watts, let’s use a compromise antenna too! So with my little hamstick and a few watts of transmit power, I set out to make some contacts… Right after I set out a huge field of radials to get he stupid hamstick to tune good enough to use it!!! Seems 40 meters needs a good ground plane to work from and I ended up stringing out all my radials to get a decent ground plane for this antenna.

I was going to operate outside too, but it was just too windy today, and I ended up inside the truck again to shelter myself from the cold wind this morning. This is ok though as I can hear better and I didn’t need a battery as I just plugged into the truck instead. Having a power pole “drop cord” wired inside the truck was one of the best ideas I have had so far, it has made activating parks in the winter so much easier and it was such a simple thing to do.

Here you can see the legend sheet that goes with the radio I used today as it has no digital display or even a scale that is a direct representation of the band I am on. It has this cross reference chart and you use that to get close to the frequency. It is a cool idea and really does work well. Also of note is that I have an antenna tuner also today, this is to help with the antenna a little as even though it was resonant on 40 meters, it was still capacitive and needed some inductance to balance it out on the smith chart. I simply didi’t want to risk damage to the radio from a mismatched antenna on the first outing.

Using vintage radios for CW or Morse code contacts can be a delightful experience for many amateur radio operators. The tactile feedback of using a memory keyer and paddle key with older equipment adds an extra layer of engagement to the communication process. There is a certain charm in the simplicity and elegance of operating vintage radios, where each dial and knob feels like a connection to radio operators of the past. While modern amateur radio equipment offers advanced features and convenience, the nostalgic appeal of vintage radios creates a unique and enjoyable operating experience for those who appreciate the art of Morse code communication.

Once I set it all up, I made 13 contacts over about an hour in the mid day with 3.5 watts. I consider this phenomenal since I was doing this with a hamstick antenna as well. I can not believe how well these little radios work at times and look forward to using this particular radio again in the near future. Until then, get your radio out and put it on the air!