A little
information about me...
I have been licensed for over 25 years. My first
station was a homebrew single tube, crystal controlled 40-meter CW transmitter
paired with a Heathkit HR-10B receiver. The transmitter chirped, and the
receiver was terrible unless you were in QSO with the loudest station on the
band. I progressed to a Swan 350, then several Yaesu HF transceivers, a
Kenwood TS-520S, and have finally settled with the present collection.
Most of this site is devoted to the R-390A
receiver. The R-390A receiver was designed by Collins and built by Collins
and many others. It is certainly one of the most well designed receivers
ever built, and it is a joy to restore these fine radios.
More details...
I started out in Ham radio at age 16 with a Heathkit
HR-10B receiver and a homebrew single tube, crystal controlled transmitter for
40 meters only. A ham from the local area helped me as a scouting project for
the "radio" merit badge. I played around with CBs for a while, but
stuck with ham radio. I especially like CW, and listen a lot more than I
transmit. My first call sign was WD4PNI as a Novice. When I upgraded to General,
I was KB4JUL for a few years. After moving to Savannah, Georgia, I earned my
Extra class license and took the callsign KK4DF. After my novice gear, I have
owned a Swan 350C, a Yaesu FT-757 GX, and Yaesu FT-757 GX II, a Henry 2K classic
amplifier, a Collins S-line, a Yaesu FT-890 AT, and a Kenwood TS-520S.
I have recently fallen in love with the sound of AM, now
that I have a few "real radios" with which to listen to AM. I have
converted my station to all vintage gear, which now includes the Johnson Ranger
AM transmitter paired with a Thunderbolt amplifier, a Collins R-390 receiver,
and Collins KWM-2A. I have a rapidly growing collection of R-390As, as
these are so much fun to work with and are so better in both DXing situations
and in today's crowded band conditions than the sand-state gear I used for many
years. I feel a lot like the prodigal son, in that I had strayed away for
those years, but I have now found my way home.
The rewards of this hobby are immense, especially when
you find a bunch of old timers who are reminiscing about days gone by. My
family doesn't really understand my fascination with old radios, but perhaps as
the kids get older, they will. My son of course takes in interest in
anything that his Daddy does, and he sometimes helps me work on them. He
loves to run the TV-7 tube tester, and he's getting pretty good at it.
I listen a lot on 3885 (AM, of course), and sometimes
down on 1885. If the ham
bands are quiet, I sometimes listen to oldies on 1530, WSAI in Cincinnati.
I make an annual trip to Dayton with some ham buddies
from my high school years, and we keep at "sked" every Saturday
morning. I really look forward to the Dayton trips each year, wondering
what old boatanchors are going to show up. I seem to always take a few
home with me. If you see a couple of "young" guys walking around
the boneyard drooling over some of the old gear, stop and say hello. Our
Dayton boneyard spot last year was 323-324, and I expect to be in the same
location in years to come. Stop by and say hello.
Last edited: 01/07/2003
