# Amateur Radio



## retro (Dec 13, 2012)

Hi folks,

Well this is the Hobbies section, and I suppose making radios is a craft - so I thought you might like to see a radio I've re-built 

It's heart is a 50 year old valve receiver by Lafayette and supplied by Trio.

It's a 9 valve MW and SW receiver, with CW/SSB AM capabilities, Q-multiplier, and Bandspread tuning.

I bought it originally for £5 off Ebay.  It was in a terrrible rusty state, filthy inside, and the smoothing capacitor had blown. 

You can't buy twin capacitor smoothing filters anymore - so I undid the aluminium case, emptied out the fried contents and resealed it empty.  Then I purchased a couple of 650v electrolytics from Maplin, and soldered them to the old capacitor tags - works wonderfully.

I've re-wired it and fitted new valves.  Re-aligned, it is now an excellent receiver.  All the knobs are off an old transceiver, and look pretty good I reckon.

The wooden case I made myself from an old bookcase.  Just polished it with teak oil, and it looks quite classy compared to the metal box it was in originally ..

So it's sitting in my lounge now, and I can listen to shortwave stations without all the digital buttons, scanners and memories you get on modern sets.

Good for another 50 years I reckon ..


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## Mr. H. (Dec 13, 2012)

Damn cool. 

I built a Heathkit short wave back in high school. Took me months. 
Sure wish I still had it.


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## retro (Dec 13, 2012)

Mr. H. said:


> Damn cool.
> 
> I built a Heathkit short wave back in high school. Took me months.
> Sure wish I still had it.



I remember Heathkit - they made great kits 

I wonder what happened to them ?


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## Mr. H. (Dec 13, 2012)

_The company, then known as Heathkit Educational Systems, announced in 2011 that they were reentering the kit business after a 20 year hiatus. The company filed for bankruptcy and ceased all operations in 2012._

Heathkit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Man, that was a short walk in the park LOL.


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## retro (Dec 13, 2012)

That's a shame ..


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## Mr. H. (Dec 13, 2012)

Yeah. Myself and two buddies built the same shortwave kit about the same time. 
A friend sent them to an electrician to test them, and said mine was the best job. 

Wish I still had those QSL cards. I think that's what they were called.


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## Caroljo (Dec 13, 2012)

You can still get some on ebay!


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## Caroljo (Dec 13, 2012)

My dad built a few of these...he used to be the president of the Amateur radio assoc in our county.  Him and my mom were really into these for a long time!  It was fun when i was little listening to them talk to people on it.  Still remember my dad's call number (or whatever you call it)...WB8IBB.


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## RosieS (Dec 13, 2012)

Nice. Looks grand! Have you tried it on SSB? There are now also computer programs that will send out what you type as CW...but you need a TNC for that. There are loads of TNC kits to make.

Hubs and I are Extra Class Hams.

Regards from Rosie


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## retro (Dec 13, 2012)

Caroljo said:


> My dad built a few of these...he used to be the president of the Amateur radio assoc in our county.  Him and my mom were really into these for a long time!  It was fun when i was little listening to them talk to people on it.  Still remember my dad's call number (or whatever you call it)...WB8IBB.



Hello Caroljo .. 

Yes, it's an interesting hobby.  From your dad's callsign, I would place his station approximately in the Michegan/Ohio area - about 3,800 miles from me ..


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## retro (Dec 13, 2012)

RosieS said:


> Nice. Looks grand! Have you tried it on SSB? There are now also computer programs that will send out what you type as CW...but you need a TNC for that. There are loads of TNC kits to make.
> 
> Hubs and I are Extra Class Hams.
> 
> Regards from Rosie



Hi RosieS, 

Yes, I've listened to SSB on it - but it's a very old piece of equipment and not too stable 

My main rig is a Trio TS-830S, with two lovely 6146's for a smooth 100 watts output.

I have worked stations in the US both on that rig, and on a much smaller 1 watt rig.
It's amazing how far 1 watt travels .. 

I'm a G4 (better not give the whole callsign) 

I'm not very good at morse - I can send OK at slowish speed, but receiving is harder.

Nowadays, I spend more time working on old radios - my old eyes can see what's going on round tubes, but the modern stuff I need a magnifier .. 

I'll have to look into a TNC kit - sounds interesting.


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## Pogo (Jan 6, 2013)

retro said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> Well this is the Hobbies section, and I suppose making radios is a craft - so I thought you might like to see a radio I've re-built
> 
> ...




She. Is. A. Beauty!  Very nice OM.

Ah, Heathkits.  I built a GR-81 when I was about 14...





- and that's where I started.  The old regeneration pot!  To this day when I think of SW broadcast bands I picture them in my head by where they sat on this green dial.  And _somewhere _(but where?) I have a collection of QSL cards from the mid-1960s -- a lot from Eastern Europe-- that I logged with the GR-81.

I got my ham license around the same time but didn't follow up after Novice.  Too much puberty to go through maybe?  But now that I'm in the woods and semi-retired I'm thinking about going back in.  

I also had a Lafayette receiver after the GR-81 but not nearly like yours.  Today my main rig is a Yaesu FRG-100 (eBay) with a Sangean ATS-909 on the side for portable use.  Also have a Panasonic RF-2200 for DXing MW but it needs cleaning up.

A few years ago there used to be a wonderful radio museum on the north coast highway in Nova Scotia, around Tatamagouche.  Just a sign by the road reading "radio museum".  I was lucky enough to see it before the old man apparently passed away-- this was I think 2005 and he was very very old-- you went through his barn which was festooned with license plates from every conceivable area in the Americas, then upstairs was an entire large room, stacked floor to ceiling with virtually every radio you ever heard of.  Sure enough, he had the GR-81 there too.  But the next time I went through Nova Scotia the sign was gone 

Enjoy the Lafayette (what's the model #?) --- 73s


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## Caroljo (Jan 6, 2013)

retro said:


> Caroljo said:
> 
> 
> > My dad built a few of these...he used to be the president of the Amateur radio assoc in our county.  Him and my mom were really into these for a long time!  It was fun when i was little listening to them talk to people on it.  Still remember my dad's call number (or whatever you call it)...WB8IBB.
> ...



Yup....we live in SW Michigan, between Grand Rapids & Kalamazoo!


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## tinydancer (Jan 6, 2013)

are you actually able to hear each other?


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## tinydancer (Jan 6, 2013)

This is so amazing. I guess I should "get over it" but I can't some times.


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## retro (Jan 6, 2013)

tinydancer said:


> are you actually able to hear each other?



Hello TinyDancer .. 

Yep, if have have what's called a transmitter/receiver with a decent antenna, you can talk with radio amateurs all over the World.

The radio I posted above is just a receiver - so it can't transmit.

My main transmitter is a Trio TS830 (picture attached) along with my aerial tuner unit.

Pogo, the receiver model is a Lafayette HE-30 

Best wishes,

Graham


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## Pogo (Jan 6, 2013)

retro said:


> tinydancer said:
> 
> 
> > are you actually able to hear each other?
> ...




Say, that's a colourful shack too.  You have outstanding taste.


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