| Operation and Construction in the early Sixties |
In the 'sixties and 'seventies, Radio Amateurs spent their spare time visiting the
second hand shops and Army and Navy stores purchasing old equipment.
The shops in the Manchester area included 'The Glue Pot' on Chester Road,
Hulme; The Shudehill Supply Company; Globe Radio and a shop in Swan Street.
Later, other shops opened such as 'Fred's - G3MAX' on Great Ancoats Street, and 'Ted's - New Cross Supplies' at Newcross just around the corner.
The photograph above is that of 'The QRA' - later to become QRA Electronics.At shops like this, old Radio Receivers could be purchased at very low cost.
These old Receivers contained Mains Transformers and large Variable
Capacitors, which were necessary to build Transmitters and Receivers.
In those days, only rich people could afford to purchase commercial equipment. The majority of Radio Amateurs constructed and designed their own equipment. That is what Amateur Radio was all about - and for many
- still is!
John's first Receiver - the Marconi M361.
When John became interested in Amateur Radio (whilst still at school), he used a Marconi Model M361 Marine receiver. This had been previously used on a "deep sea trawler".
It is of interest because it used a 2 Volt Accumulator (to heat the directly heated valves), a
grid bias battery, and an ht battery. It worked well on Top Band (160M) and eighty metres.The unit to the right is John's first home constructed Transmitter, Morse Code only, operating Xtal Control using a 6V6 output valve.
Home Constructed Transmitter with Command Receiver (top).
The photograph above shows John's Radio Station when in lodgings at Stretford
in 1959. The Command Receiver was modified so as to work on Top Band
(1·8 - 2·0MHz), and the Transmitter ran 10 watts using a TT11 Power Amplifier
valve, and the Modulator (Left hand compartment of Transmitter) used an EL84
valve.
The Antenna was a long wire fixed to a neighbours roof at the rear of the house.
 |
| In the early 'sixties, John moved lodgings again and purchased an old
Eddystone Receiver. The photograph
above shows this receiver with another 'Home built' Transmitter which operated on both Top band and Eighty Metres. |
| Soon after moving to these new lodgings, John decided to purchase his
first commercial Receiver. A very
bad decision! It was a TRIO JR101. Let this be a warning to anyone out there browsing my web pages and being offered one cheap. To cut a long story short, John did many modifications in order to stabilize the oscillator, but it was always poor and very frustrating when trying to read single sideband. In the end, John sold it cheap and purchased a TRIO JR310 Communications Receiver which was excellent. After converting the JR310 for Top Band operation, John was successful in working the USA and Canada on Top Band. |
| With reference to the photograph above, John decided to improve his
Radio Station so that it could be used
at his bedside. (Some of his friends may remember the days of the 'Bed-time Club'). His landlady was very tolerant, and he could operate duplex throughout the night (at weekends) - under the bedclothes. In order to improve the station, John built a KW Valiant Transmitter
from a Kit, and designed a bedside unit
|
 |
| Trio JR101 Receiver (Top), KW Valiant Transmitter (Centre), Power Supplies (Below) |
Now what about the MOBILE and Portable Equipment?
A later version of John's Mobile Equipment can be seen elsewhere on this website.
The Antenna
on the left is for
Top Band, and is
Mounted on the
front off-side
wing of the vehicle.
It is base-loaded.
The Antenna
on the right is
also for TOP
Band, and is
Centre loaded.
When working Portable, John used a home constructed Box Kite for Top Band
and a 4 Element Beam Antenna for 70MHz (4 Metres).
This Beam Antenna was not used when the vehicle was moving - only stationary.
All the above information was relevant to John's
Apprenticeship years whilst living in lodgings in
Stretford, Manchester.
| Equipment designed and constructed after 1965 |
Home constructed Steel Tower
Mounted on ground and fixed to wall.
The G3NGD Linear Amplifier 400 watts PEP
operating on 3·5MHz - 30MHz bands inclusive
Output valves were: 3 x PL519's in parallel.
