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Vintage radio gear? What does vintage even mean?
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CJ Robinson, K0CJ, is posing with a Collins station in this old photo of the W0ZSW station when it was still located at Courage Center. CJ was one of our long time volunteers at the Handiham repair shop. I said hi to him this morning via Echolink. It is an example of old tech vs. new tech. How times have changed!
Yesterday I talked with a fellow who is interested in getting old equipment on
the air. I chalk this up to a complex mixture of nostalgia, the fun of
doing restoration work on old radio equipment, the fellowship offered by
participation in on-the-air groups of operators who share your passion for
vintage radios, and the good feeling one gets from tackling a challenge and
meeting it head on. These days, using old tube gear seldom is a choice made
simply to save money. I guess we'll let the vintage radio enthusiasts
define what is "vintage", since we are not experts!
Thinking it through:
I have to admit that I like the idea of vintage gear and vintage operating, but
I know myself well enough to realize that I don't have enough time and space to
put into that facet of Amateur Radio. To do it right, I would have to
reconfigure my ham shack - as you might expect, since the vintage gear tends to
be big and needs adequate ventilation and uses more power. My ham shack is
sandwiched between the basement stairs and the utility room wall, so it can't be
expanded. That would mean tearing everything out and building tiered
shelves while still trying to keep everything in reach. Furthermore, I'm
already pretty well maxed out on AC circuits. To do it right, I'd need to
run another 15 amp circuit, and that would mean contacting an electrician.
You don't plug this power-hungry vacuum tube stuff into some cheesy power strip!
This is starting to look like a real project!
Hey, there's more!
But wait, folks - that's only part of what you have to do when you embrace
vintage gear. The ham shack is the place where the old gear shines - it's
on display and that's where you will put it on the air. But what about
making it ready after you first bring it home from the hamfest? You will
need a serious workbench to go through the old gear. It will need adequate
power, good lighting, and several essential test instruments and tools. A
good multimeter, an oscilloscope, a dummy antenna load, plenty of hand tools
like screwdrivers, nut drivers, wrenches, pliers, a soldering station, and an
isolation transformer are all going to come in handy. These radios are
big, and they have vacuum tubes. They require high voltages from their power
supplies, along with several other voltages. There will be lethal voltages
present when the radio is powered up, and large capacitors in the power supply
can store high voltages even when the radio and power supply are turned off and
unplugged. You have to know what you are doing when you work on this old
gear! There can be dangerous voltages where you don't expect them,
including on the chassis and metal cabinet, due to faults in the circuit. An
isolation transformer can help, but you have to learn a whole new set of safety
procedures to avoid getting a shock. Even those of us who grew up with
this old gear cannot afford to be complacent around it. After all, we are
used to working with 12 VDC power these days, and remembering everything about
vintage gear with its hundreds of volts on vacuum tube plates is not always
easy! Things like discharging electrolytic capacitors in the power supply
and assuming that you could get a shock by touching the radio's metal cabinet
are not things that we think about quite so much with newer gear, but they are
vital to keep in mind when working with vintage equipment. You also have
to be careful when handling the old gear, just because of its bulk and mass.
Heavy radios may even call for a two man lift. Seriously, you can injure
your back while trying to heft some of the old stuff!
The payoff:
We now know that we need well-equipped shop space and a reconfigured ham shack.
If you are still eager to "go vintage" at this point, I think you might be a
true vintage radio enthusiast. The rewards are there for you: The
fun of finding and restoring a vintage treasure, the excitement of giving it a
place of honor in your ham shack, and the satisfaction of actually using it on
the air.
Pictured: Avery, K0HLA, posed with the complete Collins station at the old
Handiham office in Courage Center.
(For Handiham World, this is Pat Tice, WA0TDA.)
