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KB2VXA > SATTV 28.07.13 12:34l 75 Lines 4370 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 41765_VK6ZRT
Read: GUEST
Subj: Re: G0TEZ > Lying or igrent?
Path: IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<VE3UIL<VK6ZRT
Sent: 130728/1130Z @:VK6ZRT.#BUN.#WA.AUS.OC #:41765 [Boyanup] $:41765_VK6ZRT
From: KB2VXA@VK6ZRT.#BUN.#WA.AUS.OC
To : SATTV@WW
Hi Ian and all,
In case you're wondering (probably not) I've deliberately misspelled ignorant
because I knew a girl in school who pretty much spoke her own language.
Eh, in the UK radios and TVs are supposed to be licensed and ham radio is so
where's the exception? (;->) I can't see why people object so much, pay the
BBC directly for operating costs and no commercials, but maybe that has
changed. I have that feeling because Dr. Who's format changed so when I hear
the theme and see the flying TARDIS I know commercials are coming. I don't
think they have a special format for BBCA. (;->) I see the joke, last I heard
Ofcom has two working bootleg TV tracer vans, the rest are dummies.
Your pirate transmitter was like my first, a 2N107 transistor at 18V running
hot modulated by a small valve amp. The collector was coupled to a long wire
antenna through a .01uF capacitor, no output tank and it drifted a bit but no
matter, it only went a couple of blocks. Next step was home brew valves and
like yours tuning was accomplished by observing the anode glow. The good part
was the trusty 807 had an octal based equivelent, the 6BG6 commonly used as a
horizontal sweep output in TVs, only cost a couple of bux so it didn't matter
having to be replaced once a week. Then there was the mod transformer, a
vertical output scrounged from junk chassis, water cooled. Yeah, it sat
sizzling in a pan of water, was replaced when it shorted out about every
month. From there it grew into a modular monster, modified ham transmitters
and other stuff easily bugged out and reassembled elsewhere ahead of a raid.
That approach worked well for 6 years and then the axe fell, long story but
funny, and reserved, available on request since this is getting long.
What's the North Swa? (;->) Yeah, those guys really did something, like
ripping the engines out to make room for Diesel generators, a 10KW
transmitter in a ship's hold is a hungry beast, especially in the days of
fire bottles. Out your way they had the RA hopping and this side the FCC
flummoxed until the gubmint liers/lawyers found a fairly unknown clause in
international maritime law and the 3 mile limit was a limit no more.
FM isn't as hard as it seems, there's plenty of easily modifiable
transmitters out there. My WUMS AM had a sister, WBC FM and they had an
ingenious transmitter, a Heathkit VF-1 VFO with a varicap modulator diode
feeding a transmitter strip from an old valve type VHF transciever, home brew
power supply. The antenna was an FM turnstile, a common omnidirectional
receiving antenna fed through 75 ohm coax and a balun, the output tank easily
matched 75 ohms keeping the 2E26 happy. Their 20W covered a fair sized area,
licensed LPFM stations commonly use a 10W exciter into a single bay antenna
and do very well. They were mono BTW but stereo was easier than we knew at
the time, feed the modulator with the composite output of a test set. Oh,
hams will tell you the VF-1 drifts all over the place but that's because of
heating and cooling in ICAS mode, in CCS, that is constantly operating and
never shut off it becomes rock steady after a while.
Yeah, there is a certain sense of accomplishment that comes from building
from the chassis up that just doesn't happen when you buy a ready made unit.
BTW I was in the process of building a 50W FM exciter out of an old Globe HF
transmitter and collecting parts for a KW final straight out of the ARRL
Radio Amateur's Handbook when the FCC came knocking. I can imagine the range
with a couple of push-pull 4X500As and a few bits of copper pipe driven by a
high voltage supply made out of an RF welder... MUAHAHAHAAAaaaaaa.............
Ah, those days are behind me as are my mad CB daze, I probably broke every
law in the book but I didn't have a license to protect, now I do. It seems a
queer paradox that I discourage illegal stuff these days but for good reason,
many would be pirates don't have a good enough background in radio
electronics to put a clean signal on an unoccupied spot on the dial AND
finding one is near impossible now. Ah but I was so much older then, I'm
younger than that now.
73 de Warren
Station powered by JCP&L atomic energy, operator powered by natural gas.
Message timed by NIST: 11:16 on 2013-Jul-28 GMT
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