CLASSIC RADIO EXCHANGE NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2009 CX

HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

HIGH SCORES
Rocco, N6KN, inspite of having to cut short his CW participation had the high total score of 360,140 and high SSB score of including a personal best of working 305 QSOs on SSB.
Jim, W8KGI, had the high CW score of 120,835 on 65 QSOs,
Ron, K2RP, had the high AM score: 2,688

OLDEST RIG AWARD
There is a scoring bonus for the oldest transmitter and receiver which is usually taken by Jim W8KGI with his 1933 FB-7 and 1938 NTX-30. This CX Glen, K9STH qualified a 1929 Brent-Daniel transmitter used by the Lighthouse Service (now the Coast Guard) and a combination 1927 Stewart-Warner shortwave converter into a 1924 Crosley Model 51 regenerative broadcast band receiver.
Click here to read about them and see pictures of this unique set up.

OLDEST COMPUTER
While the CX does not normally recognize old ancillary equipment, this case could not be overlooked. One of the original CX cadre over thirty years ago was Al, N5AIT. He has retired and rebuilt his shack after a house fire several years ago so he now has time for CX. Commenting on finding equipment age records, he said: "I think I have it still on a 5" floppy that goes with my old Kaypro machine. I know where the Kaypro is - now have to see if I can find the floppy."

BEST HOMEBREW RIG
Jim, N2EY: Homebrew CW transceiver known as the Southgate Type 7.Click to see Jim's fine homebrew station

KEEP 'EM RUNNING AWARD
John, N2BE, nosed out several other CXers with the following real-time fixes:
-My 1954 Johnson "Adventurer" (teamed up with a 1940 Hallicrafters "SX-24) still continues its "magic.. Despite having only one crystal, that I had to keep slamming down on the desk-top to keep it oscillating"
-In the National NCX-3 I found an "open" tube pin. Yes, the pin looked normal at the socket, top and bottom, but was broken-in-two INSIDE the socket! OH, BROTHER ! A new pin fixed that.
- On Sunday morning, I looked over at the "DX-100", and it had no panel lights. OH, NO !! NOT THE "DX-100"!! OK, maybe a bulb, or bulbs; maybe a poor common-ground connection; maybe ... etc. NOPE ! The 6AU6 VFO tube was dark; all other tubes were lit. The filament circuit had opened up somewhere. Murphy's Law suggests that "somewhere" means the inside of the inaccessible VFO box. OH, BROTHER ! An "outboard" filament transformer, connected directly to the pilot-light circuit, solved the problem;-WHEW !

NOTABLE QUOTATIONS

Marty, AA4RM, described the CW CX as “Wow, horribilis. One thunderstorm storm after another.”

Jim, N2EY, said “It wasn’t all bad. “I only made three QSOs but had a lot of fun.”

Brian K9VKY: "That pitiful performance was done only as a gesture of defiance to some obligations I had to deal with on CX day."
That's showing them, Brian

Describing his SSB experience, Rocco, N6KN, said:"My voice gave out at 0100, and that was it..."
After only 305 QSOs, hard to understand.

Commenting on bringing rigs back to life after his house fire several years ago, Al, N5AIT, said they were not all working yet: "Still have others that need to have the healing hands laid upon them."
His brother, Stu, K8SJ (SK), one of the CX founding fathers, was a minister; maybe that is how he taught Al to fix rigs.

BEST EXCUSES
Rocco N6KN: "Finally went out with the XYL at 2300 to keep the domestic peace, and that as it."
Sounds like Rocco may had his cake and eaten it too - he had 35 QSOs and 31,045 points before going out.

Jim, W8KGI: "About 5:30 I folded the tent and took Kathy to church and then to dinner. We got home about 9:30, and I turned on the HRO-50 and found an S9 thunder-boomer noise level on 80 and no CX signals in evidence. I cranked up my oldest transmitter, the NTX-30, and called CQ CX for a while... "
Maybe there is something in this idea of taking the XYL to dinner - Jim had 65 CW QSOs for 120,853 points.

MOST DISTINCTIVE SIGNAL
No one was reported as having a signal of distinction for a change. How can this be?

SAVING THE WORLD THROUGH CX
John N2BE has again brought another aspect of the CX and Boat Anchors into perspective. Click to read his view on how we and our BAs can fight global warming.

PARTIAL LISTING OF TRANSMITTERS USED IN CX
B&W-6100;
1929 Brent Daniel;
Central Electronics: CE-100V;
Collins: 32S-1, 32S-3, 32V-2, 32V-3;
Drake: T-4X, T-4XB;
Eldico T-102;
Elmac A-54, AF-67;
Gonset GSB-100;
Hallicrafters HT-20, HT-32B, HT-37;
Heathkit DX-20, DX-40, DX-60, DX-100, HX-1681, SB-401, TX-1 Apache;
Harvey-Wells: TBS-50 C/D, TBS-50D;
Johnson: Viking I, Viking II, Valiant, Desk KW;
Knight T-150, Lysco 600;
Military: CBY-52209 (BC-457);
Millen 90800;
National NTX-30;
WRL: Globe King 275.

PARTIAL LISTING OF RECEIVERS USED IN CX
Collins: 75S-1, 75S-3A, 75A-3, 75A-4;
Drake: 2B, R-4A, R-4B, R-4C;
Eldico: R-104;
Hallicrafters: SX-25, SX-28. SX-100, SX-111, SX-115;
Hammarlund: HQ-120, HQ-170;
Heathkit: HR-1860, SB301;
Lafayette HE-30;
Military: BC-454, R-390;
National: FB-7, HRO, HRO Senior, HRO-50, NC-101, NC-173, NC-200;
Radio Manufacturing Engineers: RME-69;
Stewart-Warner/Crosley 51.

PARTIAL LISTING OF TRANSSCEIVERS USED IN CX
Allied: A-2517;
Collins: KWM-1, KWM-2; KWM-2A;
Drake: TR-4;
Eico: Model 753:
Hallicrafters: SR-150, SR-400A;
Heathkit: HW-7, HW-32A, SB-101, SB-102;
National: NCX-5;
Sideband Engineers: SBE-34;
Swan: Model 500.

ATTRIBUTION AND DISCLAIMER

The CX Newsletter is intended for the enjoyment of CX participants and others interested in the restoration, operation and enjoyment of Classic Ham Gear. This Newsletter was prepared from materials submitted by CX participants, from on-the-air observations, QSOs, and publically posted comments on various reflectors. Editorial comments on Individual Reports are shown in [Italics]. Any errors, omissions, or insensitive comments are unintentional. Please let me know if you have suggestions on improving the Newsletter or the CX website.
Thanks and 73,
Mac, WQ8U

You can read the individual reports by clicking on the call in the scores table below.

SCORES SUBMITTED

----
SEPTEMBER 2009 CX NAMECWAMSSBFMBONUSTOTALCOMMENT
N6KNRocco 31,045-329,095--360,140High Total Score; High SSB Score
W8KGIJim 120,835----120,835High CW Score
K2RPRon 21,8792,68810,384--34,951High AM Score
N2AKMario 22,592-1,925--24,516 -
N2BEJohn 12,2103332,366--14,909Neatest hand lettered log submitted
K9STHGlen 9,846---2,00011,846Oldest Transmitter & Oldest Receiver
N5AITAl 4,776----4,776
VE7BGPGerry 630-3,740--4,370
W8TMPaul 1,001----1,001
AA4RMMarty 768----768
K9VKYBrian 342----342
K2JEKDon 318----318
N2EYJim 150----150

CX REPORTS

N6KN - ROCCO

PRE-CX PREPARATION

As usual, I was trying to complete a "new" radio for the event. In this case, it was a Gonset GSB-100 that came my way a month before. It had a LOT of problems, but it was complete and had relatively little corrosion (it had been in a dry climate). I finally had it working at more or less full output the night before the CW contest after finding a 6DQ5 that worked. I went through four receivers before I found one that worked (Murphy strikes), and that was a Drake R4A. I tuned up several of the standard pile of rigs on 14045 and gave up for the night.

CW CX:

I opened up on 40 ~7 am local with the Johnson Desk KW (in the "low" power position) and the Drake 2B. I tried it in the "high" power position and immediately fried something (likely expensive), so it was back to 250W. Mario, N2AK made it to California with his SB104A, as did several others early Sunday morning. Shifted to the "new" GSB-100, driving my Henry amp, on 14044 and fought the Salmon Run. The conditions were pretty terrible, but the Salmon from Washington State were strong here all day and all night. People kept asking if I was in Washington. Worked W8KGI on several of his older transmitters and receivers. Mark, WA5VQM sounded great on his HT37/SX-111. Managed to pull out John, N2BE, with his powerful HW-7. Bill, K4JYS, had a fine sounding DX-60 on 20. Finally went out with the XYL at 2300 to keep the domestic peace, and that was it. Had a total of 35 CW contacts and qualified eight stations.

SSB CX:

Two new sunspots appeared a day or two before the event, so I took this as a sign of good things to come. I went to QRO with the strategy of blasting a hole in the Texas QSO party QRM. I found an opening on 14275 at 1400Z (very early out here) and tuned up the KWM2-A with my SB-220 (from college days at UCLA/W6YRA). I quickly had a pile-up of folks who wanted to work the Collins, and this continued for most of the day. I qualified my usual bank of vintage SSB equipment with no trouble - going back to the KWM2-A and QRO when the QRM was bad. A very long list of stations showed up on 14269/14270 as the day continued (one guy wanted a freq check with me on the TR4 - I told him what the dial read, but warned him that it was analog and not that accurate. He replied that his dial was analog, too, and that would be close enough).

-Some folks kept dragging radios out of the closet and really got into the spirit of the thing. Pete, N1HCE, seems to have as large a pile of radio junque as I do, and all of it sounded great. SB104s were popular this year, as were S Lines. Stan, WA4NFY, gets extra credit for an amazingly good sounding Eico 753, as well as a Heath HW32A. John. N2BE, heard and helped qualify several of my stations with his SBE-34 (I know that was challenging). There were a pile of Pacific stations who checked in, including many KH6's and ZL1BOS, Jim, all off the back of the beam. A herd of Texans had a pipeline into Southern California, as did most of the midwest and the east coast, indicating longer skip than last year (sunspot effect?) I had hoped to work W8KGI with his new B&W 6100 with my own B&W 6100 but never heard a peep from him (probably skipping over). At 2148, the KWM2-A croaked (ALC problem?), and the GSB-100 showed severe distortion with the Henry amp, so I dragged an old TR4 off the shelf and continued on 14270 with low power. Everyone loved the Drake, and I was very surprised by how well it dragged in stations. Perhaps it was the rusty connectors on it that added that special something to the signal. I picked up Mac, WQ8U, at 2352. No AM was heard; maybe they were up at 14276. I did hear a couple of stations with lots of noise but no discernable modulation.

My voice gave out at 0100, and that was it - no 40 meters at all. Thanks to all of those who kept calling - it really was fun talking to everyone, especially those who had stories about their "pet" vintage rigs. One note - I made it a point to announce that you do not need to run a vintage rig to participate, and also frequently summarized the report information needed, and I think this helped a lot of new folks join in. Another note - many stations commented that they were looking for other CXers, and I steered them to the website for info. If anyone else had been on the band with a vintage rig and a decent antenna, they would had been very popular. Total (new best for me, I think) - 302 stations worked on 13 rigs, including my newly deaf KWM-1 (it just slowly went away - tube??).

Ironic note - the next day, Monday, a guy at work came up to me and asked if I was interested in any boatanchors - I hauled home a carload of Hallicrafters and another S Line and was promptly caught in my driveway by the XYL before I could finish stashing it - oh, well. Now the shack is REALLY overloaded. Anyone have a CW filter for my new 75S-3B? Cash cheerfully paid.

Totals: CW: 35 QSO's x 887 mult = 31,045 pts
SSB: 305 QSO's x 1079 mult = 329,095 pts
Grand Total: 360,140 pts

73,
Rocco "Rock" Lardiere
N6KN

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W8KGI - JIM

CW CX

It's Monday afternoon as I write this, and I'm a little tired. I was on the air last night until after midnight, and I had an early rising to go play for a funeral. That's after a short night Saturday-Sunday as well. I should really sleep well tonight!

Well this CX was not very well attended, judging from what I heard and worked out here in the Southwest. I worked only two other CX'ers in two hours on 20, Rocco N6KN and Bill, K4JYS. On 40 for an hour and a half I worked Mario N2AK and Bill K2LML. I heard Howie WB2AWQ calling CQ CX, but he didn't find me amongst all of the non-CX QRM. I worked a couple of non-CX'ers to at least make some contacts. One of them, WW5XX, was an old-timer whose first receiver was an HQ-129-X and who had a Drake C-line and a Swan 700 in the shack, so he appreciated my old gear.

About 5:30 I folded the tent and took Kathy to church and then to dinner. We got home about 9:30, and I turned on the HRO-50 and found an S9 thunder-boomer noise level on 80 and no CX signals in evidence. I cranked up my oldest transmitter, the NTX-30, and called CQ CX for a while, finally raising Gerry, VE7BGP and running three different receivers with the NTX-30 with him so that I could get it qualified. Then a few minutes after 10, Ron K2RP from California showed up and I ran through six Rx/Tx pairs with him in the next quarter hour. A little after that, Paul K2LMQ made it above the noise level from Arizona and we exchanged QSOs, me with four pairs and Paul with three. About 11, Ron called in again and made it a CX three-way. For the next hour I ran three or more QSO's with them with every piece of gear I had in my inside shack that would go on 80 meters! I finally signed off with Paul at 0012, tired but happy.

On 20, I qualified the Viking 1, Viking 2, HRO-5TA1 and SX-28A. I made one QSO with my AF-67 and then it pooped out, maybe a 6146? I made one QSO with the Collins 32RA, not enough to qualify. I also made two QSOs with my HQ-129x, SX-43, and DX-20, and then I moved them to 40 and finished out qualifying them there. On 40 I also qualified the Globe King 275, HT-20, 75A3 and HQ-170A, and I ran one QSO with the Knight T-150. Later on 80, I wound up qualifying the HRO-50, HRO, NC101X, FB7, NC200, BC454, 75A4, RME69, NC173, and SX-28 receivers and the NTX-30, Valiant, DX-100, 32V3, Millen 90800, CBY-52209 (BC457), TBS50 C/D, A54, and 100V transmitters.

My total age multiplier wound up at 1859 years, and I made 65 QSOs for a total score of 120,835.
My oldest qualified receiver was the 1933 FB7, and my oldest qualified transmitter was the 1938 NTX-30.
I'm going to QRT and take a nap!

SSB / AM CX

I listened in on 20 AM and SSB frequencies for a bit on Sunday, and I heard a couple of guys working Rocco, but I couldn't hear Rocco himself. I called a couple of guys but got no results. After that I took Kathy to church, and the remainder of the day was taken up getting ready for our trip to China. So I have no additional report for the phone contest.

Gotta go. The plane leaves at 6 a.m. tomorrow and that means I have to get up about 2:30.

73 and CU,
Jim Hanlon, W8KGI

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K2RP - RON

First, thanks for all your hard work in compiling scores, photos, etc. It’s appreciated.

Well, another CX has come and gone, with mixed results from here. Entry and full report to follow, with some more photos. No mismatch this year; didn’t have a chance to haul out the smaller rigs, and there wasn’t much CW activity here.

Soapbox: These are not as good as usual, as I had bought a new camera that was not too good. I returned it, and got a better one, so next CX photos better! Click here to see pictures of Ron's rigs

Still looking for more participation on the west coast. Kept real busy with Jim and his many rigs. I don't have the room so set up too many at once, and with CW mostly late in the contest, I couldn't qualify as many as usual.

Still, this was the first CX for several new ones for me: Valiant, DX100, SX100, and HQ120X, all of which behaved beautifully!

See you in Jan/Feb.

Thanks
Ron K2RP

MODE QSOsTOTAL AGESCORE
AM122242,688
CW3956121,879
SSB2247210,384
TOTAL34,951

CW Stations
VALIANT / 75A4
DX100 / HQ129X
HT32 / SX101
VIKING I/ HQ120X
HT40 /SX100

SSB Stations
SB303 / SB401
HW12
HT32 / SX101A
Marauder/ 2B
Marauder/ Drake 1A
Marauder/ HQ170

AM Stations
Valiant / 75A4
DX100 / HQ129X
Valiant / SX100
DX100 / HQ120X

73
Ron
K2RP

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N2AK - MARIO

Attached is my meager attempt at Fall Classic Exchange. It was the first time I tried the Sept time frame, and it sure was a lot harder to make QSOs than in January. I almost didn't get into the phone portion, as we were up in a new mountain QTH upstate Pennsylvania, but I decided to bring a few rigs there and at least make a dozen contacts from the mountain house.

This was my first attempt to work CX when the weather was still warm. I only wish the bands were in a little bit better shape. I had a lot of radios ready for the CW weekend, but contacts were hard to find and I ended up with only about half of my gear being run. I even tried my SSB-230 amp at 400w, but I knew I was in trouble when a ham 80 miles away couldn’t copy me on 40 in mid-day. The one station I was able to work well was Bill K4JYS. We had about 6 QSOs . Also Al, N5AIT in Ky was worded 3 times. At around 9:30 AM I spoke to Rocco N6KN on 40m CW. The band good for long haul, but not great for The close stations. I usually start on 40m and then move to 80m at night, but by the time it was getting better on 80m , I ran out of energy and pulled the plug.

I was undecided whether to even try the FONE weekend, because I have bought a small QTH in the mountains upstate PA and was in the midst of doing a lot of work there. But I don’t work on Sundays so all I really needed was to lug a few old rigs up to the mountains to throw my hat in the SSB phone ring. I had a Kenwood TS-570D (not exactly a “classic boatanchor”, but it did generate some QSOs. I brought up m old TenTec Omni C and a Yeasu FT-101F (also not a real boatanchor, but at least it had a built-in PS and so only one box to transport). Made all QSOs with old friends but the most memorable ones were with KC2CKO, Paul, in Gansevoort NY and his twin brother Dave, KE4AOM in VA. I haven’t seen these guys in over 40 years (when the 3 of us were teen-agers) and it was great hearing from them.

I did have some help with the radio in my cabin. but sometime the operating got a bit hairy!

CW MODE
EICO 720
HT-37
NC-303
NC-173
Swan 350
HW-100
SB 400 SB301
SB-104
T4XB R4A
Heath Apache
Heath Mohawk
CW Score = 32 QSOs X 706 years = 22,592

SSB MODE
TenTec Omni C
YAESU FT101F
Kenwood TS 570D
SSB SCORE = 13 X 148 years = 1924

GRAND TOTAL : 22,592 + 1924 = 24,516

Keep up the good work and I hope and expect to be on in January 2010.

73,
Mario / N2AK
Medford, NJ

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N2BE - JOHN

N2BE

CW CX

Some great QRP fun highlighted the CW event for me. My first 2 QSOs on 20 meters were with my Heathkit "HW-7" running 1.2 watts output to a vertical antenna. Both Steve (W7QC/7 in WA) and Rocco (N6KN in CA) answered my calls and completed QSOs. To be sure, Steve's Kenwood 'TS-480" and Rocco's Drake "R-4A" are working extremely well, along with the ops controlling them. Later, I had the pleasure of copying Ron's (N4GJV in NC) 1 watt, 1925 Hartley oscillator TX through some very noisy (QRN; storm static) conditions on 80 meters. The rig uses only one "24A" tube and is the oldest TX I have ever copied in the CX, or otherwise. I was receiving with my Collins "R-390" at the time. Thanks for that one, Ron.

My 1954 Johnson "Adventurer" (teamed up with a 1940 Hallicrafters "SX-24) still continues its "magic" in garnering QSOs. Despite having only one crystal, that I had to keep slamming down on the desk-top to keep it oscillating, I was still able to make a number of 80 meter contacts, including a great ragchew with Steve (W8TOW in MI). Despite being under 50 years of age, Steve demonstrates a vast knowledge and experience with classic radios that goes beyond his years. A subsequent contact with Joel (W3ZT in NY) found me copying his "URT-11" CIA transmitter from the 1950s. Now, I work Joel in most CXs and everytime that I can remember, he has had some very unique and interesting rig in action. For that, I want to nominate W3ZT as the "Classic Eclectic" of this event. It's always nice to have someone to remind us that there is a whole lot more to the classic world than just the makes and models we are most familiar with.

PHONE CX

The FONE-CX event was fraught with many challenges for me.
- My SBE "model 34" wouldn't develop even a lame amount of power. With my homebrew ESR-meter, I was able to identify a high-voltage filter cap that had varying internal AC resistance. Problem solved !
- Ditto that problem for my National "NCX-3". In the National, I found an "open" tube pin. Yes, the pin looked normal at the socket, top and bottom, but was broken-in-two INSIDE the socket! OH, BROTHER ! A new pin fixed that.
- On Sunday morning, I looked over at the "DX-100", and it had no panel lights. OH, NO !! NOT THE "DX-100"!! OK, maybe a bulb, or bulbs; maybe a poor common-ground connection; maybe ... etc. NOPE ! The 6AU6 VFO tube was dark; all other tubes were lit. The filament circuit had opened up somewhere. Murphy's Law suggests that "somewhere" means the inside of the inaccessible VFO box. OH, BROTHER ! An "outboard" filament transformer, connected directly to the pilot-light circuit, solved the problem;-WHEW !

Once on-the-air, the going was rough as I battled with poor propagation, foreign broadcast interference, and "DUCK NOW !" static crashes from nearby storms. Operational highlights included 3 QSOs with Rocco (N6KN in CA) while using the SBE "model 34" at 35 watts PEP output. Each time, I had to stand-in-line and wait my turn in the pile-up that was calling him. He changed stations frequently; probably just as much to give his equipment a rest, as for contest multipliers, HI. On 40 meters, I had another great ragchew with Kevin (WBOGKW in NE). Our last QSO, not during the CX, was on 6 meter AM, where I was using my Lafayette "HA-46011 with 8 watts of carrier output. Speaking of 6 meters, I never hear anyone on that band during the CX. I must have made 40 unanswered "CQs" on 50.3 and 50.4 Mhz during this CX. Six meters is potentially a great place to pick up some extra CX equipment multipliers.

HOW BA GEAR CAN HELP IN THE FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING

Mac, now I must discuss an issue of the utmost importance to us all. -Extensive empirical data shows that southern-USA hams are activating significantly more BAs than their northern counterparts. They may be doing this mainly as "a call to arms" in the fight against global warming. However, this imbalance in activated-iron threatens to seriously alter polar air-current flow, in a manner that could move northern weather patterns southward. The solution to this is not to put limitations on the use of BAs in the South; that could result in the intensification of global warming. Rather, northern hams must now step up their restoration and use of BAs in order to maintain electromagnetic balance between the two geographic regions. There is no time to waste. Some Gulf-Coast states (often referred to as "Heavy Metal Alley" in certain scientific circles) could experience record snowfalls as early as this coming winter. I hope all northern-USA hams Will respond to this urgent matter; immediately, and in full force by the next Classic Exchange.

Thank you for your undying service to our cause, Mac. May your holidays really glow.

73
John
N2BE

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K9STH - GLEN

Attached is a copy of my log for the September 2009 Classic Exchange. Not much! The 40 meter band was extremely noisy and very little activity, at least that I could copy, on CW. I only heard one station on SSB and he was too weak to copy.

I am also attaching some photos of the equipment that I used plus a photo of the serial tag on my Brent-Daniel transmitter which was commercially manufactured in 1929. The receiving “set up” used with this transmitter was a Stewart-Warner shortwave converter that was made in 1927 into a Crosley 51 regenerative broadcast band receiver made in 1924. I could not use a TRF receiver to receive CW and therefore used a regenerative receiver with the shortwave converter. The notation “BD” on the log sheet is for “Brent-Daniel”.

The Brent-Daniel transmitter uses plug-in coils and although the serial tag has the 200 kHz to 500 kHz range with the proper coils the transmitter does work up through the 40 meter band.

The Eldico equipment is part of the S-119 system which was the 2nd source to the United States military for the Collins 75S-2 receiver and 32S-2 transmitter. The equipment was mainly used at MARS stations.

Click to see Glen's fine station, the Brent Daniels and the old Crosley and converter

Transmitters
Collins 32S-3
Collins 32S-1
Eldico T-102
Heath SB-401
Brent-Daniel
Total Transmitter Age: 271

Receivers
Collins 75S-3A
Collins 75S-1
Eldico R-104
Heath SB-301
Stewart-Warner/Crosley 51
Total Receiver Age: 276

Total Equipment Age: 547

Score Mode: CW
QSOs: 18
Age: 574
TOTAL: 9846

73
Glen
K9STH

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N5AIT - AL

Hey, y'all,

PREVIEW
Well, I hope someone is out there today: I finally got antennas restored (downed in last February's ice storm), got a couple rigs operating (Harvey-Wells load condenser is zapping out from time to time again - dunno what is in there that is doing that!). Got the HQ-170 back from where I had it at school (KF4LWA, school club station where I was trustee - now defunct with my retriement).

I found that I have an NC-303 that I have never put on the air - ditto the 75A-4 and the KWM-2 I got from Marty. We'll try that later today
Well, will go and listen some more around the "usual suspect" areas, see if I can hear anyone calling CQ CX.

...and the DX-20 that is in place was Stu's - he took it to Montserrat with him as a backup rig - and I worked him from here while he was operating it down there. (during CX, of course). After we finished I figured he could use a VP2 QSL too - so I gave him another call and signed K8SJ... He said it was a real surprise! Being Stu, though, he gave me a second QSL indicating the K8SJ station with operator N5AIT...

CX ACTION
Yup!
Got four rigs qualified:
-the KWM-2 I got from Marty a few years ago (first time on the air for it - worked just fine)
- DX-20 and HQ-170: DX-20 was Stu's - same one he took to Montserrat to work CX some time back. I did work him there while he was running it.(VP2MFA?). HQ-170 is one I have had the longest, and was using it at school for club station of which I was trustee (KF4LWA)
- Lysco 600 and SX-100: Lysco was Stu's too - I got it working for him. SX-100 I got for $20 at Cincinnati club hamfest (needed work) about fifteen years ago. Works just great now.
- Drake twins T-4XB and R-4B, probably my favorite combination.

Still have others that need to have the healing hands laid upon them, but at least I was there - and did work Howie and Mario, CX stalwarts from an earlier time.

Now I have to re-create my "age" tables: I did have all the original-year-of-manufacture for all my equipment, plus all that I ahave cycled through over the years, on a computer... which was fine until the hard drive crashed a couple years ago. I think I have it still on a 5" floppy that goes with my old Kaypro machine. I know where the Kaypro is - now have to see if I can find the floppy. Or I suppose I could just ask around... ;-)

Great job in keeping it all going and growing. Thanks, Mac.

73
Al
N5AIT

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VE7BGP - GERRY


Nanaimo Amateur Radio Association

SSB
Heathkit SB-101
Yaesu FT-757GX
Yaesu FT-767GX
Icom IC-751A (new logo)
YEARS: 220
QSOs: 17
score: 3,740

CW
Yaseu FT-757GX
Icom IC-751A (new logo)
YEARS: 90
QSOs: 7
score: 630

FM
Kenwood TR-7400A
Yaesu FT-208R
Kenwood TH-25at

TOTAL SCORE: 4,370

VE7BGP, Gerry
Big Bear Ridge
Nanaimo, BC
Canada

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W8TM - PAUL

My schedule conflicted significantly with this month's Classic Exchange. I'm afraid that I was only able to put in two hours on CW, and had no opportunity at all for the Phone CX.

So I have only a baker's dozen QSOs to report, all made on my favorite band and mode (40 CW).

For this CX my equipment was as usual an SB-301 receiver (1967), SB-401 transmitter (1974) and 40-meter inverted vee fed with ladder line. The SB-301 is 42 years old and the SB-401 is 35 years old, for a total age of 77 years.

MODE QSOsTOTAL AGESCORE
AM
CW13771,001
SSB
TOTAL1,001

73,
Paul
W8TM

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AA4RM - MARTY

CW
Wow, horribilis. One thunderstorm storm after another
Only 8 contacts with Viking 2 & SB102 qualified
Didn't hear you, but no surprise
Al N5AIT wrote yesterday & it looks like he re-emerged from the CX woodwork
Al sri I missed u 9/20. Got 8 contacts thru qrn, 2 qualified rigs - inspite of lightening & flood-causing rain.

PHONE
I was late starting. Spent morning @ a brunch, afternoon driving back from St. Simon's Island.
Rigs on @ 7P.
Didn't even think of 20m but found that a goof. KC4ZUA sed Rocco on from CA just knocking 'em out.
40 was cloggged with foreign BC. What else is new?
Next 75m. Some big sigs fm DC area, but no CX. Weak ones from NE IN but cudn't get noticed. Observations taken @ 3870 & 3880. Checked again every hour up thru midnight.
Hate to admit i wound up empty-handed durnit.

Hope web botch not entirely to blame. Site only down three days but site contact attempts made without a web browser "refresh" cud have made it seem much worse

Good work on newsletter

Marty aka aa4rm

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K9VKY - BRIAN

I was only able to qualify the main station here (32V3 and 75A3) with the minimal three contacts. That pitiful performance was done only as a gesture of defiance to some obligations I had to deal with on CX day and to keep me on the mailing list for future CX parties.

Don't even submit the score, as I only wanted to credit Bill K4JYS and Bill K2LML with their contacts.

In scheduling next year, we'll have to be more attentive to the weekend, and perhaps sacrifice some goats and chickens for improved band conditions. I'll have to pass on the phone CX because the bag I wear over my head during phone operation makes me get faint from the lack of oxygen.

I'm looking forward to reading the reports from this CX (along with the editor's remarks!) and the announcement for the Spring 2010 CX.

Regards from the bunker.

Brian
K9VKY

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K2JEK - DON

Here is my entry for the September 2009 Classic Exchange.

I used my Harvey-Wells TBS-50D for the first time in the CX and Lafayette HE-30 receiver.

TBS-50D: Age 58
HE-30 : Age 48
TOTAL AGE: 106
QSOs : 3
SCORE: 306

Didn’t get a chance to use my other rigs: HW TBS-50C, Johnson Ranger, Drake 2B, or Hallicrafters S-16.

73
Don Younger
W2JEK

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N2EY - JIM

Hope I'm not too late to submit a CX log.

I only made three QSOs but had a lot of fun:

All QSOs were made with my homebrew CW transceiver known as the Southgate Type 7.
Click to see Jim's fine homebrew station

I figure the score to be 3 QSOs times 50 years combined age = 150 points

TNX es 73
de Jim,
N2EY

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