A Crummy Commercial

Previous blog post on the June 1979 QST cover photo: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2023/11/an-error-in-qst.html I got an email from a person in London, England and he attached this: He wanted to know if it was my picture and whether I was open to having it used as artwork on an album of electronic music. And also: did I have a higher resolution picture.  I pointed him to the Glen Gates Gang page: http://wb9kzy.com/ggg.htm which has this scan: http://wb9kzy.com/cover3.jpg Unfortunately I don't have the original slides, Sam Sansone, WB9LAB, had them and after he and his wife died I don't know what happened to them.  I was given a dupe of the slide (which is where that scan came from) but I'll be darned if I know where it is - along with all the other junk I've misplaced over the years - it must be here somewhere. So if that scan isn't good enough the second chance for that picture to be published is going to evaporate.  Stuff happens after over 4 decades - I'm hopin...

I love this picture: Oceanside CA really is by the ocean ! Here is a Korean page with that same Swan picture: https://m.cafe.daum.net/7038oldtimers/YIWL/301 Here is the Google Translate version https://m-cafe-daum-net.translate.goog/7038oldtimers/YIWL/301?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp I had heard of Herb Johnson but never knew he was from Sweden or that Swan is the Americanized version of Sven, his father's hometown in Sweden.  However wasn't able to confirm this on Google Maps. This page says something slightly different (Herb's Dad was named Sven): https://www.qsl.net/on6ab/History.html Noticing the 600 series receiver/transmitter pair, this must be from an ad in the early 1970s (600R introduced about 1971). BTW, while looking for Swan ads in QST (I didn't find one with this picture) I stumbled on this on WorldRadioHistory: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-DX/QST/60s/   The link says 60s but also includes many issues from...

I never tire of this picture, mentioned a month ago: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/09/go-back-50-years.html Here it is again in the November 2025 issue of QST, page 100: Unfortunately Larry, WA9UMU (the call used on 1975 Field Day), is a silent key, that's what happens after 50 years :( Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm  

I saw a project on a ham blog recently which reminded me of this: A picture illustrating the incorrect and correct way to panel mount a control or switch.  This is from a Hint and Kink in QST for April 2004, page 73 by W1VIV, Sumner. The idea is to use a second nut behind the panel to result in a flush appearance of the switch.  In addition to appearance it may also help the mechanical performance of the switch making the project a little less tippy due to the tiny lever action of the protruding switch barrel. The only problem with the C&K switches that I like is that the 1/4-40 sized hardware is almost impossible to find unless it's supplied with the switch -  I actually had an inquiry from a customer (a high school teacher) who needed some 1/4-40 hex nuts for some lab equipment - he had looked and looked and finally contacted me for some hex nuts which I was happy to sell.  1/4-20 nuts are easy to find but the thread pitch is wrong.  One workaround would...

I was paging through the October 2025 QST online when I came upon this on page 94: Really unexpected but a pleasant surprise !  I took that picture in June 1975 with my Olympus 35RC.  When the Glen Gates Gang Field Day entry was sent in the picture got included.  Somewhere around here I've got a plastic bag with several copies of that issue - I remember going over to Amateur Electronic Supply (on Fond du Lac in Milwaukee) and buying them.  I've mentioned the November 1975 cover before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/06/field-day.html  The picture reminded me of Scott Tilton who died this year: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/04/a-novice-trio-no-more.html  Scott was the brains behind repurposing the tower to a transportable unit.  It's a shame that Scott's article for the tower wasn't published. Here's the Glen Gates Gang page with more of my pictures from Field Day: http://wb9kzy.com/ggg.htm  The fact that that magazine cover was from almost 50...

Another detailed picture from Shorpy: source and larger version: https://www.shorpy.com/node/22330 Here's a slightly different version from the Library of Congress site: source and larger version: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017762812/resource/ And just about in the exact center of the picture you can zoom in to see the letters:  QS and part of a T, below them the word: devote, An issue of QST !! Actually there are only a few magazines that I recognize as still being published today:  The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper's, The Billboard (I think it's just Billboard now and only covers music): Senor Wences lived to 103 and was on Ed Sullivan with the spinning plates act :) Presumably the QST issue on the newsstand was November 1938: https://archive.org/details/QST_1938_11 https://www.worldradiohistory.com/INTERNATIONAL/QST/QST-1938-11.pdf Unfortunately this is the QST issue that announces the death of Ross Hull, the editor of QST !  This was mentioned in passing be...

This Hint and Kink from the June 1958 issue of QST was previously mentioned here: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2024/05/qst-june-1958.html I found an old Polaroid 35mm film cassette to use as a solder holder.  The end cap wasn't crimped on (it was instant slide film to be developed at home) so it worked just like the Kodak Snap Caps: It should work as well or better than my old solder holder method (solder wound on an old wine "cork"):   Previously I used empty plastic solder wick holders for solder but they don't hold that much and they melt if someone is careless :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

A review of 1958 QST ending with the December issue: smaller pdf:  https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-DX/QST/50s/QST-1958-12.pdf online viewable or larger pdf:  https://archive.org/details/sim_qst_1958-12_42_12 items from the issue that I found interesting: the villain of the book/documentary: Empire of the Air p 10   He made it to 85 while Armstrong killed himself at 63.  Not directly related but there is no justice in this world. Working Ionospheric Scatter on 50 Mc.  p 28    Yes, that Joe Taylor, his first article published in QST Cut the guy wires and run, 50s style  p 49 There were a record 11,316 Hams on 1958 Field Day - I wonder how many participate now ? Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

A review of 1958 QST continuing with the November issue: smaller pdf:  https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-DX/QST/50s/QST-1958-11.pdf online viewable or larger pdf:  https://archive.org/details/sim_qst_1958-11_42_11 items from the issue that I found interesting: Cheap and Simple RF Indicators p 16   Now we have LEDs but someone will have to pursue woofle dust Gil cartoon p 23   If we only had stores like this now :) The Knight Receiver p 45   B.G. mentions that 83YZ2726 isn't a handy name for this kit but I noticed that few of the reviews in 1958 QST actually show the front of the item being reviewed.  While there are usually pictures of the guts of the item these reviews would have been more useful for easy recognition IF the front of the rig had been shown.  Especially in this case where the 1958 catalog doesn't have the same number in the review, only this: semi-obligatory inflated prices: That's a lot of money for a single conversion general ...

A review of 1958 QST continuing with the October issue: smaller pdf:  https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-DX/QST/50s/QST-1958-10.pdf online viewable or larger pdf:  https://archive.org/details/sim_qst_1958-10_42_10 items from the issue that I found interesting: Remote Control of a Grid-Dip Meter p 15   A ham takes advantage of a consumer after-market add-on remote of a TV to tune a grid dip meter, very intuitive.  This reminded me of Jack Lemmon in The Apartment (previously mentioned here: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/06/productivity.html CC Baxter is eating his TV Dinner in front of the TV and has a remote control on the end table (so he doesn't get chicken fat on the Zenith ?) a shoot-em-up something better on ? nope, the remote also turns off the TV Simple Low-Pass Filter Design p 21  at first I thought this was for a transmitter but it was intended for audio filters - this was the heyday of the 44/88 mH telephone loading coils.  I suspect it c...

A review of 1958 QST continuing with the September issue: vroom halo smaller pdf:  https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-DX/QST/50s/QST-1958-09.pdf online viewable or larger pdf:  https://archive.org/details/sim_qst_1958-09_42_9 items from the issue that I found interesting: Part II of the SSTV introductory article, p31  The circuit details including the flying spot imager mechanical diagram: There is a fast-scan flying spot scanner within the B&K Television Analyst see this site for more info: http://labguysworld.com/BK-1077B.htm Flying spot is just so cool - it was also used for ATV before video cameras became small/inexpensive. band edge marker hint and kink, p 82    I thought this was a clever idea - now an LED would be used instead of the neon bulb but with counters and PLLs no one really needs this anymore, in addition custom crystals would be EXPENSIVE. Gil cartoon, p 71   Novice DXCC ?  Well this was during the greatest solar cycle of ...

Ongoing review of 1958 QST with the August issue: say it with me: SSTV smaller pdf:  https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-DX/QST/50s/QST-1958-08.pdf online viewable or larger pdf:  https://archive.org/details/sim_qst_1958-08_42_8 items from the issue that I found interesting: SSTV by Copthorne MacDonald p.11   It wasn't titled as SSTV or Slow Scan TV but that's how I knew it.  The author's name Copthorne is memorable !  And later there was the SSTV equipment vendor: Robot Research - did they ever make any robots ?  Anyway, a really clever approach which unfortunately came before the advent of cheap computation, memory and display.  I also wonder if anyone kept tape archives of old SSTV transmissions, at 6 seconds each a lot of pictures could be stored on a reel of magnetic tape.  Searching the ARRL magazine index found 157 hits for SSTV - a specialized, niche mode but popular and innovative. PRP propagation research project, part of IGY ...