Pop's Shed and the Kingsley Radio AR7

After my grandfather passed away I spent a lot of time recalling the good times I had spent scrounging around his CB shack and hanging out with Pop "down the shed". If you've spent time around old motorbikes, retired lawn mower engines, vacuum tube electronics and inches of dust you know what the shed smelt like and probably have a pretty good idea what it looked like as well.  I used to be able to send Mum into fits by embedding a combination of oil, grease, dust and grinding compound into the knees and sleeves of my good clothes after spending the day "over south" (South Geelong)

Even now I can still walk into any old auto mechanics and the smell brings back dozens of memories as clear as day ... but one memory in particular had been bugging me for a while now. On several occasions I had used a magnificent rack mounted shortwave receiver that had been hooked to a long-wire antenna between the shed and the house. It had several plug in coils housed in bright metal boxes, one for each band as well as a unique tuning dial that had windows around the circumference with numbers that updated as the dial was turned.

National HRO right? ... Nope, its an Australian clone!

For the longest time I was thinking what you are probably thinking now, I had been using a National HRO receiver right? Well, you'd be wrong ... just as I had been for years! When I eventually asked my uncle about the receiver (I waited a long time as I feared it had been thrown out & honestly didn't want to know if it had) he said, "The AR7?" ... "Yes, its here in the garage covered in dust". He went on to say that I could have the receiver if I could figure out some way to ship it ... not a slight problem given the receiver, power supply and speaker are over 120 lbs!

Knowing now that I had been using a completely different receiver I set to work and found out what I could about this National HRO clone ...

From : http://www.vk2bv.org/

The AR7 was produced during WW2 by Kingsley Radio of Melbourne for the R.A.A.F. These receivers were used in ground stations for long range communication over fixed circuits as well as for receiving signals from aircraft.

The AR7 was based largely on the National (USA) HRO model, a fact that did not go unnoticed by National. This was the subject of litigation during the war years. Over 3000 of these receivers were produced and for their time, produced excellent performance.

These sets were very popular with radio amateurs after the war and unfortunately subject to many modifications. The Wireless Institute of Australia station, VK2WI at Dural New South Wales was equipped with modifed AR7's for many years. I seem to remember that very local operators could block the receivers completely, resulting in hurried phone calls!

An unmodified AR7 is a rare beast. The Department of Civil Aviation used these sets for many years in a highly modified form, requiring a new front panel. Refinements included squelch and crystal locked coil boxes.

From : http://www.shlrc.mq.edu.au/~robinson/museum/AR7/

The AR7 is a communications receiver covering LF and HF bands. It was made in Australia during 1940 and bears an extremely close resemblance to the National HRO receiver. The receiver has a tuning range from 138 kcs to 25 mcs, with a gap of 45 kcs either side of the 455 kcs IF amplifier. The internal design is a single conversion superheterodyne receiver with 2 RF stages, 2 IF stages, a BFO and an "S" meter amplifier. The sensitivity is quoted as 1 microvolt. The front panel is stainless steel and  it is a very distinctive looking receiver.

It is a good performer, sensitive, has a nice feel, is easy to tune, but hard to find the correct frequency, by reading the frequency from the dial number and coil box graph. It really needs a crystal calibrator.  I use it for the weekly W.I.A. (Wireless Institute of Australia) broadcast, so it gets turned on once a week, and is so stable, than I don't have to retune. It is very clear for AM but a bit fiddly for SSB.

The controls are: RF gain, BFO note, AVC/BFO switch, Adjust "S" meter, Tone, Tuning, Noise limiter, Selectivity, Crystal IN/OUT switch, Crystal Phasing, Audio gain. The Audio gain control has an OFF position which removes the HT so that the coil boxes can be changed.

It has two 6U7G RF stages, a 6K8G mixer, two 6U7G  IF stages at 455 kcs,  a 6G8G detector/AVC/audio preamplifier, and a 6V6G audio output amplifier. It has a 6C8G twin triode as a BFO and "S" meter amplifier. It also has a crystal filter. The IF alignment should be done very carefully, as any misalignment will reduce the effectiveness of the filter. It is best done with a sweep generator. The 6 volt valve heaters are connected in series, for 12 volt operation.

The external power supply and speaker, are usually mounted in a short 19" rack, the AR7 at the bottom, the speaker in the middle, and the power supply at the top. The complete unit weighs about 118 pounds. The power supply was switchable between 12v and 240v.

The receiver was used as a ground monitoring receiver for aircraft. It was extremely stable. The model shown has an R.A.A.F. nameplate, and serial number 1786. The manual I have is a D.C.A. (Department of Civil Aviation) version and is a 1947 issue.

It has 5 plug in coil boxes. The coil boxes are: band A 140-405 kcs, band B 490-1430 kcs, band C 1.420-4.3 mcs, band D 4.25-12.5 mcs, band E 12.5-25 mcs. The Army version had an extra coil box covering 50-150 kcs. The large dial is a 20:1 reduction drive and has graduations from 0 to 500. It acts like a flywheel when tuning across the band, and has an effective scale length of 12 feet. The dial shaft goes into a right angle reduction gearbox and has 2 output shafts that drive 2 dual gang capacitors. The graph on the front of each coil box is used to covert the dial reading to frequency.

Homebrew Hero - Homemade NBTV video recording system in 1974

What do you do in 1974 if you are 20 years old and want to send video to other Amateur Radio operators?

An off-the-shelf home-video camera was the equivalent of $8000 USD (if you could find one) and the circuitry required to transform the high bandwidth signal into one that could be transmitted on AM would have been prohibitively complex.

Believe it or not the only solution was to build your own narrow band video camera! These creations followed on from narrow band television work done in the 1930's and took advantage of advances in materials and solid state technology.

The camera used by VK3AML (Chris Long) in the video below was a Flying Spot Scanner camera which required a completely darkened room and used a spot of light that scanned the scene. The reflected light was picked up by a photomultiplier tube and recorded as a frequency modulated audio tone on tape or broadcast via radio.

We're fortunate to have some of the original video preserved from 1974 since the audio and video signals had been recorded onto open-reel tape.

The 30 line television system developed by John Logie Baird in the 1930s allowed home experimenters to build their own equipment, a practice which still exists today through the Narrow-bandwidth Television Association. Relatively few narrow-band TV signals are transmitted nowadays so most amateur radio operators are unaware of this special interest group.

The video below shows some of the actives and projects that members of the Narrow Band Television Association have been involved in and gives some historical background on this interesting field.

Chas (WA1JFD) from the Antique Radio forums mentions that at approximately the same time other amateur radio operators such as Donald Mara (WA1PLT) were experimenting with Slow Scan Television (SSTV). SSTV sent higher resolution pictures at a slower frame rate, typically taking 8 seconds to send a complete image. Below is a picture of some of the first commercial SSTV equipment that was made available to US hams.

Robot 70 (monitor) & 80 (camera) SSTV system introduced in 1970

I wasn't able to find exact prices for SSTV equipment like the ROBOT 70 & 80 but period articles seem to indicate you wouldn't get much change from $1000 in 1970 for a complete SSTV station. This is equal to around $5000 USD today.

Preserving the past - Australian built broadcast transmitters

Arguably some of the best looking radio equipment was produced in the 50's and 60's when art-deco motifs, streamlining and other elements of design made their way onto consumer and even industrial electronics.
Unlike modern times, when cost is the only consideration, designers and engineers took the time to ensure that their creations looked good as well as being functional and long lasting. It was worth taking time over the placement of meters, switches & panels, even if it did mean that the final product cost a few dollars more to manufacture.
Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) or AWA produced an extensive range of home and commercial equipment in the 60s and many vintage radio collectors have examples of AWA radio receivers in their collections. The larger equipment like broadcast transmitters takes an extra special effort to preserve as their large size, demanding power requirements and the specialized knowledge required to maintain them presents a barrier for all but the most dedicated enthusiasts.
We are fortunate then that Don Bainbridge has taken up the challenge and preserved a remarkable collection of Australian built broadcasting equipment and maintains much of this equipment in operational order. The YouTube video below and his website linked here offer a rare glimpse into the world of vintage high powered broadcast equipment before plastic took over and economical design stripped away the chrome and pinstripes.

Pedestrian mobile and the magnetic loop with VK3YE

I've been using a 40M magnetic loop antenna for a while now and have been impressed with the low noise and high performance, especially considering its stuck in the middle of my garage!

I'd been thinking about a smaller loop that could sit in the attic with a remote tuner but had been put off by the critical requirements ... minimal dc resistance etc.

Now I have seen Peter and his portable loop I may have to reconsider brewing something up and giving it a shot. I'd like it to handle a bit more than 5W but that should be achievable with parts I already have in the junk box.

Ham activating a Rest Area help Australian sailor adrift off the coast of Mexico.

11/24/2011 -- IHRAS Members assist Australian Sailor adrift near Mexico.
Jon - N5JLD


Well it went sort of like this. KF5FEI and I showed up at the rest stop just before 5 am CST. We got set up and the noise from the lights lighting up the rest stop was horrible. Way to much for SSB even with DSB, oh well so I waited for daylight. Bill was setup for PSK31 and not having much better luck with all the noise. As daylight arrived the band started to wake up with it. Bill made a handful of contacts and I could hear a lot on phone but no one heard me. I switched to Bill's antenna and spun the dial to 14.325 and called CQ. Well VK3LAA came back and answered my call. That's right VK. Problem was that he was not in Australia but off the coast of Mexico. In a boat, dead in the water and looking for help. Bill started looking on how to get a hold of the Coast Guard while I was talking to him getting to location and his current status. He was in a 35 foot sailboat but his motor was not working and he is adrift with no winds. Well Bill got a hold of the USCG in California and we were relaying information back and forth. The USCG was trying to raise the Mexican Coast Guard as VK3LAA was having no luck on Maritime VHF. Bill then called Scott McBain to see if we could find a club member with a base station and maybe a beam that might be better suited, remember we were portable at a rest stop south of Fort Worth. Robert AD5VJ signed on and took over the lead as he was able to get with the folks over on 14.300 with the Maritime Mobile Net. They in turn got in contact with all their support personnel and got him the help he needed. I signed off with VK3LAA as he was in very good hands. I spun the dial again and made contacts with CA and MO. We then called it a day, packed up and headed for Turkey time.

Just your average day and the rest stop...........

73's
Jon N5JLD


The above story was posted on the "Rest Areas On The Air" Yahoo group