Down the Rabbit Hole
eBay has provided a lot of entertainment (and used equipment!) over the last few months, and after the purchase and restoration of a Ten Tec Century 21, I started looking for a Triton IV. This was the first radio I purchased new in 1978. I really enjoyed it and wanted to own one again. It didn’t take long. I ended up having two in the shop at almost the same time — one for my shack, and one for a fellow ham.
Over the years, Ten Tec has released a surprising number of CW (continuous wave or Morse Code) Keyers for Amateur Radio use. There have been two basic designs, single paddle and double or imabic paddle models. Released in about 1975, the Model 670 is a single paddle version, intended for use with the Century 21 CW transceiver.
The Ten Tec Triton I/II transceivers were released in the mid-1970’s and marked a milestone in High Frequency (HF) radios. With coverage for the 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10-meter amateur radio bands, 50 to 100 watt output on SSB and CW, they may have been the first affordable, fully solid-state models.
I’ve been a Ham for over 45 years, but have never really gotten comfortable with Morse Code. Sure, I was able to pass the code requirement when I first got my Technician and later Advanced License, but my CW chops were always shaky at best. I had been more interested in building and modifying equipment anyway, so it didn’t seem like a major deficit.
I look at Ebay from time-to-time, and lately I’ve been having a little too much fun. A Ten Tec Century 21 CW Transceiver (model 570) attracted my attention recently. The “570” was a solid-state radio intended for Novice hams and covered five bands: 80, 40, 20 (and with accessory crystals) 15 and 10 meters.
I’ve had a small air compressor in the shop for over a dozen years, and it’s served me well. Inflating tires, brad nailers, blowing dust — even some small air tools — it’s been fine. I turned it on recently, and it sounded much different. It’s always been noisy being one of those oilless types, but this sounded much worse.
I began to haunt flea markets and old book and record stores looking for vinyl treasures. I still had a decent turntable, and had recently upgraded the cartridge, but my phono preamp was at least 10 years old and not the best to begin with. It sounded ok, but the next logical upgrade was a more serious audiophile phono preamp.
Restoring the Freshman Masterpiece AM radio was a lot of fun, but using batteries wasn’t. They’re convenient for testing, but expensive for regular use. The “B” battery alone uses ten 9-volt batteries, and that’s over $20 per set. There are battery simulators available for old tube radios, but they’re not cheap either, and where’s the fun in just buying a plug-in power supply? Wouldn’t it be cooler to use solar power and a 12-volt rechargeable battery?
After learning the basics of welding from my friend Bob, I needed to decide how to restore a Craftsman Welder. I needed practice.
I mentioned finding two old 20’s-era broadcast receivers in an earlier post. Some months had passed, and restoring the Freshman Masterpiece “5F5” seemed like a fun project and a quick win. The radio was designed to run on two batteries: an “A” or 6-volt battery for the tube filaments and a “B” or 90-volt battery for the plate voltage.