Down the Rabbit Hole
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 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.
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?
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.
It’s been nearly two years since a pair of classic old shortwave receivers followed me home from California, and they have been staring at me each time I enter the shop ever since. Neither are functional, and both are daunting restoration projects. I wanted to revive some of my old vacuum tube chops and collect some vintage test equipment before diving into these beauties.
Funny how things come full circle. When I was a young electronics experimenter, tube equipment was cheap and solid state devices were expensive and exotic. I could work with low-power diodes and transistors, but to accomplish anything with some power, tube circuits were king.
The annual San Antonio Radio Fiesta was a few weeks ago, and I inadvertently purchased a few radios. That wasn’t my intention, but circumstances got the better of me. — I should explain.
Marilyn and I enjoy the odd flea market ramble, and a trip to Bussey’s in Schertz, Texas was fun. It was our first time to this meet, and we didn’t really know what to expect. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but old tools, radios or cast iron always get my attention.
About 40 years ago, Bob (a high-school buddy) and I started a surplus electronics business. We were hoping to make a little extra money and feed our Amateur Radio habit. We started with a purchase of 18,000 pounds of stuff.