You might be wondering what that device might be. The nature of that gadget (It's a "QSL-40") and the man who dreamed it up make for an interesting story. I'll have details at Retrotechnologist, ...Epson had to insist I blindly install their image viewer as my default; they slipped it into the install tasks without identifying just what it did. I'll be changing that, since for a quick look, it's no better than the one Bill Gates stuck in and a little slower. Hey, peripheral makers, this kind of thing does not win you friends, okay?
At least it avoids packing its wallop in a "footprint."
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, Tom Swift And His Electric Bastinado. A classic -- and packs a huge wallop in someone's footprint!
ReplyDeleteI spy an 807 maybe..
ReplyDeleteEck!
Installations -- it's almost always a good idea to do a quick scan of the .inf before cranking up the install routine. Things you don't want can be commented out, and registry tweaks come at the top of that list.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Ric
Nope, it's a 6L6!
ReplyDeleteNice 6L6G rig. And with up to 600 Volts on the plate, and (usually) a 10 microfarad filter cap, the B+ did pack a pretty good wallop.
ReplyDeleteIn the days before electronic smog became so prevalent working Asia with one 6L6 was not at all uncommon. A rock ground for 7.020 or so and just under 70 feet of wire at about the same height could provide several hours of 18 WPM chat with a J, XL or AC. Now JA, BV, and Tibet is no more.
Stranger
It doesn't help that we're climbing slowly out of sunspot minimum and a pretty serious one; I'd rate that a worse problem than the noise floor.
ReplyDeleteRoberta-- I'm fascinated that you're interested in vacuum tubes and old radio transmitters. I got my Novice ticket as a teenager in the early sixties and had a lot of fun. Back then it was only good for one year unless you moved up to your General license. I wasn't quite fast enough on the code, so I let it slip away.
ReplyDeleteI see they've dumbed down the process in the intervening decades. On a lark, I took a practice Technician test online and passed it with no study whatsoever. I guess I should take it for real and jump back into ham radio.
Roberta, canpt post on retrotechnologist. It always just dumps the message and the only system I have that can post to it for some reason is the Macbook/safari.
ReplyDeleteA friend that blogs much suggested reset the comment form from the default "embedded" to either 'text box" or "full screen".
I read it but positing has been problematic.
If I can post I'll add a comment on an old TX I've reviving..
Eck!
Eck, I'll look into it -- I do see you've managed to post since.
ReplyDeleteAnon, 11:42: I always have been. My Dad had tube TVs and radios running well into the age I got interested in radio and back then, old tube rigs were cheap, while solid-state stuff? On a babysitter's income? Not a chance!