Sunday, August 14, 2016

An Irish Knack Story


I think Tryg should get that Ladybird receiver working again. 
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Hi Bill,

Thanks for the great podcasts and also to Pete for his unique contributions. I have been interested in radio since I was a kid but only really got back into the hobby in 2009. Back when I started playing with electronics in the 1970's I hankered after a soldering iron of my own. I bought the one in the picture in 1977. A "modest" 60 watt job, it was the cheapest one in the shop but I used it to harvest parts from all manner of abandoned old iron. I was really surprised to find it clearing up recently. The snips in the picture was a tool that my late Uncle had surplus and passed on to me, it too played a role in my scavenging for parts. In Ireland in the 1970's it was hard to get parts. I remember my Grandmother taking me from Galway to Dublin - 3 hours each way!!!) to buy parts for my first project, Rev. G.C. Dobbs venerable transistor radio from the "Making a Transistor Radio" book by Ladybird. I still have the book and the dusty remnants of the radio, long since plundered for parts. When I returned to the world of radio it wasn't long before I discovered QRP and the GQRP club. It was a real surprise to find the good Reverend was at the helm there. I just thought that the picture and story might raise a smile amongst followers of the blog. Thanks to yourself and Pete for the podcast. Keep up the great work! QRP Forever!

73,

Tryg de EI7CLB

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1 comment:

  1. Hi Tryg,

    Many thanks for the post --delighted to see that you are back warming up the iron! Now you have my interest --what is a Ladybird receiver? Today the internet lets us catch up on the very current technology but what happened in the 60-80's may not be so obvious.

    73's
    Pete N6QW

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