Thursday, October 3, 2019

The Collins Mechanical Filter -- An Advertisement from Australia, 1963

Peter VK2EMU sent me this ad a while back.  He said he regretted being unable to send a filter -- all he could send was the ad.  Thanks Peter -- I think that ad is a work of art.  Radio art. 

Thanks too to all those who sent me mechanical filters.  Pete sent the first one (it is currently in my HRO-ish receiver), then two more (both inside SBE transceivers, where they will remain -- it would be a sin to cannibalize those beautiful rigs.)  Then Mike Herr WA6ARA sent one as did Brad.    Brad assures me that the one he sent was boxed up by Art Collins himself! 

Thanks again guys. 

Brad wrote: 


To:soldersmoke@yahoo.com
Jun 23 at 7:49 AM

Kudos to Pete for 60 years! And I've always thought he was much younger than you......

Catching up on your podcast, I was surprised to learn that no one answered your call for a spare filter.  

I'm one of those older guys who is making his way back after leaving amateur radio in 1968 for girls and/or recreational drugs.

No one told me that The Force (electro-motive, that is) would require me to catch up on all the junk I would have acquired during my nearly 50 years away from the hobby (see list below).

A recent impulse purchase, the most beautiful thing with tubes ever made (SX-42), happened to be near Newington.  On the way home I visited ARRL HQ hoping they had some sort of a chapel where I could perform an act of penance and ask for guidance in dealing with my affliction.   Apparently, this is the equivalent of asking a crack dealer where the closest Narcotics Anonymous meeting is held. I ended up buying a copy of "200 Meters and Down" and have since acquired a couple of Atwater Kent projects. 

My place is full now, and my sweetheart would like back the half of her garage I've slowly taken by electronic eminent domain.   It seems that for every 100 pounds that departs to a ham fest, 125 pounds comes back.  Is this considered a normal ratio?

In order to be able to tell her that I have, indeed, gotten rid of something, I'll be sending you a F 455 filter (QRZ address OK?).

Thanks for you help,


--Brad 




3 comments:

  1. Equivalent to about AU$300 today. Just for the filter.

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  2. I agree with Brad regarding the SX-42 being the most beautiful of tube rigs. That was born out of a relationship between Hallicrafters and the famed industrial designer Raymond Loewy, who also designed the S-40 and S-38.

    I'm a big fan of Mr. Loewy's work, so I'm probably biased, but I believe that a great deal of Hallicrafter's success immediately after WWII could be attributed to his streamlined designs.

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    Replies
    1. Steve: I had one but didn't like it enough to really work on it. I remember it being mechanically flimsy. Maybe I was wrong. Gave it away. 73 Bill

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