NN2K's Beautiful Pine-Board Al-Fresco Thermatron AM Transmitter

On Saturday mornings (around dawn) I often listen to the Old Military Radio Net on 3885 kHz.  I find it inspirational.  This morning the inspiration was provided by Rick NN2K.  His signal from Binghamton New York was makeing the trip to Northern Virginia.  When I heard him mention that he was using a "Pine Board Transmitter" I felt the urge to look for a picture.  QRZ.com provided the photo.  

Rich says he built this rig in January 2018 based on a QST article by Bob Heil.   FB Rich! 

And thanks to Ted W3PWW for running the Old Military Radio Net for so many years. 

Stop Me Before I Commit an Electronic Atrocity!

Sadly, not mine

I like the D-104 mic.  I bought one from Astatic shortly before they went under and it has provided good service with many different rigs for a long time.

I wanted another one, primarily for my DX-100/HQ-100 station.  I saw one on e-bay and a few days later it was here.  Unfortunately the seller was correct when they warned that it showed no output.  I had hoped it was a problem with the amp in the base, but no, it seems that the crystal element is quite dead.  It is an MC320 cartridge marked 7-77.  There is an aluminum sheet at the front that is apparently supposed to be riding atop a center support that connects mechanically with the magic crystals.  But it looks like a circular tent that has poked through the center support and collapsed around it.

Just a few years ago there were some options for replacement elements, but it seems that most of these are gone.  Bob Heil does have a dynamic element replacement kit for about 68 bucks. 

There are many schemes for putting electret elements in the old D-104 head...  I was reaching for the junk box but I stopped myself.  NO!  I will try not to commit this kind of electronic barbarity. (I have already sinned by killing several QF-1 Q multipliers and a couple of Benton Harbor lunch boxes.)  I will instead turn to the SolderSmoke brother/sisterhood and ask if anyone out there has a crystal element that could bring this old mic back to life.  My DX-100 deserves nothing less. 

Anyone have a D-104 crystal element in their junk box? 

SolderSmoke Podcast #133

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke133.mp3

April 19, 2011

-- KindleSmoke
-- Amazon's Whispernet (not to be confused with WSPRnet)
-- April 1 and the Perils of Plausibility
-- The difference (significant!) between Cream of Tartar and Tartar Sauce
-- A short Italian lesson
-- Polyakov QRSS
-- Snort Rosin's Mighty Mite (NOTE: NO FILTER!)
-- Fly Fishing in Space: 2 Meter Packet Beacons and the International Space Station
-- Upside-down Amplifier
-- Rock and Roll and Ham Radio: The Bob Heil Story
-- The Shuttle Discovery Lands in Northern Virginia
-- MAILBAG

Check out the new Ikea Microphone!

EME, Bob Heil, and The Grateful Dead

I really loved the TWiT interview with Bob Heil that I posted yesterday. Today we bring you a truly "must see" video on the History of Heil Sound. Really great stuff. Now I know that it was FATE that caused it to be a Peter Frampton song (using a Heil Talk Box) that helped me solve my RFI problem.

Bob Heil seems a really great guy. I liked the bio that he has on his web site.
http://www.heilsound.com/amateur/aboutus/index.htm

Name: Bob Heil
Bob Heil
Position: CEO/Founder
Started in: 1940
Bio: Bob's life mission is to have fun and bring LOTS of people along for the trip. Bob barely got through grade school and then started making more money than his teachers by playing the (Hammond) organ. Then Bob became a pimp for his high school gym teacher (Sarah can fill you in on the details). Bob had 50+ years of "just OK" life until God sent him a red headed bundle of joy along with her bundle of joy and together they have more fun than a couple of squirrels in a nut forest.