The '36 George Batterson CW QSO Party - Summary

The third annual George Batterson Memorial CW QSO Party has concluded and the results are coming in! The "GB" was introduced to honor George Batterson (W2GB), who along with Bruce Kelley and Linc Cundall, formed the Antique Wireless Association (AWA) in 1952.

For those familiar with the AWA's popular '29 Bruce Kelley QSO Party (BK), the GB differs only by the style of transmitters permitted. Transmitter designs as well as the tubes used must have been available in 1936 or earlier, and unlike the BK, the use of crystal-controlled transmitters is not only permitted but highly encouraged! This year saw a LOT of crystal controlled activity and participants quickly experienced what operating challenges were encountered back in the mid 30's.

Although night time low band conditions were not great, 20m operators enjoyed several transcontinental QSOs during the daytime hours. Thanks to those that responded to my information request, some of the results, comments and rigs used are shown below.

Once again, one of the most enthusiastic and succesful participants was Jacob, KC7WXD, in Reno, Nevada. For the record, Jacob's 20m signal from his new Jones rig hit 20db over 9 on my S-meter.

I've attached a pic of my 6L6 Jones for your GB page. This year was so much better. Made 17 Qs so far - the last 2 times we did this I got 6 and 5 Qs. I'm sure it's mostly propagation, but I do have more power now plus better antennas on 80 and 20. 

KC7WXD - Jones P-P 6L6s

And equally enthusiastic down in Virginia, Tom, KN4RRQ was armed with a plethora of rigs:

Historically, I seem to fizzle at the start of an AWA event and require some time to get that first contact and some momentum going from here in Virginia.  This GB proved totally different.  My first QSO was right out of the gate within a few minutes of the start, and one that really put a smile on my face--a 20m QSO with Steve VE7SL all the way across the continent (and legitimate DX) using my humble 20m Hartley sporting a single Type 27 and fed into a 160m Inverted-L up 80 feet to the horizontal between two trees and tuned to 20m!  Yes, I was off to a phenomenal start!

This new AWA event was different from the typical fare in other ways, too.  I made a dozen QSOs across the weekend ... it is a delight to see the west represented so strongly after years of few stations out that way but also to see the level of interest from those hams out there.  Way to go y'all!

The bulk of the rest of my contacts were with old friends and a couple more recent additions to the OT world running from OH to MD to SC and WV, and even had the pleasure of logging two on 160m.  I had a very good time with this event and the interaction between rock bound stations and those who could slide around was an interesting dynamic, and one that no-doubt would have been happening in the mid to late 1930s.  While I always have thought that the BK gives us the authentic experience of what 1929 and earlier sounded like on the bands--the GB does the same for a few years later.  And it is very cool how the operators get to try their hands at the radiomanship it took to get QSOs back in those days.  Tricky at times, even when we use our modern receivers!

All-in-all a very enjoyable event, with some very good and some more difficult conditions at times, and certainly different from my collected past AWA experiences.  A great idea that created chatter before, during, and after the event, which I think is a mark of growing interest and great success!

KN4RRQ - MOPA

KN4RRQ - 20m 27 Hartley

KN4RRQ - 160m Hartley

Back in Maryland, Bruce, WK3A was the energizer bunny of the east with a huge effort on all bands.

His 3 watts 20m signal was an honest 579!

I found the GB Event for this year was quite different than in the past. The West Coast guys were heard and worked for the first time, the propagation was probably much better for us. Seems everyone had better rigs, better antennas and certainly better skills than past events. The clever group using Discord faired pretty well making contacts that would have been impossible to hear just hunting around, plus differences in time zones.  More time was spent into the 20m operation and had great results, the Westies were probably thrilled! We still had some no tuner arounders (NTA'S) and contacts were lost. Thanks for the QSO's and see you BK!

Bruce brings up a good point. After all of the discussion previous to the GB about tuning up and down the frequency window after calling CQ, there were still stations that were obviously not doing that ... it's very frustrating for a crystal controlled answering station just a few kHz away!

WK3A - 20m Boosted Pierce

WK3A - 80/40m 6A6 Jones

WK3A - 160m P-P Hartley 45s

Just to my south in Oregon, W7JMP filled the logs of all west coasters with his last-minute 2A5 saving the day.

W7JMP - 2A5 80 / 40m Grid-Plate Oscillator

The GB was a good time for me. Thanks again for the info on your website. I based my transmitter on the circuit from the July 1933 issue of RADIO Magazine you had posted there.

I have intended to build a transmitter for the GB since summer of 2025, when learned about it and came into possession of many pre-octal tubes. I also like the radio technology distinction between 1929 BK and some of the other classic rig QSO parties were post -1936 gear is more common. This is the first time period in radio with crystal-control and many of the designs are based around pre-octal tubes. I made contacts on 40 and 80m throughout the Northwest with KC7WXD, VE7SL, VA7MM, and VE7CNF. I hope to work the East coast next year.

A couple weeks before this years GB, I chose a 2A5 crystal Oscillator based on July 1933 Radio magazine design for its simplicity.  This radio ended up being a 'junkbox special", with nearly all the parts coming from hamfests or other local finds over the last few years prior to deciding to build it. I always enjoy the process of collecting parts that way. If only I'd started a few days sooner, I would have made a few more contacts! This rig won't win any beauty contests, but I'm happy to say I tamed it into operation.

A couple hands-on learning experiences were that the impedance of the plate tank circuit matters. For expediency I had started with a tapped Air-DUX coil (not period correct!) and learned higher-L favored to isolate RF from the plate supply. I finally wound four-pin plugin coils for 40m and 80m. Because I was keying the cathode, rather than B minus as in the article, an RF bypass cap was necessary so that the meter wasn't choking RF. My 40m antenna, a homebrew 30/40m trap dipole, went intermittent and required me to climb onto the roof and resolder at the connection to the coax. But my favorite foible of all was with my 3550kHz crystal. In the middle of a QSO with KC7WXD the oscillator wouldn't start and I quickly narrowed it down to the crystal losing activity. I pulled it out and dropped it a few inches above the surface of the table! That re-seated the contact to the quartz or knocked impurities off it and I completed the QSO. I got a real kick out of that. 

The power supply is the same as I'd built for last year's Bruce Kelley QSO party, with a Type 80 rectifier. I modified the supply to capacitor input to raise the B+ to 320V with the key down. I paired it my Hallicrafters SX-100 receiver, my most capable hollow-state receiver.

West Virginia saw GB contacts being made by Matt, KC8ZQS.

I had a good time during this year’s GB event. It’s always fun to be able to do some real radio with the AWA group. I did however remember the date incorrectly, so I thought I had another week to build and test a rig! Good thing I saw the group posts! I put together the P-P 807 transmitter on Saturday morning and was able to use it for a few contacts, despite having some issues getting it to oscillate (note the twisted wires for feedback). It is really goofy but those are the parts I had to quickly put something together HI.  I did want to stick with XTAL control as much as possible but just as last year I don’t have many crystals, so I moved back to my Hartley in the interest of more contacts. I’m still learning the ways of crystal transmitters, hopefully next year I will have a transmitter that will give good results from 80m to 20m.

KC8ZQS - PP 807s Jones

The ‘29 Hartley is the one I used in the BK last year, runs a 203A tube. I consider it a ‘26 as its circuit and component values are taken from the first edition Handbook, and the physical layout is more or less stolen from several transmitters seen in QST around that time. I believe that style of transmitter was a little behind the times in 1929 although I’m sure still in use.

KC8ZQS - '26 Hartley

Across town from Jacob in Reno, is Howie, WB2AWQ, an AWA regular with an array of interesting homebrew gear.

I was active, on both Saturday and Sunday on 40M. I don't have any crystals for 20M and I have two for 80. Jake and I worked both 80 and 40M.  I was using a TX I made specifically for the GB contest, a 42 followed by a pair of 10s in parallel. The receiver was built by Art Hale W4AWS (SK around 1991)  was built after an article in QST 1932. Both are pictured here:

WB2AWQ - Parallel 10s MOPA

WB2AWQ - 1932 QST Rx

Gary, W8PU, being ideally positioned in Ohio, stirred a lot of interest on both sides of the continent with 6L6 his Tri-Tets. 

This years George Batterson was a blast as always. It was good to see so many of the west coast gang participate and make contacts.This year I used two 6L6 TRI-TET transmitters for 80 through 20 meters, and my 1932 Hartley for 160 meters. The antennas used were an 80 meter doublet for 80 and 40 meters, a Hygain Hytower used as an inverted L on 160 meters, and a three element tribander for 20 meters.

Thanks to everyone for the contacts and I'm sorry I missed working some of you.

Bob, N9HAL, managed to hand out Wisconsin to four lucky GBers.

The rig that I used is a breadboard version of a transmitter from the ‘36 Jones Radio Handbook ( I think page 124). A push pull type 53 osc (xtal controlled) and a neutralized final amp using a 2A3 triode makes roughly 10-15 watts out.

N9HAL - 53 / 2A3 MOPA

I managed to operate maybe a total of 3-4 hours during the evenings. Haven’t done much during the AWA events lately, they take more time than I have available to turn in a decent showing, hi! But I certainly enjoyed the four contacts that I  made during GB. 

Not sure if I’ll make the Bruce Kelly event but would be great to make a contact with VE7SL!

From down in South Carolina, Sam, AE4GX, made a last minute effort to successfully get in on the GB excitement with a homebrew 807 grid-plate oscillator.

This GB event was my first so don't have another GB event to compare it to but I have done several BK events with a tunable MOPA.

 

First I had a personal goal for this GB was to build a xtal controlled transmitter with  807 tetrode tube thinking this would be technically easy but my very limited set of useable crystals would make is a serious challenge. The GB event this year had the 1936 and earlier tetrodes available for the first time.

 

I found several circuits in vintage  QST issues and also found a series of build posts by Mike WU2D in YouTube. He was using a 6L6 but I figured an 807 was technically the same. It was. I built my Plate coil in a manner that I couldn't easily change the link position relative to the primary but a series capacitor in series helped get more power out to the antenna. I ran about 8 watts into fairly low  80 ft endfed wire with manual tuner. Using a 27 year old ICOM on receive.

 

Firday night at the start of the GB was busy on 40 meters. My two low frequencies 7039 and 7056 were busy with non-event stations that I could hear so started off with my two Novice xtals  7117 and 7125. The digi stations near 7117 were a problem but my three GB contacts managed to pull me out. Finding other GB stations was a problem and I think without some type of spotting finding low powered stations with heavy QRM would have been almost impossible for me.

 

AE4GX - 80/40m 807 Grid-Plate Oscillator

Friday night I tried 80 meters with my two xtals 3556 and 3560 but no luck on my receive.  I have to add that my local 80 meter noise level is S9 so there could have had replies that I couldn't hear.

 

BTW on both bands my RBN tests with these xtals and rig indicated that NE and mid-west coverage should have been possible.

 

Friday at the beginning of the event most stations wanted to try 20 meters since the time was right for them. Unfortunately I had NO 20 meter capability.

 

On Saturday I did manage to work  my third GB station, Tom KN4RRQ on 40 meters, and decided that my efforts were going to be in vane going forward without more help.

 

I did monitor and use DISCORD for this event. It was instrumental in keeping  me in the loop on other GB folks that were active and on how conditions were on the bands.

 

I have a suggestion that I have also hear from several participants on DISCORD and the AWAgroup group.io channel, it is, that GB xtal participants post somewhere their list of frequencies they could use. Not which one or when but just the possible frequencies then I, as a xtal GB station,  could manually scan frequencies that others  might be using and hear other non-xtal stations calling CQ AWA/GB during my scan. 

 

Non-xtal stations would not have the need to post their frequencies but when responding to a GB xtal station CQ just tune near the xtal frequency. Xtal CQers would start their scan +/- near their xtal frequencies and if nothing heard nearby then start their manual scan of possible known GX xtal users or other no-xtal CQers.  This is by xtal stations  need to extend their number of CQ BG or CQ AWA and their responses with CQers station call to give the CQer time to find the responder. Of course, non-xtal stations could CQ AWA/GB  on  any frequency they could legally tune.

 

I know this would not solve the issue but it would give xtal GB stations a fighting chance in these weekend events with lots of other ham activity going on.

 

BTW in the BK events with my tunable MOPA I did not need any spotting to get a much larger QSO tally in the same time frame with the same power , receiver and antenna. Yes, I realize their were more vfo based rigs. Definitely easier.

I am converting my 807 xtal  power oscillator to an 807 xtal TRI-TET {40 and 20) so I can get some of the 20 meter activity GB next year. You 20 meter guys had some fun. You guys on 40/80 meters had some real staying power!

 

I did enjoy the GB with my new 807 rig and look forward to the next GB too.

Can't wait for the next BK! Thanks to the group for firing up my interest in vintage radio.

 

Fellow BC'er and AWA regular, was Mark, VA7MM managing 17 hard earned contacts with his TNT.

VA7MM - '29 10-Y TNT

VA7MM has wrapped up the George Batterson QSO Party with a total of 17 QSOs. Please find our log and a station photo attached.

Here is a summary of the equipment used:

- TX: 1929 TNT Transmitter, Type 10-Y triode, regulated power supply. RF power output per band: 20m: 2W, 40m: 5W, 80m: 5W, 160m: 1W
- RX: Yaesu FT-817 portable
- Peripherals: Power/SWR meter, antenna tuner, band filters, straight key, and electronic keyer
- Antennas:
- TX: Multi-band dipole at 100 feet AGL
- RX: Multiband inverted vee (apex at 65’), sloping dipole (apex at 130’), and a Wellbrook receiving loop

Operation took place on Friday evening and Saturday as time permitted. Band conditions were generally good, with the best DX QSOs including:

  - KN4RRQ on 40m (3,653 km)
  - W8PU on 20m and 40m (3,246 km)
  - KB0HXL on 40m (2,140 km)

I was pleased to contact Jake (KC7WXD, NV) on three bands with a solid signal. Jim (W7JMP, OR) and Dave (WB7WHG, OR) also had strong signals at my QTH. Local stations Toby (VE7CNF) and Steve (VE7SL) filled in the rest of the log.

Thank you for organizing this vintage radio event in memory of George Batterson, W2GB.

And last is myself, VE7SL on Mayne Island.

VE7SL - RK-39 Grid-Plate Oscillator

I managed 18 contacts with highlights being WK3A on both 40 and 20. Bruce's amazing 20m signal from his 3W Pierce oscillator was just hard to believe. For the low bands (80 and 40), I used my RK-39 grid-plate oscillator which with a very active crystal can generate 20W out. For 20m only, the 6L6 Tri-Tet was used where it can put out 11W. 

Unfortunately there was not much worked on 80m other than the western crew and KB0HXL in Minnesotta. 

VE7SL - 6L6 Tri-Tet

It seems that this year's GB was enjoyed by all participants. Hopefully activity will continue to grow and there will be even more next year. If there is one common thread among several participants, it is not to leave building a GB rig until the last minute! If anyone needs a good winter project, there is lots of inspiring info available right here.

Recent 630m Fun!

Working new stations on 630m at this time of the solar cycle can be a rare occasion but two 'new ones' recently found their way into my logbook!

The first was Frank, K6FOD, in South Pasadena, to the north-east of Los Angeles. Now if Frank can have success on 630m just as short drive from downtown L.A, then most amateurs should be able to have fun on the 630m band!

In the fall of 2025, Frank’s main radio project was fabricating a top-loaded vertical antenna for the ham frequencies below the AM broadcast band. Up until then, his antenna was a large wire loop pointing east-west with which he had a lot of success working stations towards the east. He and I had several skeds while he was using the loop but since I was directly in the null of the loop, I was never able to detect a trace of his signal, nor was he able to hear me! The break through came when the vertical was erected ... but I'll let Frank tell more of the story ...

As a long-time shortwave listener I had always been very curious about the realm below the AM broadcast band, so not too long after I got my ham license in 2018 I started working on a 630m rig.

Most ops on that band use inverted-L antennas, but they are highly dependent on a robust system of ground radials. At my location, there just isn’t enough open ground to lay out an extensive radial network. This seemed like a show-stopper.

However, John Langridge KB5NJD, who was writing the MF/LF column for CQ magazine, suggested that I try a vertical loop tuned by a vacuum variable capacitor, which does not use a ground connection at the feed point. He mentioned that this was being used at the time by Ben Gelb N1VF. Between Ben and John, they helped out greatly on getting it going. Mine ended up with a circumference of about 100 feet.

By adding a 630m class D amp to my K3S, which has an internal 630m transverter, I was able to get on the air with digital modes, which at the time were JT9 for two-way QSOs and WSPR for beacon modes. The winter of 2019-2020, I worked a dozen ops in six states, the most distant being South Dakota. My WSPR signal was heard from Hawaii to the Cayman Islands.

Due to their size compared with the wavelength of the 630m band, loop antennas like the one I built are notoriously inefficient. Based on measuring RF amperage to the antenna, I calculated that it was sending only 47 milliwatts into the atmosphere. On the other hand, the winter of 2019-2020 was near a solar minimum, the point in the 11-year solar cycle when conditions are best for the low bands. And there was also a lot of activity on 630m that year because it was a fairly newly approved band and was attracting a lot of experimenters.

One downside of the vertical loops is that they are fairly directional, with a deep null off their sides. Because mine pointed east-west, it was exceptionally difficult to hear or be heard by stations due north.

After that experience, other parts of life got in the way, and I didn’t get back onto the 630m band until the winter of 2024-25. That winter, I used the same rig and vertical loop antenna as before, and worked eight ops in six states and Mexico.

But due north was still unreachable. Steve VE7SL and I gave it a good try, but neither of us could hear the other. So in the fall of 2025, despite my limited ability to lay out ground radials, I thought I’d give an inverted-L antenna a try. John KB5NJD again provided great guidance, and Steve VE7SL also lent very useful ideas.

At my location, going super tall wasn’t going to be feasible, so I ended up with a lightweight aluminum mast of 36 feet height. Because of my lot’s dimensions, instead of having one top wire to form the inverted L, I used two top wires in opposite directions, each 50 feet long — making what some call a “Tee Antenna.” 

Like inverted-L’s, its small size compared to the 630m wavelength meant it would require a substantial loading coil. I made this using a popular approach of a large coil wrapped around a 5-gallon plastic bucket, with a small coil inside it on a turnable rod, which allowed the total inductance to be adjusted. The big coil also had tap points. An impedance matching transformer was wrapped on a stack of four FT240-77 toroids. For a rig I decided to try an SDR transceiver which opened up possibilities of CW and SSB voice in addition to digital modes.

For the ground system, I tried laying out a set of 18 radial wires ranging in length from about 10 to 80 feet due to the site’s available space. My antenna analyzer indicated that R_feed was around 62 ohms. Measurement with an RF ammeter showed that about 1.25 watt was now getting into the atmosphere (this being the effective isotropic radiated power, or EIRP). The FCC limits 630m ham transmission to 5 watts EIRP, which means I have ample room for improvement, hopefully by adding however many more ground radial wires I can squeeze into my limited space.

After six weeks of operating in January-February 2026, this season I’ve worked six ops so far in three states and British Columbia. Hoping to add more if I can improve the antenna’s ground network.

When not in use for 630m, I’ve also attached the Tee Antenna to a multicoupler serving a small “skimmer farm” of SDRs that monitor FT8, CW and WSPR signals on ham bands from 630 to 10 meters. In addition, I’ve used it with an SDR for receive-only DX listening for non-directional beacons (NDBs), airport beacons that transmit below the AM broadcast band in North America. So far the Tee Antenna seems more sensitive than a number of other antenna designs I’ve tried for NDB listening. I also plan to use a remote tuner placed at the antenna to allow it to be used for CW, FT8 and voice QSOs on the HF bands.

K6FOD - 36' 'T' for 630m

Loading coil / variometer

Antenna impedance matching transformer

The other new contact was with fellow-Canadian, Karl, VE6KDX, in eastern central Alberta.

The antenna is a 160m Inv-L to which I switch in the Loading coil and matching transformer. It's all build to the N1FD Diagrams. https://www.n1fd.org/2019/10/27/630m-match/ 

I'm running 8 raised radials approximately 20m long 24" above ground on wooded survey stakes.

The LPF is a 5^th Order Butterworth design good for 800W using 3 big Amidon T-225-2 cores and 4 Capacitors, It's housed in an old Palomar 1-30mHz filter case.

Icom IC-705 TX/RX on 80m 3.674.20mHz into the XVTR

The MiniKits XVTR is from AUS which I had to build and enjoyed doing so. https://www.minikits.com.au/eme223

I drive the tranverter with 1W from the IC-705 and the XVTR Drives the Amp with 1-2W. The 630m Amp is powered with 24v for 220W output into the home built LPF. (36v gets 510w Output)

The Amp is from Greece and came assembled on it's PCB but I had to add the heatsink, The only thing you have to watch out for is the heatsink is at full input positive voltage so make putting it into an enclosure a little challenging. https://www.dxworld-e.com/product-page/am-cw-digi-linear-amplifier-800w-mf-hf-0-4-3mhz

The Auto Sensing Antenna RX-TX Switch is also from Greece and DX World. https://www.dxworld-e.com/product-page/auto-rx-tx-switch-1-80mhz-1200w

Karl has put together a great looking station and should provide a lot of excitement for the guys back east when they hear a VE6 on 630!

The "George Batterson 1935 CW QSO Party" - Summary

The first George Batterson CW QSO Party has concluded and the results are in! The "GB" was introduced to honor George Batterson (W2GB), who along with Bruce Kelley and Linc Cundall formed the Antique Wireless Association (AWA) in 1952.

For those familiar with the AWA's popular '29 Bruce Kelley QSO Party (BK), the GB differs only by the style of transmitters permitted. Transmitter designs as well as the tubes used must have been available in 1935 or earlier and, unlike the BK, the use of crystal-controlled transmitters is not only permitted but encouraged! There are no restrictions on the type of receiver used.

It is anticipated that activity in the GB will continue to grow as more amateurs become aware of it. In spite of terribly poor propagation, the initial GB found 20 participants from both Canada and the USA, making trans-continental contacts on 20m and below. Some of the results and participant's comments are shown below.

One of the most enthusiastic operators was Jake, KC7WXD, near Reno, Nevada. Jake did not let having an output power of just 3 watts spoil his fun!

Jake, KC7WXD

A new convert to vintage radio activity, Jake constructed a beautiful Tri-Tet oscillator using an 802 and homebrew plug-in coil forms made on his 3D printer.

Transmitter details here

"I had a great time with the inaugural George Batterson 1935 QSO Party! One of the most enjoyable parts of these events is getting to research, plan, and build a vintage transmitter. It's a great opportunity to learn and connect with history. For the GB 1935 event I chose to build a 59 tube powered Tri-Tet transmitter from the 1935 ARRL Handbook. I later switched to the 802 tube (after some minor rewiring) as it was easier on my crystals. For the event, I made QSOs on 80, 40, and 20m. Despite the poor band condx, I had a great time with the new event this year! I got a total of 6 contacts:

 80m: WB2AWQ 

40m: VE7SL and WB2AWQ 

20m: VE7SL, VA7MM, and VE7CNF 

I am definitely looking forward to the next event!"

Have a listen to how Jake's 3W on 20m sounded here in VE7 land (the frequency changes are by me tuning the receiver).

Also down near Jake, was Howie, WB2AWQ in Reno, making 5 contacts on 80 / 40 with a MOPA, Hartley and a TNT GB combo. As much as I hunted for Howie, I never managed to catch him on either weekend.

"Hi Steve! First time in the George Batterson, was good! Yes I normally work you in all the various old tyme contests! But the GB took place the second weekend on the first two nights of Passover, then the first weekend I had family commitments. I ended up running some of my stuff from the BK weekend (had to put a 40M coil on my 211 rig) because I ran into severe issues trying to create a 35 style rig.  But I made a few contacts, one across the country in NC, the rest were sort of local. But band propagation wasn’t the greatest. Overall, the GB is fun, and I hope it is kept alive. Nice to have some different tubes, and of course, crystals to work with. Hoping to create a twin rail style rig using a pair of 10s and a 42 xtal driver. Will send pix when I do."

211B '29 Hartley at 25W - 40m

Original 1921 Hartley (80m) with 10s at 25W

Back in eastern Canada, Lou, VE3AWA held down the fort on 80 and 40, making 11 QSOs with his widely-admired TPTG P-P 210 transmitter as well as a TNT at 10W.

VE3AWA P-P 210s TPTG

Although the GB is not presently a 'contest', if it were, W8PU would have to be the top-dog when it came to QSO totals. Gary in Ohio made an impressive 18 contacts, working 90% of the active participants, in spite of the terrible propagation. Gary managed all 3 VE7s on 20m as well as snagging a rare 20m QSO with NE1S! 

W8PU's GB arsenal consisted of a MOPA (20W), Hartley (6W), Tri-Tet (10W) and a P-P 59 Jones Oscillator (12W).

W8PU's P-P 59 Jones

W8PU's 20m Hartley uses a 27. It sounds like a Collins!

Larry, NE1S in NH, put his 8W Tri-Tet to work, wringing out 5 contacts including VE3 on 80 and W8PU on 20. Unfortunately, tax time kept Larry restricted to just one weekend of the GB.

NE1S  160-20m Tri-Tet 

Larry's beautiful 'Old Buzzard' operating bench

Tom, WA9CW in WI, had great success with his 80m 6a6 P-P Jones crystal oscillator at 5W out. Working Ohio, Rhode Island, and North Carolina shows that nothing too elaborate is needed to have fun. It seems like the P-P Jones circuit was as popular in the GB as it was back in the 30s!

"Here is a pic of the Jones 6a6 Push-pull rig that I was using.  

I think I could have made more GB qsos if both leads of my doublet had been hooked up. Didn't realize that I was operating with a crippled antenna till the party was over. Three GB QSOs and checked into the MI Traffic Net with the 6a6 Push-pull and a one legged antenna on 80M. That's a real testament to the little rig. I'll be ready on 40m and 80m with a good antenna  next year. Thanks to the organizers for a great qso party." 

WA9CW - 6A6 Jones P-P 80m xtal control

Bruce, WK3A in MD, put in an amazing performance with his Jones P-P oscillator using a 53. This workhorse design produced 12 QSOs between 80 and 40m and included the highlight of the GB for me ... working Bruce on 40m on weekend two when conditions were slightly better. I think Bruce must have a pretty good antenna and location!

"Thanks for the signal reports Steve. I put a great deal of time and effort into getting the most power out and good signal sound. 

Actually have a QRP wattmeter, so yes, the 80m output is 7 watts and the 40m output is 8 watts. Of course depends on xtal activity. I did fracture one xtal during the shake down, it was 7.071, a not useable spot anyhow due to Digi people there all the time. 

It uses a #53, as the power supply I built powers other 2.5v Hartley's and it has an adjustable slider power resistor to use it for 2 tube #27's or 1 tube #53 and keep the filaments at 2.5 v. It has two optimized tank coils for 80m and 40m. A series variable was put in place to find the correct wire turns and coupling, then a fixed mica cap added in series to make it plug and play on both bands.

Please find attached GB Log, total of 12 contacts. There could have been more but alas, again, some of the participants were not tuning around for the Xtal control guys.

I think it is time to "create" another TX, one for 20m. It would be great to get some east coast action for the west coast ops."

WK3A - Jones P-P using a 53 on 80 / 40m

W8KGI, Jim down in New Mexico had rough conditions and unfortunately managed only one GB contact. He converted his '29 MOPA to xtal-control just for the event, something that others may like to consider as well. His conversion info will be found here, towards the bottom of the page.

"I'm attaching my log for the recent George Batterson 1935 QSO Party - with all of one contact.  I spent several hours on the air both weekends, and the only contact I managed was with Steve, VE7SL on 20 meters on 4/13.  There were plenty of signals on both 20 and 40, but I heard only Steve working the GB. 

Honestly, this seems like just one more AWA-style event where contestants are limited to such low power that their signals just don't make it out west to New Mexico and beyond.  And limiting transmitters to 1935 or earlier and to 25 watts max of course cuts out rigs using slightly newer 6L6s and 807s which could easily generate at least 5 dB more output. 

For me, AWA events generate so few contacts that they really aren't worth the effort.  In this GB and the recent JR I made all of one contact each.  By contrast, in the last Classic Exchange I logged 49 contacts."

Please don't give up on the GB Jim. Conditions were particularly poor out west and hopefully there will be even more activity next time out.

N1EPJ, with operator Rob at the New England Wireless & Steam Museum, fired up an original, very old MOPA, putting RI into the log of five very happy GBers on 80m.

"N1EPJ, plans to use a crystal controlled set from Gil Johnson, W1DZ. This one has a UX-210 tube for the RF oscillator, and an RCA-247 pentode tube for the Crystal oscillator. Is this an XOPA? We modified it so that we can use commercial crystals. One of our volunteers recently made a power supply for it. We will try it for the first time soon."

More details here

KD8TUR, Dave in OH, made 3 QSOs with his Hartley.

"Hi Steve!   Really enjoyed the GB!  I only had a few QSOs, but I missed out on the first half.  I can send a pix of my trusty Hartley.  Tnx to you and Gary for trying to get this going, ( I know it is a lot of work.)  Hope the next one brings more Ops!!   Want to QSO wid you then!" 

KD8TUR 10 Hartley

KN4RRQ, Tom in VA, used his Hartley for 7 hard-earned 40m contacts. The 'four-holer' uses P-P parallel 27s in a unique design. Another highlight for me was working Tom on 40m.

Out west, three VE7s were active, hoping to encourage easterners to stay up later than usual!

VA7MM, Mark, ran his 10-Y TNT on 160 through 20m to snag 11 contacts. 

"VA7MM operated both weekends in the George Batterson QSO Party. Station equipment used included:

• TX: 1929 TNT Transmitter, Type 10-Y triode, 10W input, 3W RF output, regulated power supply.

• RX: Modern, Yaesu FT-817 portable.

• Peripherals:  Power/SWR meter, antenna tuner, band filters, T/R switch, keying interface, straight and electronic keying.

• Antenna: multi-band dipole at 100 feet above ground level.

It was exciting to start off the GB with a QSO on 20m with W8PU at the outset, thank you for the QSO.

Jake, KC7WXD, with his crystal controlled 1935 TriTet was an easy QSO on 20m. Near the end of the first weekend, I squeaked in a 40m QSO with Howie, WB2AWQ, during rapidly declining band conditions.

Locally, QSOs with VE7CNF and VE7SL added to my log on the 160, 80, 40 and 20m bands. VA7MM wrapped up the GB with a total of eleven QSOs of which ten were on the first weekend and one on the second weekend.

Thank you for organizing this first event in memory of George Batterson, W2GB."

VA7MM's GB setup

Toby, VE7CNF, also managed 11 contacts on 160 through 20m using his unique MOPA. It's a Colpitt's Oscillator with P-P 45s putting about 4W into a P-P 45s power amplifier. DC input to the amplifier is 25W. It really sounds wonderful on all bands! 

KB0ROB, Harold in MN had 3 QSOs on 80m using his Colpitss MOPA. Although he managed contacts with NC and MD, I never did hear Harold or anyone else on 80 other than locals as conditions here were truly awful.

VE7SL's GB efforts were split into a weekend of crystal control and a weekend of the Hull Hartley. A total of 14 QSOs were made, 9 being on crystal control.The highlight for me was working recent arrival KC7WXD in NV on both 20 and 40, with his newly minted Tri-Tet and working Bruce, WK3A in MD with his little 53 Push Pull Jones on 40m.

For the crystal controlled weekend I used a P-P Jones with 6F6s at about 8W out on 80 and 40m. On 20m I used a Tri-Tet, also with a 6F6, at about 4W out. On weekend two, the Hull Hartley was used on 160-20m.

P-P Jones used 6F6s

Tri-Tet used a single 6F6 on 20m

I'm calling a 'success' for the first-ever GB '35, with 20 stations participating and 15 logs officially submitted. Thank you all for your interest and effort! With the first one under our belt and a few tweaks, the next one should be even more fun ... all of the changes and details for the next one can be found right here.