Over the past three winters, I have
done almost all of my HF operating on 10m CW, using my one-tube tri-tet crystal
controlled "power" oscillator. Using a pre-war round 40m Bliley crystal, the
oscillator produces about 4 1/2 watts of power on its 4th harmonic....enough to
work the world during the peak sunspot years we have just passed through. From
what the experts are predicting about future solar cycles, we could be in for a
long dry spell on 10m and I hope that 11 years from now I'll be able
to continue where I have left off.
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6L6 Tri-Tet Oscillator |
Since setting up the
tri-tet on 10m, all of the stations I have worked have answered my somewhat
chirpy CQ....many simply to find out what 'old' rig I was using and some to tell
me that my 'transceiver' must have a problem. Most of the old timers recognised
the sound of a simple transmitter while the newer amateurs either loved it or
hated it. When I first got on the air as a teenager in '63' many signals still
sounded like my tri-tet, especially the Russians, who were always recognised by
their chirpy transmitters.
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10m Tri-Tet Fun |
Of course I could always leave
the tri-tet on the operating table and plug in the 15m coil (where 3rd harmonic
energy is 7 watts) and ride Cycle 24 down the spectrum for next winter....but
somehow it just wouldn't be the same challenge. To me, 10m has always been the
second 'magic band' and nothing else in the HF spectrum compares to it when it
really shines.
I've a more detailed description of the Tri-Tet-Ten
project on my website for those wanting to know more....and, you can listen to the
'chirp" for yourself and decide if you love it or hate it too!
Tri-Tet-Ten:
http://members.shaw.ca/ve7sl/tritet.html