Saturday 31 May 2014

Tri-Tet Fun Finished... So Long 10m?

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.

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.


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

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