E-Skip Time

Yesterday, Mike Schaffer, KA3JAW, alerted me that E-skip season is upon us.

Mike wrote, "Es season in western EU started on Sunday, May 14th. Es season in US started yesterday, along the west coast inland towards Texas. Today Es started in Virginia and reached as far north as Wisconsin."

So today, I began monitoring the VHF Propagation Map and all day long so far (it's 1700 UTC now), there have been big openings in the southeastern USA. The map does not differentiate between types of VHF propagation, but whenever a big red footprint appears on the map, it is worth investigating if you are under that footprint.

Still No Go

Thomas, K4SWL, posted a bunch of photos on his website (The SWLing Post) that he took at Hamvention yesterday as the booths were being set-up. He even had a photo of the TAPR booth, which I will share with you!

TAPR booth, Hamvention 2017 (K4SWL photo)

No Go

I had to cancel my plans to attend the Hamvention this weekend.

Working on my "new" radio

I began restoring my "new" RCA Victor Model 56X5 AM/SW wood cabinet receiver.

First thing I did was remove the chassis from the cabinet to inspect its innards. The components all look intact, but who knows what condition they are in. 

The only apparent issue is the pointer assembly of the frequency dial. All the pieces seem to be there, but the pointer is not on its track and I have not figured out how it is supposed to be positioned on the track.

I removed the crusty dried-out power cord with its missing insulation and obtained a new power cord to replace it.

I found a replacement for the missing tuning knob from Holy Moly Tubes via eBay. 

That's all for now.

Xenia Marks the Spot

This time next week, I will be on an Interstate in Ohio heading for Hamvention. Although this will be my 30-something trip to the big show, it will be different this year because of the new Hamvention venue in Xenia – specifically, the Greene County Fairgrounds.

I will be staffing TAPR's booths (Building 5, booths 5001-5003) off and on Friday and Saturday and I will be attending the TAPR-AMSAT Annual Banquet Friday evening.

If you will be attending Hamvention, I hope to see you there!

My "New" Radio

A friend gifted me her family's old radio, a circa 1945 RCA Victor Model 56X5 AM and SW wood cabinet receiver. The cabinet has some wear and tear from being used, one knob is missing and the power cord is dried out and missing pieces of insulation, but it looks complete otherwise.

The radio cost $35 when it was new. That $35 equals $470 in 2017 dollars, so it was an expensive radio post-World War II.

I plan to replace the power cord real soon now, power it up and hope for the best, but I suspect it may require more work than just a new cord to get it up and running.