From the Newsletter history archives... Vintage Equipment From the May '87 Newsletter (entitled "Ham Radio News & Views"), it was noted that the Editor (Jim, N4EUX) had just gotten on Amtor within the past month and was greatly impressed with that mode of operation. He stated his new Pakratt-64 was performing flawlessly, problems only arising with his unfamiliarity of the unit and learning new "commands" as opposed to RTTY. He stated he was preparing to take on Packet as soon as he configured a set of cables. A plea was made to Novice & Technician members to take advantage of the new enhanced priviledges and to try out the digital modes. In another area, the owners of the Hibriten 220 repeater has invited area hams to make use of the repeater to increase activity on that band in our neck of the woods. At least one member, Mike (AA4TW), did exactly that...purchasing a brand new 220 rig to kick off a project to increase activity on the band. -Ed
(Each month, a brief spotlight will appear here on equipment you may have seen at hamfest swap tables. This month the spotlight is on the Swan SW-240 Transceiver ). While SSB became more & more prevalent during the late fifties by virtue of modified military gear or homebrew outfits, it wasn't until the early sixties that many companies geared up for the commercial onslaught of ready-made SSB units (transceivers & transmitters). This was the case of Swan Electronics (now defunct) which introduced several models of transceivers for the burgeoning SSB mass market which continued for a number of years. Their SW-175, SW-240, etc., models were named so for the band they were designed for. Thus, the SW-175 was for 75 meters, the SW-240 was for 40 meters, and so forth. But somewhere in the middle of Swan's lifetime, they had a corporate shift and models thereafter became named for their input power (SW-350 was a 350 watter, the SW-500 was a half-kilowatter, etc.). Our ham club, at the time, had a "lending" program and a member could check out a piece of unused equipment for a couple weeks. This I did... and I checked out our spare 100-watt SW-240 transceiver and took it with me on a vacation trip back home (Texas). I enjoyed using the rig, although it was a bit short on selectivity . The highlight of the trip, though, was when I tuned up on 40 meters, called CQ, and was answered by a Californian , Andy Devine, better known as "Jingles" of Hollywood fame. (For those of you that are age challenged, Jingles was Roy Rogers' sidekick in many early cowboy movies)!! -Ed Pg 3 Swan SW-240 Home Previous Next Now, try your hand at this month's offering: Hardtops were the rage in the auto industry in the years following post-WW II when the discharged serviceman, after a few years of achieving financial security, wanted something a litle less staid and much more spiffier in their passion to enhance their own self-identity. A hardtop did the trick! This particular one followed 2 previous years of successful hardtops for this automaker...one which had been running V-8's much earlier than their closest competitor. (Email me if you know! -Ed) ??? ??? ??? ??? Auto Trivia - [Last Month] Coming out of the doldrums in the auto industry in the years following WW II, many automakers began dropping antiquated styling for a fresh look. "In" was flattened hoods & fully-incorporated fenders and headlights. How did you do on guessing this 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline Deluxe ? Dyke (KC4HIX) and Clayton (KE4VJH) came real close on this one!

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