From the Newsletter history archives... Vintage Equipment From the August '87 Newsletter (entitled "Ham Radio News & Views"), it was noted that the weather that existed then was very similar to what we just experienced this summer here in Caldwell County, as the reported temperature while I was writing that particular newsletter was 101 degrees! Elsewhere in this issue, Packet Activity was observed to be growing by leaps & bounds ...perhaps attributable to a large increase in the number of new nearby nodes and digipeaters. This, coupled with many hams trying out this "exotic" mode made for a lot of activity using the Packet mode [after going through a slowdown period for a few years, Packet seems to be re-appearing, on a small scale, here in our area in 2007. -Ed]. The club instituted the "LARC Club Net" (which began on August 29, 1987 on 147.33). Officiating as the first Net Control was Tom Land, KA4HKK. Later, this net was renamed as the "CARES Net" after the club embraced ARES and all its functions. A summer picnic was planned for August the 8th at Julian Price Park (and was well attended, if I remember correctly)! Lastly, the first Spruce Pines Hamfest (now defunct) in July was reported. (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 National NC-125 Receiver ). It is not too difficult to find one of these circa 1953 receivers on today's hamfest tables. Although hamfest prices are slightly higher than the introductory price by National, it is still a good buy if you want a nostalgic piece of equipment from the early-fifties. The NC-125 was actually an improved version of the National SW-54 (comparable to the Hallicrafters S-38 series at the time). In the National line, you see a slow transition from the circular tuning dial to one of the "sliderule" type and the NC-125 was no exception to the rule! This feature was slow to catch on in the ham fraternity...but catch on it did and Hallicrafters & Hammarlund soon followed suit! The receiver itself offered some rudimentary signal selectivity and an incorporated BFO made tuning a SSB signal (just starting to emerge as a viable mode) possible to the beginning ham and his budget. Expect to pay $85. - $125. today...depending on its condition. -Ed Pg 3 National NC-125 Home Previous Next Now, try your hand at this month's offering: Wouldn't it be spiffy if American manufacturers came out today with a similar auto to the one depicted below? Actually, this little car, like the Henry J, was a bit before its time! Extremely popular in the "Collectors" crowd today, they are a vanishing breed. This year, the little car came out both as shown below....and as a Hardtop. Although easy to get in & out of, and easy to drive, the auto's underwhelming power in an age of burgeoning muscle cars spelled its doom...as sales figures indicated in this, its final year of production. (Email me if you know! -Ed) ??? ??? ??? ??? Auto Trivia - [Last Month] These were snazzy autos by anyone's imagination. They were elegant in body design and were fairly peppy too (at least this one was!). This car sports a huge "fan" base and many are being restored by collectors today (if one can still be found in a restorable state!). If you accurately identified this auto, then you know it to be a 1964 Chevrolet Corvair Monza Spyder Convertible !

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