From the Newsletter history archives... Vintage Equipment From the August '87 Newsletter (entitled "Ham Radio News & Views"), it was noted that a plea was made by the Newsletter Editor for members to make a point to attend the monthly meetings, if possible (has anything changed in the past 21 years?? -Ed) . The reasoning behind this is that you can miss an awful lot when you don't attend! For instance, during the month of July 1986, at the meeting, a picnic was planned, a net was instituted, a raffle was discussed as a means of raising some needed funds for club activities and equipment (not a bad idea today!), and other topics included our proposed repeater, and lastly, changes to the Constitution & ByLaws!! Also in this issue of the Newsletter, the President touched on several important topics including searching for a more permanent & suitable meeting place for our club...one that would support a safe environment for a club station , one which would be well-suited for radio transmissions, and one that is easily accessible. Little did the President know at the time...but it took almost 20 years to achieve this goal. But the Caldwell County Emergency Management filled this requirement nicely! -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 National HRO-60 Receiver ). Before I leave the "National" brand category for a spell, I did want to touch, albeit briefly, on the National HRO Series. The series had quite a long running - beginning pre-WW II, and running all the way to the late 60's with various suffixes such as the featured HRO-60. The military used quite a number of these receivers (along with the venerable Collins & Hammarlund line of receivers). The HRO-60 and its immediate predecessor, the HRO-50, were highly favored (especially by the US Navy) and was due, in large part, to the fact that it used plug-in coils for each band rather than the" tapped-coil" concept that covered the whole band spectrum and which used a bandswitch to select the appropriate band. This, plus the physically huge tuning knob, slide rule indicator, and incremental step tuning incorporated into the main tuning knob, presented the user witha rock-solid, sensitive, accurate, and easy -to-operate receiver! Hamfest prices still fetch $200-300 . -Ed Pg 3 National HRO-60 Home Previous Next Now, try your hand at this month's offering: (Email me if you know! -Ed) Starting to feel the pinch of its competition, these vans were still being imported in surprising numbers during this year's depicted model. They were roomy (seven passenger), drove and rode like a charm, and could be had in a camper format or non-camper models could be converted to one. This year, this model even sported an optional air conditioner with overhead controls and a beefier engine to help pull its weight. A couple of these have been spotted in our area, although I surmise they are being used recreationally. ??? ??? ??? ??? Auto Trivia - [Last Month] This little car, like the Henry J, was a bit before its time! 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. It's a 1954 Nash Metropolitan Convertible , of course!

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