FedEx dropped off a couple of heavy boxes today, box #1 was filled mostly with homebrew gear and box #2 had a National NBS-1 receiver. The NBS-1 will need a lot of attention but the homebrew gear, along with the Sargent receiver, are in nice condition.

One item is a home brew receiver with plug in coils, it came with some documentation. The other receiver pictured below is a Sargent 10-CA covering from 540KC through 20 Mhz. It is a regenerative set that uses the same unusual band spread arrangement as my Sargent 11-MA. There is a single tuning capacitor with the rotor operated by the main tuning control while the band spread knob is mechanically linked to the capacitor frame and it slowly rotates the entire capacitor for band spread tuning. It seems like an odd arrangement but it works well.

Other gear included a cute little homebrew regen and a small AM/CW transmitter (separate power supply/modulator)

Finally, a homebrew band switching low power CW rig. No documentation so I will have to figure this one out. I have a Stancor 20P transmitter on the way from the same source so I have definitely hit my quota of black wrinkle for April.

Rodger WQ9E

That reminds me....I'll scan the NBS-1 manual tomorrow and remind me if I forget.....again.

I have your email address.

Carl

Carl,

Thanks, I really appreciate it but no rush. I am finishing up a couple of conference presentations over the next few days so it is work instead of fun time for me.

The NBS-1 will be getting its panel refinished, it is now sort of a beige color and definitely not the original paint. It also has a few spots of gray paint splattered for that modern art effect.

Rodger WQ9E

You can never have too much black wrinkle.
-DS

You can never have too many radios with a cat's eye too!!

Love those new homebrew rigs you found! Nothing like a well-built homebrew, I envy the talent some of the OT's had back in the day. Most of the homebrew stuff I come across looks like a 4 year old put it together. You must have some good sources. I especially like that superhet and the regen!

Bill

you must live up-north. not much of that way down here down south way unless it is up for sale at a million dollars or so

I like the dial backgrounds on the regen. It adds a lot to the receiver's
appeal. Nice finds; you must have a big shack!

This gear came from someone I became friends with after buying a Breting 9 receiver from him several years ago. Since then I have also purchased some additional Breting and Patterson gear along with the homebrew gear pictured above. He has been downsizing his collection while mine has been growing- thus the universe remains in balance.

I live in the Midwest but I always thought the best deals on gear came from the south I grew up on the MS gulf coast and I used to attend a hamfest there (Biloxi) but that was long before I started collecting vintage equipment. The only vintage piece of gear I purchased on the coast was a NC-183D that the owner of the local Lafayette store sold when the chain closed down, it was his personal radio. I passed on a Drake 1-A he had at the time and I regretted that decision for awhile, until I found a nice one that was reasonably priced. But that was around 1980 or so which was a long time before I caught the vintage gear disease. A few years later I did pick up a nice Drake C line when I went to the local electronics store in Biloxi to order my very first factory fresh rig, a Yaesu FT-980. I should have just stopped with the C line because it was a fully loaded late production setup that worked beautifully, the FT-980 had some significant shortcomings (phase noise, very poor power supply heat management, poor factory alignment).

TubeAMP, my nephew is finishing up his grad degree in engineering at UF and I would think that FL would be a great area for vintage gear finds with all of the technology and retirees. Of course the heavy stuff was probably sold before they moved to Florida. My BC-610 and HT-9 came from a ham who was retiring and leaving the area. I like the Hallicrafters HT-9 but it is a terribly awkward piece of gear to move around.

When I received photos of this group of gear the little regen with its maritime themed dials was the first photo of the group and I was pretty much sold on the gear at that point.

The only downside of home constructed gear that looks this nice is I know that I don't have the skills and ability to do such nice work. I can do wonderful things with wood but metal is an entirely different animal. My last big homebrew project was a 160-10 meter amp built into a rack cabinet. I built it to stand up to contest use and abuse so it is heavily over built with a very large P. Dahl transformer, oil filled capacitor filter bank, 5 KW rated roller inductor, vacuum tune capacitor, three 4CX800 finals with protective circuitry, etc. RF wise it is fine and it looks OK but nothing like the beauty of some of this collection of gear.

Rodger WQ9E

UF has a great engineering college. Harris has their own part of the school. I provide network services on campus.
not much at swap meets. sometimes SARS in Melbourne has some neet stuff. I was impressed with Renningers September meet in PA couple years-back. lots of nice stuff for good prices. some was overboard but that was the 'collector' items. I like the un-collector stuff myself. sometimes I run across a deal on the road. last week an Airline 525A for five bucks from an antique store no less. missing the push buttons but other wise great shape. still looking for a set of pushbuttons. found a warped set but will see

I have a couple of friends in FL shipping me gear mostly from estates but very little boat anchors and as you said they left that stuff behind in the rust belt. Its mainly amps that I convert to 6M and resell, and had a nice LK-450 delivered today.

Carl

TubeAMP,

Check your contacts at the university. You may be able to locate someone who could make some replacement buttons as part of a prototyping exercise in class.

true rslngl. maybe when I get the warped buttons I can make a mold with corrections. fill with epoxy colored brown

Ringsl? Whats the matter with Uncle Roger?

For one thing it's spelled wrong.. . It's Rodger, with a D.

Short hand for "Roger Dodger?" Sorry... couldn't resist.

I like that amp! Looks like something that rolled of the Harris assembly line.

[i][/i] Great Old Gear... I LOVE both Dial faces looks like sailing ships, Also
who doesn't love Tuning Eyes? Especially with it's face plate, never saw one like that
for that matter, never saw Dial Faces like that...
I live in Ft. Myers, Fla. and never find ANYTHING like that..
Keep up your Estate "Sailing" ... FRED...N3JFN

Rodger:

I really like the looks of both the Sargent and the homebrew regen...especially the regen. I have an assortment of homebrews and that one would feel right at home among them!

BR,

Terry