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General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
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20th Nov 2021, 9:13 pm | #21 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,923
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Re: Cheapest way to listen to SW
If we want to try re-capture the magic of the ether, I tend to think that a homebrew receiver might help do that more than Tesco's. I recall that once I'd got my 2-valve working, the next thing to do was make it better, which is to say, improve the build quality, and learning all the time. Again, I think it may well be the case that valves have mystique (although the battery-heated ones don't glow much). Whether or not you'd now advocate a valve set or a solid state affair to get started on is hard to say. The use of a pair of old headphones is a must!
B
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20th Nov 2021, 11:46 pm | #22 |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: West Midlands, UK.
Posts: 1,571
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Re: Cheapest way to listen to SW
I still had all the original parts, plug in coils and the chassis so I rebuilt my one valver some years ago. The headphones were long gone but I eventually tracked down some vintage high impedance ones. A set of PP3s in series and a couple of D cells for the heaters, a wire down the garden and away we go.
I miss the magic of the crowded short waves that existed several decades ago but like all things technological time moves on. We are now at the other end of radio evolution but today’s modes are so clinical they leave me cold. Perhaps there’s truth in the old saying: It’s better to travel than arrive. The travelling in the 60s and 70s was fun. |