Larry AD6G

I might try an Icom IC-718 that's on hand as long as I'm messing with this stuff, but my guess is that all these solid state SSB rigs are not going perform well on AM. Oh well, maybe next year I'll be on with the Gonset G76. Also have a Heathkit DX-100 gathering dust. Now THERE'S some AM.

Backing off carrier power to around 20W gets it nearly to 100%, I had to drop it to 10W to where the modulation looked like it was hitting a solid 100%. I wasn't expecting it to be perfect but this is pretty disappointing. [3/x]

One thing is clear; while it has an AM button, they did not optimize this thing for AM. The FTDX5000 puts out around it's rated 50 watts of AM carrier, but I guess they assumed you'd be happy with 50% mod. That's all I can get out of it at 50W. ¡No bueno! [2/x]

[1/x] My ham radio boat anchor rigs needing too much work, I thought I would get in on this weekend's AM Rally (amrally.com) on my Yaesu FTDX5000. Turns out; not happening. I put it on a dummy load and scope to look at the AM mod for the 1st time...
#AmateurRadio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v26fTGBEi9E

The entire above mess was a mass of clip leads, including clip-leaded to the 10 pin cinch connector on the back of the G76. Everything out in the open on top of the bench; rectifier, caps, everything. It was something to behold. And to not touch.
#ShakeHandsWithDanger

tube socket attached on a bracket. In this I'd plugged in a 5U4 I think, filtered with whatever capacitors I had on hand. This did not supply the required 500-625 volts the transmitter wanted, but it came up with enough to put it on the air.
BUT...

In addition to missing a tube & meter, I also did not have a proper power supply for the rig. Owing to my financial circumstances at the time, the power supply was stuff I had on hand: A bench HV test supply for the 260v B+. And I had a transformer salvaged from something that had a rectifier [more]

The G-76 was kind of an odd duck, being an AM & CW transceiver. Designed around 1960, the '63 Allied catalog listed it for $429 (less power supply). That's $4574.92 in 2025! And this about the time when the SSB stampede was kicking off. Actually, I can't think of another AM multiband HF transceiver.

When I got it, the radio was missing it's meter, hence the Lafayette generic S-meter filing that hole. It was also close enough to work okay. Full disclosure; I didn't have a ham license at the time. So if I ever get this thing running again, I'll have to tweak the oscillators back to 10 meters. 😉

A 7 pin 6AQ5A vacuum tube is plugged into a floating tube socket that has short wires attached. The wire ends are stuffed into a chassis mounted 9 tube socket that is supposed to be filled by a 6CM6.

When I got it, the G-76 was missing a 6CM6 tube, audio driver for the 6DQ6 modulators. I was close to broke when I was in high school. So I rummaged through my small tube collection and came up with a 6AQ5A with close specs. The pins didn't match so this is what I did. Scary but it worked. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The AM Rally coming up this weekend got me thinking about dragging out my 100 watt Gonset G-76 transceiver. It hasn't been on the air since the early '70s & I need to come up with a power supply, so that isn't happening this time around. [1/x]
amrally.com #HamRadio #AmateurRadio

Big plus; your antenna can walk down stairs! It's what every ham wants.

You got everything right. I'll add if by chance someone picks a frequency that happens to be an open repeater input (very possible as likely they'll not know that such a thing as a band plan exists), their in-the-clear coms could be relayed over a HUGE geographic area. So yeah, not so secure.

BEST OXTAIL IN TOWN!

Yes at first glance I'd say that's not nearly as LOUD as HamClock is. 🙂 Like it or not, nice that it's available. I wonder if I can get it to run on my little Inovato Quadra when HamClock bites the dust. #OpenHamClock
#HamRadio

Have you used it? I just stumbled on it today.

GitHub - accius/openhamclock: "The original HamClock will cease to function in June 2026. OpenHamClock aims to carry on Elwood's legacy with a modern, open-source implementation that the community can... "The original HamClock will cease to function in June 2026. OpenHamClock aims to carry on Elwood's legacy with a modern, open-source implementation that the community can maintain and impr...

Any experience with this? I just stumbled on it.
github.com/accius/openh...

GitHub - accius/openhamclock: "The original HamClock will cease to function in June 2026. OpenHamClock aims to carry on Elwood's legacy with a modern, open-source implementation that the community can... "The original HamClock will cease to function in June 2026. OpenHamClock aims to carry on Elwood's legacy with a modern, open-source implementation that the community can maintain and impr...

Hold the phone, looks like someone is working on an open source version.
github.com/accius/openh...

This is terrible news. I had always assumed that #HamClock was aggregating stuff from various sources in the local software. I didn't know it was apparently all dependent on one cloud server. I suppose there's no hope of it getting open-sourced now.
#HamRadio Amateur radio #HamClock

bsky.app/profile/tomm...

Yeah I see a lot of that sort of thing on bluesky also. Those people are uninformed and/or naive.

bsky.app/profile/ad6g...

BTW that bsky account is getting excluded from my ham feeds. All it (probably a bot) does is promote postings on that one web site, which is there to aggressively shove ads in your face while linking to other people's content.

If you feel like it shouldn't go on the shit list, tell me I'll listen.

"Half loop" antenna? Alternate name: Half-resistor antenna. What an extraordinarily bad idea. "Multi-band'? Of course it is. HALF OF IT IS A RESISTOR. Why not just use a dummy load and it will be all-band. #HamRadio #AmateurRadio

Are you in the US? If so and you can setup a zoom session, you have the option of taking the exam online. (I don't know if online exams are a thing outside of the US.)
exam.tools

Added a few more photos (drone) to the thread of last weekend's ham radio Winter Field Day excursion. #AmateurRadio #WinterFieldDay
bsky.app/profile/ad6g...

When you just catch that perfect bit of natural lighting that highlights your gut.

Drone photos by Clifford KK6QMS. It's a pretty nice looking chunk of Mojave desert out there.

Correction; that's 'Colorado river aqueduct'

I went out of my way to find one of those. :) AFAIK they don't make buckets with that slogan anymore.

Jinx! We got 505 contacts. :)

[3/x] We were camped along Old Patton Road, just off of State Highway 62. About 44 miles east of Twentynine Palms, about 8 miles from the junction of the 62 and 177. The Colorado river canal runs about 5 miles to the east.
maps.app.goo.gl/VFSeGyXcT3CF...