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Meet Brad, NB9M
NB9M is an amateur radio call. I'm a "ham" - an amateur radio operator. My background
in electronics goes back nearly 35 years; first in radio & television repair, avionics,
prototyping fabrication and instrumentation. As the consumer electronics and the defense electronics
industry changed, I drifted into Information Technology.
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I enjoy collecting, restoring and operating vintage communications gear as time permits.
Imagination in Times Past
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When I was a kid, and going back to the 1920's and 1930's, technology was the solution for everything.
Boys read Radio Boys and Hardy Boy books. Tom Swift had a gadget to solve nearly
every mystery. Brains Benton gleefully exploited technology to catch bad guys. In the early 1960's on television,
Supercar traveled in the air, on land or sea. Two-fisted, square-jawed superheros (who didn't
suffer from self-loathing and were comfortable with their sexuality) were not afraid turn the tide
against foes like Ming the Merciless, who was bent on destroying mankind with the death ray. Very cool, and very inspiring.
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With a mind uncluttered with the frenetic music, entertainment, gaming and mind-numbing product advertising,
a young boy could dream about what space and time travel would be like. How does a ray gun work?
How does a flying saucer fly? Could one build a submarine out of a discarded oil tank?
For me, it was radio. Beginning with an old Hallicrafters S-38 that my father brought home from
Day's Auction many years ago, I loved the glow of the dials; the mysterious squeals and signals from distant
nations captivated me. Much later, after obtaining an Extra Class FCC license, an Indiana Radio & Television
Repair license (no longer needed) and a 1st Class Radiotelephone license, I still am intrigued by the
phenomenon of real wireless.
I understand the Internet. I make my living as a Systems Analyst. But
there is still something wonderful and eternally magical about radio that the Web will never replace in our communicating,
tinkering and imagining. The howls and squeals of a medium-wave or shortwave frequency late at night
is far more appealing to me than the bedlum in PalTalk "chatrooms".
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Where Did Real Imagination Go?
Today our kids are growing up in cultural obfuscation. They are discouraged from dreaming, because invention has become
the domain of corporate enterprise and profitablility. They are taught to comform; not to lead. Anethsitized by the media,
academia, global instability and 24-hour entertainment availability, technology perspectives have changed. Technology has
largely become a means to ignore problems - not solve them. It has become a means to introduce weird people with
weird hair and bizarre body piercings. Worse, it has become a means to redefine what is "normal" in our culture.
Where is the promise of the atomic car we read about in Popular Mechanics 40 years ago? Where are the fantastic cities we
read about in the Weekly Reader in 2nd grade? The World of Tomorrow is nowhere in sight! We've taken a wrong
turn, and amateur radio is considered a throw-back to an irrelevant, out-of-touch time where changing the world for the better was really possible.
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Ham Radio Today
Ham radio is not just technology, but the remnant of a way of thinking. At hamfests, do you not see old hams digging through
dusty boxes, as excited as a little kids? To hear a skilled amateur radio operator talk about the world around them, it's realisic
yet positive. Though they come from all walks of life, they have looked beyond the technology offerings of today and continue
to imagine applications tomorrow. The simple thrill of communicating with a faraway place through the static
is, for them, a reminder of the simple, basic things that drive them: technology, innovation, and a bright future.
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| Some of My Sites |
As a Systems Analyst, I've built many, many sites. Most are on corporate intranets. Here are a few on the Intermet I think you may enjoy.
They're not only clients of mine, but solid, reputable people you can depend on.
 Electric Radio Magazine: www.ermag.com
If you enjoy operating and/or restoring vintage communication equipment, the established and respected Electric Radio Magazine is one of the few publications left.
It's reasonably priced, and a pleasure to pull out of the mailbox for an evening read. Most subscribers keep their issues for years, because
they contain valuable information on vintage equipment that can be found no where else. You can subscribe here, or purchase a number of
unique products for your shack.
ManualMan: www.manualman.com
Pete has been in the manual reproduction business longer than many of us has been alive. ManualMan manuals are consistently among the best
resources we have in our hobby. If you need technical or user documentation for your vintage consumer electronics equipment, do a quick search
on the online database. You can order online and have high quality documents in short order.
Gary's Halftracks: www.halftracks.com
Some of you may remember the WW2 vehicles with tank tracks in back, and truck wheels in front. If you do, this site will be back some memories.
Gary is the largest dealer for halftrack and scout vehicles on the planet, and always has them for sale. You can buy one to move your SX-28 around, to
pull up your mast, or get you in and out of a DXPedition site.
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| What's Currently for Sale/Swap |
See my For Sale items here
- Nice Hammarlund SP-600 JX-17 $375 Buy it Now!
- Restorable Hammarlund SP-600 JX $375 Buy it Now!
More coming soon.
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| Dream Shack Under Construction |
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| Recommended Internet Links |
Favorite Receivers
The Yaesu FRG-7 is
the kind of receiver you can live with. It's very nice looking, dependable and a good enough performer even today
to handle most DXing chores.
I believe the Drake R-4B receiver
is the best consumer receiver ever made. Though its dynamic range isn't the best, the sensitivity and selectivity
is amazing. The passive L/C filters, the preselector, IF shift and notch filter work together to nail down the most
challenging signal. Looks are important, too; nobody on the planet can call this radio ugly.
For hour-after-hour listening on the ham bands, many receivers and tranceivers (like Swans, Icom IC-71As and
receivers having audio-derived AGC) are lacking. They're fatiguing. The SX-101A is
a receiver that fits like a good pair of old shoes. The audio is sooooo smooth. Mine was built when I was born, and weighs a ton.
The dial scale is beautiful, and cruising the bands are a joy. Other receiver favorites are the Hallicrafters
SX-100 and SR-150 transceiver. These are radios you can listen to for many hours effortlessly. I compared an SX-101A side-by-side
for weak signal work. The low noise floor of the SX-101A made copy as easy - or easier - than the aforementioned Drake R-4B when
the signal isn't being hammered by splatter or congestion.
A surprising performer for a low-end receiver is the R-100A.
If you see a good one, grab it. You won't be disappointed. The matching T-150 transmitters are getting hard to come by.
Resources
Eugene Rippen maintains a good List of Vintage Nets and Frequencies
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Roger, W9BZ, recently visited the new shack in preparation for Straight Key Night (
