Real Radio & Before there was SOTA, There was W7ZOI & Friends

[RadioRay]

During the early 1970's, th ARRL Handbook in my school library had the image of a simple, crystal controlled, 1/2 Watt 40 meters, direct conversion transceiver being held in one hand and operated while wearing mittens caught my imagination and never let go.  That rig , " The Micro Mountaineer", is still the stuff of legend.  It was likely the first ham 'trail friendly radio' to become generally known.  Designed and built by an avid mountaineer and outdoorsman, it was not designed for comfortable shelves in an air conditioned shack: it's a rig for the real world of snow, sun, dirt and operating inside of your sleeping bag - where it's warm.  Here is a ink to a W7ZOI's website - one of the real poineers of /p  ham radio.

http://w7zoi.net/stroke7_2010/port67.html

aaaaaand WA7MLH's Excellent page
(WARNING !  Graphic pictures of REAL RADIOS, often open with their wires exposed. )

http://www.neoanderthal.com/wa7mlh.htm


Real Radio !  I LOVE it !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Br7cfp0rcM


de RadioRay  ..._  ._

[cockpitbob]

That's some great stuff there, and it make me jealous.  Back in the 70's he was doing it all with pencil, paper and a hand calculator.  No Spice simulation or internet to go read how 100 other people have already done it.  By the time he got something working he really, really understood it.

OTOH, I cringe at the thought of fitting some of that stuff in a backpack.  I think we are now in the glory days of QRP and SOTA type activities.  We have true Gods of portable radios walking among us: Wayne Burdick and ERIC SWARTZ of Elecraft, and of course Steve Weber shipping 100s of Altoids sized kits from his dining room table and many others I can't think of at the moment.  Combine the rigs with the incredible battery technology we have today and I don't see how things could get much better.

[RadioRay]

Oh Yes - having come from those days ( as a poor copiest, at best ) is why I marvel at the MTR series, Elecraft and the (relatively) inexpensive YouKit, multi-band QRP rig/shortwave, that we have now. The availability is limited only by ability to pay.  This is the up and the down side:

ease of acquisition -vs- knowledge gained to build what was needed.  //buying a mega-station for contest points has been one result. //

Until fairly recently, I built, modified and made due, because it was the only way to get what I wanted in my rucksack: tiny, lite, battery sipping QRP rigs with hinged lids, rounded corners and built-in keys: did not exist in a catalog of the time.


de RadioRay ..._  ._

[gil]

Dave Benson!

[RadioRay]

I have my old SW-40+ on the bench right now , being rebuilt.  many miles with THAT in my ruck - a real wonder.

[cockpitbob]

Dave Benson!

Of course!  Small Wonder Labs
{slaps forehead}

[gil]

I built a sw20, a classic 80 (AM), a Warbler and of course Rock-Mites. Dave sent me the last Warbler ever to leave his house. He built a house in the woods and is retired now.. My next kits will be a Rock Mite and a 1-Watter. I guess I decided SSB isn't for me..

Gil