Starting Up My 19-Set Mk III Cdn

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Hello, Mike.

Nothing official at this point. Just got tired of staring at and dusting a perfectly capable 19-Set Mk III for all these years and decided it was time to get it back on the air. I originally restored it in the late 1970’s.

Hence the decision to get my Amateur Licence last year and spend a chunk of this year building a 134’ Dipole Aerial for it. A fellow Ham friend also has an original Mk III about 16 Kms West of me, also operating on a slightly smaller dipole. We thought it would be fun to try and connect and this Saturday is the first free day for both of us to see what happens. The fact it is November 11th added to our motivation. Probably the late 1960’s around here when the 19-Sets were phased out of use by the Military.

David

Let us know if it is a successful day. With the coming of the internet, the lower HF ham bands have gone very quiet around here. There was a time when the 80 meter band was so crowded it was almost impossible to find a clear frequency. Now, the bands are virtually deserted ! The old timers are all dead or dropping dead and the kids have nil interest . In years past when the phone calls were very expensive many people got a ham license as it was a cheap way to speak to relatives interstate or overseas, I used to hear them clogging up the bands with family gossip.

Was Dave Lawrence mixed up with 19 set nets ? I heard him being interviewed on the BBC years ago.