To learn more about electronics in a very different and effective way, check out my Patreon page. There are many more videos there, and I share some of my very unique circuit designs as well. Click this link: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab
Mr Carlson's Lab : I love your videos, My Father was a radar engineer for Lockheed Aircraft Service he had a ton of those bakelite crystals and used to hand trim them to a specific frequency back in the day, quite a long lost art form in my opinion. Thanks for sharing. Kind regards, Eric Dee
Mr Carlson's Lab I was wondering if I could get you to build a nixie tube clock that I could buy from you or maybe a kit with directions how to put it together
I’m not one who usually buys into online stuff. But I’ll take the dive and see what’s up. I enjoy electronics and I’m always looking for more insightful ways to learn
I had one of these when I was a kid ! I was going to a class to learn CW and theory, on my way to get my novice license ....! It worked pretty well, the ham I bought it from showed me all about the HV items and how to tune it up. I can still the remember the smell of the dust burning on the tubes ! lol
I would have given my left arm to have your tutorials on demand when I was 10 years old and even younger. I had no information back then. Just fascination , electrical toys to take apart and the odd electronics project kit. So great Carlson Thx.
I remember building my first CW transmitter from an old television set purchased as junk from the Salvation Army thrift shop for $1.00. I salvaged the excellent power transformer, but I was very fearful about putting the transformer primary across the 120 VAC power -----that would be a short circuit, wouldn't it? So I studied up and learned something about inductance and reactance. My one piece of equipment that I designed, built and operated entirely by myself was a telephone answering machine. This was circa 1970 when home answering machines really wern't available at all. I used a capacitor across the telephone circuit and when the ringing voltage came from a call, that voltage went through the capacitor and triggered a relay, set up as a locking relay. That turned on power to a couple of tape recorders, and power was witched between one that play a message on an endless loop of tape and then a thermal time delay relay switched to a second tape recorder that recorded a message. Worked reasonably well, and I never got in trouble with the phone company! I had everything nicely packaged in a plastic box. Don't ask me about the OTHER box that allowed me to receive long distance calls without the caller being billed for them....
Im a new broadcast "engineer" hire. I am in awe of the ingenuity and brilliance of the engineers before me. I feel really dumb when I look through their old mods and hand drawn schematics. I fell into this job and want to say thanks.
At least they did back then more than today. Cartoons in the 1990s didn't have to warn you "don't try this at home", because people weren't completely dumb back then. Nowadays, people use their brains less and less.
Falcrist some people indeed shy away from responsibility, perhaps better to say held accountable. If you touched the b+ it was usually your own fault, you didnt sue the maker because the possibility of being injured existed.
As you go back in time, you see that people are less and less likely to be held accountable for their actions... not more (at least in part because almost everyone carries a decent quality video camera in their pocket). Education and intelligence levels are slowly increasing.... not decreasing (at least in part because if you do something stupid, you'll quickly find yourself on youtube or facebook as an example for everyone else). And I was warned PLENTY of times in the 80s and 90s not to try things at home. What the heck are you people smoking?
Not the same crap you've been smoking, apparently. I disagree that intelligence levels are slowly increasing. People are still doing stupid things and it seems even stupider things nowadays than before. The whole YOLO and ensuing idiot maneuver that inevitably followed comes to mind.
Great video! My first transmitter as a novice was a Globe Scout 680a, very similar to the 40A. That 5 pin connector in the back that looped the heater and B+ through it was used for when out in the boonies. A 6 volt storage battery would light the tubes and a dynamotor or vibrator pack would provide the plate voltage. Many older receivers had the same loop through plug/socket. My dad was a ham too. Today he was born exactly 100 years ago today. He has long passed though. But it was cool to see this today. Dave-N2DS
I had an old war era transmitter I found at an auction in Summer of 1969 right after I got out of the army. It was missing a tube so I wrote to the Army Base I had been at for information and they sent it to me and I was able to turn it on and check it out, I sold it to a family member who was a abnormal ham in the family who made ham radio his life not a hobby and he used it, good memories. Thanks Paul.
Please show your improvements. I was first licensed in 1958 so I spent a lot of time inside the box where high voltage lives. Transmitters were dangerous but amplifiers were worse!! I still have several, home built, amps running a pair of 4-400. Years ago, 4-400 pull outs from commercial radio stations were available for around $7.50 each.
I feel like an electronics engineer that is willing to sell something with exposed high-voltage wiring to hobbyists' homes where children are liable to get at it isn't really taking responsibility for their actions
@@toresbe I completely agree. It would be trivial to put a shield over exposed line-connected and high voltage terminals. It was irresponsible to leave the 120V relay screw terminals exposed to anything that might drop across the closely-spaced terminals.
Ahhh, the good old 6146. Years ago, Just about every transmitter I had, used them and never a problem. My first was a Heathkit DX-60B as well as a Johnson Viking II. I miss them now as I homebrew solid state these days :-)
"This was built in the 50s, an era when people still took responsibility for their actions." And we had a much saner and better functioning society as a result.
Now we have an insane society who calls anyone a "conspiracy theorists, or a Racist" for being against angry cross dressing MEN who demand to use the women's toilets. . . Society are ok with little girls being subjected to cross dressing MEN in the toilets . But they are Not ok with anyone trying to tell them it's wrong . . Society 🤪👈 . Durrrrrr 🤪👈 . I'm a member of society 🤪👈 . BAAAAAA 🐑 . Baaaaa 🐑 . Durrrrrrrr 🤪👈
Wow! This takes me back to the 1950's when I was a boy and did all kinds of things like this. I don't know how many vacuum tube radios and TV's I scrapped or repaired back then. But then I went away to college, discovered computer programming, and that changed my life forever.
Great video. When I first got my general in 1959 I built a Globe Scout 680A which was similar to this one, but ran more power. You have a great way of explaining things!
thank you most kindly for taking the time to fully explain what (and how) is going on with these circuits, you are definitely an old school ace, a rare breed these days....and...who knows how to explain it comprehensively to boot! thank you sir.
Always impressed with how good of a communicator Mr Carlson is. Literally everything of importance is explained, proper safety warnings are always given. Another excellent video!
Love seeing your vintage electronics presentations .I began my journey in electronics at the age of 12 am now 62. You are absolutely the best instructor. You remind me of a couple of my first instructors in advanced electronics and color television design and circuitry classes in 1971 @ ft. Bliss & 1975 Homestead afb . And of course my father who started it all and i learned about radar and guidance systems from. THANK YOU !
That tuning reminded me of tuning up the old radio teletype sets back in the 1970's they were some powerful units, could talk around the world with them if you had the right antenna, we took over an old marine compound back in 1971, the jar-heads had two poles that had to have been over 60 feet tall with antenna's strung between them every so many feet. Buddy of mine had to strap on some Gaff's and climb those poles to tear down their sets and replace them with antenna's cut to our frequencies. Now I took the Field Wire-man course back when I first enlisted in the Army and we climbed poles for a week, but I would have been scared to death to climb that far. Ah well, I do envy that old buddy of mine; haven't seen him since '71 but I did hear from him in '77.
@@ProperLogicalDebate I received a nasty shock one evening when working on a 100 Watt class plate modulated transmitter. I had it powered up into a dummy load, plate voltage on full, and I have the meter connected and was adjusting a sliding tap resistor with a screwdriver while monitoring voltage to the modulator tubes. At some point I got a bit careless and my index finger touched the metal stem of the screwdriver while my left hand contacted the chassis. I got full DC plate voltage in one hand, through my heart and out the other. It knocked my across the room. For a few seconds I saw a bright flash then stars, had a metallic taste in my mouth, felt off balance. When I recovered a few moments later I could smell burned flesh where the current entered my right hand. It was a painful shock and when I think about it I can still feel it to this day (it happened around 20 years ago). Since then I never entered my hands near a transmitter (or any HV device) with it plugged in and the power on. Even if I am making adjustments it gets powered down, unplugged and discharged first before my hand gets anywhere near the insides.
Boy did you bring back very fond memories, owned one of these in the early-mid sixties when I had my novice license along with a National NC 303 receiver....thank you Dad, (miss you).
I don't know that much about electronics, but watching you doing your thing does three things for me: 1) Total relaxation. Seriously, watching your videos takes the stress right out of my day. =) 2) I learn lots of things. Your explanations and methodology alone are worth a college course. 3) It inspires me to dive further into the world of electronics myself. I love old electronics. To see them restored and appreciated so much is very satisfying. Thanks for doing this.
I still have a Globe Scout 680, that my dad built from a Kit, back in the mid 50's. He or I could never get it to to work with a VFO. Worked great with crystals. Your video has Inspired me to drag it out and preserve it, Been in storage many years. Thanks for your very informative video.
you make me miss my former head tec. don foster so much as i am now 78 and sow much water under the bridge so to speak ( we were in portland , or. usa ) thank's carl stout . can't beleve i have forgot so much !!
Love it! I started out in my teens working on old black & white TV’s then tube type CB’s. Grew up in far West Texas (120 miles to the closest city, El Paso) so I didn’t have much access to any other gear. After high school and marriage I went to a tech school and was in the first class that didn’t teach vacuum tube theory. So I learned it pretty much on my own, so I really enjoy watching and learning more and more about the nuances of vacuum tubes. I am currently restoring a 1929 Radiola receiver and man has that ever been an education. Hand wound wire resistors “cards” for lack of a better term. “Mystery” components as they are referred to in the literature, which just turn out to be a negative feed back variable capacitor, but Radiola was not labeling it on the schematic in an attempt to skirt around a German patent on the circuit design. Wholly different world than other vacuum tube gear I have previously worked on. GE Pre-Progress, and Progress line, Motracs, and Mastr II and Micor high power base stations & repeaters. Great video Paul. Side note: I was taught that a pi network was called that because the schematic was shaped like the Greek letter pi. Please “Hot Rod” that transmitter, I would love to see your improvements to that circuit.
My Dad had this radio back in the 50s. I have always wanted this transmitter, good find. I have my ham license too, but ham radio is not like it used to be back in the day. I see the old filter capacitors have been replaced with a bank of new electrolytic caps. Electrolytic capacitors become trash after 10 to 15 years.
When tuning a pi tank you tune for a dip it will a big one at first then open the load cap to bring it out of dip, re dip this time it will be smaller and output power will increase keep repeating this process until you get the smallest dip this will be the maximum power Phil
My vote is probably too late, but I would love to see your mods to this unit. I'll poke around, maybe you already did one. F.Y.I. I spent my first two years in the Air Force working on AM avionic transceivers (AN-ARC793 and AN-ARC546) that were installed on the F4 fighter. Lots of fun with tubes and high voltage and motorized mechanical tuning. We eventually retrofitted these planes in 1981/82 with an all solid state modular unit AN-ARC164. Back then I had all the latest and greatest test gear that I don't have now. Thanks, Mr. Carlson, VERY interesting and instructional video.
What a great video. I operated a Globe Scout 65A, a later version of this one, when I got my Novice license in 1955. The Globe Scouts were very affordable but unrefined. Constantly replacing the transmit switch was a way of life for owners. The AM modulation was ‘screen modulation’ which is a cheap technique. These were typically used by novices on CW. I bought mine new and paid $ 100 wired and tested. A kit version was available for a few dollars less.
Oh what memories you have brought back. There was the Globe Scout, Globe Chief and the monster Globe King. I still have much of the old AM transmitting equipment like an ART-13 from WWII Aircraft. Lots of high voltage there. LOL
I had HIGH voltage go through my hand once when I was working on a Transmitter. Almost 3rd degree burns. I still have the scars. It was MY Fault. LOL. It doesn't hurt to be electrocuted, but when you wake up...if you do, and your hand is on fire and smoldering, nothing takes away the pain except Demerol in the Ambulance. Morphine does nothing for burns. The voltage melted/punctured my fingertips. Your body part doesn't hurt for about 20 minutes because of the adrenaline, but after 20 minutes it's unbearable. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Never have both arms inside a radio at once if you can help it. Take off all rings and Jewelry and only plug radios into a Variac and Isolation Transformer to work on them. ;)
I had a similar shock off the tube EHT on an old projection TV. About 30kv from an overwound mains transformer, supplying the 1.5 inch projection tube .. Knocked me across the room, and boy was it painful.. Still have the scar...but still alive 60 years later..!!
Very informative and explained very well. The only thing that I would have liked to have seen, was how the cw note sounded and what the a.m. modulated signal sounded like through a receiver. I gave you a thumbs up for the video.
Huge fan. Just started watching your channel a few weeks ago and I’m going to share to my music groups which are large and recommend everyone to watch. Not only informative but fun to watch for all. Keep up the great work and I’m learning alot so maybe i can fix some of my old vintage gear for my pro recording studio since im a producer, engineer, songwriter and multi instrumentalist and love using vintage gear and also just opened my own record label so i put your channel on on the big screen for all my clients to watch on breaks. Knowledge is power to all. Sincerely, guitar Michael hordorwich
Oh and also do you have any spots open for the $20 patreon left. I got a plethora of vintage gear for my Recording studio i need to get back in action and need help. Thanks again. Sincerely, Michael hordorwich
I know you're just being diligent when you warn us about the high voltage and the like but I'm guessing most of us who watch your videos come from the school if you stick your finger in a light socket it your fault not the company that made the light socket. Love your videos. I've learn more than I care to admit watching your videos. Thanks for taking the time to produce them.
Thank you sir for another great video. I still use my old Swans. Also like you informing the new folks about B+ and its potential for being lethal and being responsible for your own actions.
Hello, Paul. I just wanted to say, thank you for sharing your knowledge on vintage electronics. I grew up basically tagging along in my grandfathers Radio/TV shop. Just recently, I decided to restore some old equipment. Your channel has been such a valuable resource for me. I look forward to following along on Patreon as well. Keep up the superb work and your passion for teaching electronics.
One of the wisest statements you have made, "back in the 50's an era when people took responsibility for their own actions" So very true and a lesson many should learn from. Those were the days when NO ONE would buy a wire antenna and many of us built at least 1 transmitter, feedline, our antenna relay boxes and we repaired our receivers. We depended on the elder Ops in our community for advice and parts if they had them. No hand holding and no cottling. When we were old enough to go off to college and exams came, our professors didn't bring kittens or Lama's to help us cope with the stress. You either passed your exams or repeated the courses; no excuses either way. What has happened over the last 50 years??? Not saying all of the latest generation are wimps, certainly NOT. However way too many are.. I'd vote for modding the xmitter as well. I would not be surprised to see audio improvements byt trashing the 2 RC packs in the audio path. It would also be interesting to look at the signal on a spectrum analyzer and see if improvements could be made to improve the second harmonic radiation. 73, Glenn WA4AOS
id rather live in the present time than back then, even with the problems of today. its nice to not have to shoot/kill people trying to assault/murder me because im gay.
Tubes. It seems like it's becoming a thing of the past and less and less people have knowledge of it. Everything is mosfet, solid state and fiber these days. I did have a chance once to see an output tube for a AM tower. It must have been twice as big as one of those old LPS street light bulbs.
Yes, Mr. Carlson! Hot rod the Globe Scout transmitter, please! I learn something every time I watch you work on this old gear. Today I learned the meaning of 'dipping the plate current', something I've always been curious about. Thanks!
WRL made great equipment. I enjoyed watching this video very much. I had the Globe King 400C that put out 400 Watt on AM. It was rock solid and I had all the coils for the 20 - 160 Meter bands. I had a Johnson Viking 122 VFO and a wonderful National 183D Receiver. There are a couple of pictures of me with my rigs back in 1958 on my Facebook timeline. My call sign was K9BYI. I got my novice license when I was 11 years old. Looking forward to seeing more videos on older ham gear.
My father (who recently passed away) told of a gentleman named Buck who stuttered so bad it was almost impossible to understand him. But, when he keyed his mic, all the stuttering went away. This was back in the early 50's, so I'm guessing this is the kind of equipment he used. Dad said he was always welcome in Buck's ham shack, but was forbidden to go in when he wasn't there... Now I know why :-) Wish dad could have seen this video, thanks Mr Carlson :-)
Another great master class in appreciating useful electronic gadgets from the golden era ! Very much enjoy the value of your experience and knowledge in this field, and safety warnings not to attempt working on these without proper methods and understanding. Between you and Uncle Doug, I have returning interest in electronics that I had a young man. Thanks for your effort !
Wow. I have never seen an older tube-type radio in action. What an excellent presentation! Modern transceivers make things so much easier and a lot safer! I would love to build a tube-type transmitter one day and operate CW. I have a passion for Morse code. 73 de AD0WE
Yes, please do "soup it up" on the Globe Scout! The first transmitter I ever had was a Globe Scout. I missed it so much that a few years ago I found one at the Huntsville Hamfest and bought it. Sadly, one of my X's family stole it and I no longer have it. Have not seen any since the last one that I bought. Looking forward to the "depotting" of the transformer too.
Smiling! Back in the 80's I worked for Missouri Radio Center/MOcom. The owner took in an old WRL Duo Bander 84. World radio labs. I gave him 15 dollars for it, took it home. To my surprise it worked on 80 and 40 meters, after I cleaned it of all the hay and bird poop. Took it out of storage a few years ago and not working so good. Your video may have inspired me to try and get it running again,
I have several vintage 1950s AM transmitters like this including a Globe King 500, made by the same company that made the Globe Scout. However the Globe King is considered a "500 watt" transmitter consisting of 3 decks mounted in a rack. Namely a power supply desk, a modulator deck and an RF deck. It is basically a 4-400 tube modulated by a pair of 811''s. Also have a couple 100 watt category plate modulated transmitters including a Johnson Viking 2 (early 1950s) and a Johnson Viking Valiant (also 1950s). I've had them all on the air at one time or another. Just for the record I am a licensed ham.
I know that YOU know the importance, but for everyone else's sake, you should put a bit of emphasis on predicting what you expect to get out of the RF output, and ensuring what you are connecting the RF output TO is capable of safely accepting any reasonable level of RF. Warnings about B+ safety are for your safety, but you should also give a moment of planning for your equipment's safety. The 6146 was a very popular tube for HF in the 1960's, and if you have a 6146B, then you can get almost 100 Watts of RF out of it. (I remember the bad old days when we used a 100 Watt light bulb as a dummy RF load; your Marconi RF Analyzer would have been unimaginable magic in the Globe Scout era.)
Thats the great thing about electronics, whatever sphere one is into, and no matter what your skill level, there is fun for all, such is the diversity of our great hobby.
Interesting video as always, Paul. Thanks. I was surprised to see that you detuned the final tank circuit to get more output. I was taught that you always tuned for the dip and used your loading control to increase the plate current (and output power). So, the procedure was dip, load, dip, load, dip, etc. until you got the maximum plate current (up to what is safe for the tube) possible, but were still at the dip.
I would very much like to see more RF / HF, Tx, Rx projects Paul. As a new Amateur and a Patreon following along in your Electronics Course, I'm finding your training highly instructive in working towards my Advanced license. Many thanks!
@@MrCarlsonsLab I love listening to HF although there's not as many Stations online as before, maybe you can include repair of some of the classic receivers from this period Grundig Sony etc. Thank you.
Hi Paul , Yes it would be nice to see you hot rod this one, I use a Kenwood TS 820,so dipping and setting the plate is away of life, scares many hams I must say, I've had my TS 820 from New, she has't bitten me yet:) Paul de M0BSW
It looks as if the "Phone/CW" switch interrupts filament voltage to the voice tubes when in "CW", so it might be a good idea to give them a few seconds to warm up when switching into "Phone" mode before transmitting. By the way, I seem to recall that the tuning instructions for the 70's vintage RCA TT-25FH (television transmitter) aural PA pointed out that maximum efficiency would be found just to one side of the plate dip. You would dip plate current it to get close, then peak the reflectometer (power output meter), just off the dip point. Excellent video, as always!
Lol i know mine was a Heath Kit DX 100. It had a pair of 6146s and the parasitic suppression didnt work well. I had to stay on top of the tuning especially around 10 meters or the plates would turn cherry
Thanks, Mr. Carlson, this brought back so many memories. Between 1975 to 1976 I used to repair radio transmitters and receivers. There were many tube type transceivers then. I started out in around 1961 working on the old black and white televisions. Talk about getting electric shocks, the old TV turners had about 800 B+ on them. The picture was between 20Kv to 30 Kv. Do you remember the 6u6 tube ? I will be be very happy to keep watching your videos.
Pie filters: When I learned about them in 1968 or so I spelled it "Pi filter". I was taught that it was similar to the mathematical symbol for PI where the left leg is a Cap, the right leg is a Cap and the top hat is the choke. It was interesting to hear another method.
I still think the Internet and computers really did a disservice to the younger generation. I am 66years of age , and grew up in the age where we could build our own home brew sets, and shortwave and ham radio were just so much fun, because we were actually trotting all over the globe with air waves and no physical connection with coax such as with cable television! Slow scan ham radio was so cool!
Don't forget depending on the construction and/ or the direction you plug a non-polarized plug in the chassis can be live. I had an old guitar amplifier (1950's Chicago 10 watt tube amp), all wood box, had a plate amp in the back with a non-polarized plug. It gave me a nasty shock when testing it out, had it on a ballast so not as bad as it could have been.
I'm trying to learn or relearn some electronics. I really enjoy how you talk about how they were used in the past. The bit of history you add is cool, great channel. I remember going into the drug store with my dad and checking tubes to see if they were bad. They had a setup so you could check many tubes and below the tester there would be a cabinet filled with new tubes.
To learn more about electronics in a very different and effective way, check out my Patreon page. There are many more videos there, and I share some of my very unique circuit designs as well. Click this link: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab
Mr Carlson's Lab
mvh Tomas
Mr Carlson's Lab : I love your videos, My Father was a radar engineer for Lockheed Aircraft Service he had a ton of those bakelite crystals and used to hand trim them to a specific frequency back in the day, quite a long lost art form in my opinion. Thanks for sharing.
Kind regards, Eric Dee
Mr Carlson's Lab I was wondering if I could get you to build a nixie tube clock that I could buy from you or maybe a kit with directions how to put it together
Mr Carlson's Lab awesome videos thumbs up keep up the good work
I’m not one who usually buys into online stuff. But I’ll take the dive and see what’s up. I enjoy electronics and I’m always looking for more insightful ways to learn
I had one of these when I was a kid ! I was going to a class to learn CW and theory, on my way to get my novice license ....! It worked pretty well, the ham I bought it from showed me all about the HV items and how to tune it up. I can still the remember the smell of the dust burning on the tubes ! lol
i am 78 years old now, but when i was a kid in detroit area, W8BXO, doc. weston, taught me everything about ham radioˇ bless his souľ Great show
Mr Carlson you have the perfect voice and tone for your videos. very professional.
So much of this just goes over my head, but I still enjoy watching these videos.
I would have given my left arm to have your tutorials on demand when I was 10 years old and even younger.
I had no information back then. Just fascination , electrical toys to take apart and the odd electronics project kit.
So great Carlson Thx.
I could'nt agree more.
I remember building my first CW transmitter from an old television set purchased as junk from the Salvation Army thrift shop for $1.00.
I salvaged the excellent power transformer, but I was very fearful about putting the transformer primary across the 120 VAC power -----that would be a short circuit, wouldn't it? So I studied up and learned something about inductance and reactance.
My one piece of equipment that I designed, built and operated entirely by myself was a telephone answering machine. This was circa 1970 when home answering machines really wern't available at all.
I used a capacitor across the telephone circuit and when the ringing voltage came from a call, that voltage went through the capacitor and triggered a relay, set up as a locking relay. That turned on power to a couple of tape recorders, and power was witched between one that play a message on an endless loop of tape and then a thermal time delay relay switched to a second tape recorder that recorded a message.
Worked reasonably well, and I never got in trouble with the phone company!
I had everything nicely packaged in a plastic box.
Don't ask me about the OTHER box that allowed me to receive long distance calls without the caller being billed for them....
Im a new broadcast "engineer" hire. I am in awe of the ingenuity and brilliance of the engineers before me. I feel really dumb when I look through their old mods and hand drawn schematics. I fell into this job and want to say thanks.
I was having a really bad day, then I saw your video and while my day is still kind of bad, it brings some sunlight into it. Thank you!
dito
Same here, pneumonia on a holiday off because someone wouldn't stay home while sick...
@@garbleduser Where do you live that you couldn't claim the time as sick time instead of holiday?
"when people took responsibility for their actions" true words right there.
Great video yet again mr. Carlson. Love watching these!
I don't think there has ever been a time when people have been particularly inclined to take responsibility for their actions.
At least they did back then more than today. Cartoons in the 1990s didn't have to warn you "don't try this at home", because people weren't completely dumb back then. Nowadays, people use their brains less and less.
Falcrist some people indeed shy away from responsibility, perhaps better to say held accountable. If you touched the b+ it was usually your own fault, you didnt sue the maker because the possibility of being injured existed.
As you go back in time, you see that people are less and less likely to be held accountable for their actions... not more (at least in part because almost everyone carries a decent quality video camera in their pocket).
Education and intelligence levels are slowly increasing.... not decreasing (at least in part because if you do something stupid, you'll quickly find yourself on youtube or facebook as an example for everyone else).
And I was warned PLENTY of times in the 80s and 90s not to try things at home.
What the heck are you people smoking?
Not the same crap you've been smoking, apparently. I disagree that intelligence levels are slowly increasing. People are still doing stupid things and it seems even stupider things nowadays than before. The whole YOLO and ensuing idiot maneuver that inevitably followed comes to mind.
Great video! My first transmitter as a novice was a Globe Scout 680a, very similar to the 40A. That 5 pin connector in the back that looped the heater and B+ through it was used for when out in the boonies. A 6 volt storage battery would light the tubes and a dynamotor or vibrator pack would provide the plate voltage. Many older receivers had the same loop through plug/socket. My dad was a ham too. Today he was born exactly 100 years ago today. He has long passed though. But it was cool to see this today. Dave-N2DS
Thanks for stopping by Dave!
Someone threw away the dynamotor for one of my radios. He thought, and rightfully so, it was an old automotive part.
I had an old war era transmitter I found at an auction in Summer of 1969 right after I got out of the army. It was missing a tube so I wrote to the Army Base I had been at for information and they sent it to me and I was able to turn it on and check it out, I sold it to a family member who was a abnormal ham in the family who made ham radio his life not a hobby and he used it, good memories. Thanks Paul.
I love this tech Im 64 years and studied the old hetdrodine tube type tv and radios. Dont see much of this at all anymore. Thanks for the video.
You're welcome Greg!
Yes, I want to see the modifications! Thank you for this beautiful piece of vintage gear! 🙌
“An era when people took responsibility for their actions.” Love it 😊
An era when people took responsibility for their action: how true this statement!!!!!
Please show your improvements. I was first licensed in 1958 so I spent a lot of time inside the box where high voltage lives. Transmitters were dangerous but amplifiers were worse!! I still have several, home built, amps running a pair of 4-400. Years ago, 4-400 pull outs from commercial radio stations were available for around $7.50 each.
Very cool, thanks for showing how the old tube circuitry works.
Glad you liked it!
"This was built in the 50s, an era when people still took responsibility for their actions" 😂 Couldn't have put it any better!
Well said! That really struck me as I'm from this era...things were simpler then and developed situational awareness as a bonus.
I feel like an electronics engineer that is willing to sell something with exposed high-voltage wiring to hobbyists' homes where children are liable to get at it isn't really taking responsibility for their actions
😂
@@toresbe I completely agree. It would be trivial to put a shield over exposed line-connected and high voltage terminals. It was irresponsible to leave the 120V relay screw terminals exposed to anything that might drop across the closely-spaced terminals.
bummer for those that did that and still had accidents and died.
I have learned so much about transmitters from these vids!
Yes, please show modifications! I had one of these back in the late 50's; brings back a lot of nostalgia...
Ahhh, the good old 6146. Years ago, Just about every transmitter I had, used them and never a problem. My first was a Heathkit DX-60B as well as a Johnson Viking II. I miss them now as I homebrew solid state these days :-)
"This was built in the 50s, an era when people still took responsibility for their actions." And we had a much saner and better functioning society as a result.
Now we have an insane society who calls anyone a "conspiracy theorists, or a Racist" for being against angry cross dressing MEN who demand to use the women's toilets.
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Society are ok with little girls being subjected to cross dressing MEN in the toilets
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But they are Not ok with anyone trying to tell them it's wrong
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Society 🤪👈
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Durrrrrr 🤪👈
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I'm a member of society 🤪👈
.
BAAAAAA 🐑
.
Baaaaa 🐑
.
Durrrrrrrr 🤪👈
Yes please to the modification video!
No modifications needed please!
Wow! This takes me back to the 1950's when I was a boy and did all kinds of things like this. I don't know how many vacuum tube radios and TV's I scrapped or repaired back then. But then I went away to college, discovered computer programming, and that changed my life forever.
Great video. When I first got my general in 1959 I built a Globe Scout 680A which was similar to this one, but ran more power. You have a great way of explaining things!
I want to add his electronics course is the best I have seen. It also covers surface and through hole, tube , and PCB making.. Awesome course !!!
thank you most kindly for taking the time to fully explain what (and how) is going on with these circuits, you are definitely an old school ace, a rare breed these days....and...who knows how to explain it comprehensively to boot! thank you sir.
You're welcome Blake!
Yes, I would like to see !
Always impressed with how good of a communicator Mr Carlson is.
Literally everything of importance is explained, proper safety warnings are always given.
Another excellent video!
Love seeing your vintage electronics presentations .I began my journey in electronics at the age of 12 am now 62. You are absolutely the best instructor. You remind me of a couple of my first instructors in advanced electronics and color television design and circuitry classes in 1971 @ ft. Bliss & 1975 Homestead afb . And of course my father who started it all and i learned about radar and guidance systems from. THANK YOU !
Terrific video, you teach me so much! Thanks Mr. Carlson!
My pleasure!
A modification video on this RF amplifier would be marvelous Mr Carlson! I'd be interested in signal clarity and RF power increases for example.
That tuning reminded me of tuning up the old radio teletype sets back in the 1970's they were some powerful units, could talk around the world with them if you had the right antenna, we took over an old marine compound back in 1971, the jar-heads had two poles that had to have been over 60 feet tall with antenna's strung between them every so many feet. Buddy of mine had to strap on some Gaff's and climb those poles to tear down their sets and replace them with antenna's cut to our frequencies. Now I took the Field Wire-man course back when I first enlisted in the Army and we climbed poles for a week, but I would have been scared to death to climb that far. Ah well, I do envy that old buddy of mine; haven't seen him since '71 but I did hear from him in '77.
another fine quality natural selection helper device, we need more things built that way ;)
There must have been Elmers so that you would learn without the shock.
@@ProperLogicalDebate I received a nasty shock one evening when working on a 100 Watt class plate modulated transmitter. I had it powered up into a dummy load, plate voltage on full, and I have the meter connected and was adjusting a sliding tap resistor with a screwdriver while monitoring voltage to the modulator tubes. At some point I got a bit careless and my index finger touched the metal stem of the screwdriver while my left hand contacted the chassis. I got full DC plate voltage in one hand, through my heart and out the other. It knocked my across the room. For a few seconds I saw a bright flash then stars, had a metallic taste in my mouth, felt off balance. When I recovered a few moments later I could smell burned flesh where the current entered my right hand. It was a painful shock and when I think about it I can still feel it to this day (it happened around 20 years ago). Since then I never entered my hands near a transmitter (or any HV device) with it plugged in and the power on. Even if I am making adjustments it gets powered down, unplugged and discharged first before my hand gets anywhere near the insides.
As a ham this is a great looking rig! Pleasure to just watch the thing come to life.
A "thumbs up" FROM Mr. Carlson is very high praise indeed...
LOL I think this is the first Mr Carlson video I have seen where someone already had the gear recapped!
Boy did you bring back very fond memories, owned one of these in the early-mid sixties when I had my novice license along with a National NC 303 receiver....thank you Dad, (miss you).
I don't know that much about electronics, but watching you doing your thing does three things for me:
1) Total relaxation. Seriously, watching your videos takes the stress right out of my day. =)
2) I learn lots of things. Your explanations and methodology alone are worth a college course.
3) It inspires me to dive further into the world of electronics myself.
I love old electronics. To see them restored and appreciated so much is very satisfying. Thanks for doing this.
I still have a Globe Scout 680, that my dad built from a Kit, back in the mid 50's. He or I could never get it to to work with a VFO. Worked great with crystals. Your video has Inspired me to drag it out and preserve it, Been in storage many years. Thanks for your very informative video.
Excellent! Yes I want to see more! I work on CBs right right now.
you make me miss my former head tec. don foster so much as i am now 78 and sow much water under the bridge so to speak ( we were in portland , or. usa ) thank's carl stout . can't beleve i have forgot so much !!
Modifications are always fun. Would love to see them.
Love it! I started out in my teens working on old black & white TV’s then tube type CB’s. Grew up in far West Texas (120 miles to the closest city, El Paso) so I didn’t have much access to any other gear. After high school and marriage I went to a tech school and was in the first class that didn’t teach vacuum tube theory. So I learned it pretty much on my own, so I really enjoy watching and learning more and more about the nuances of vacuum tubes. I am currently restoring a 1929 Radiola receiver and man has that ever been an education. Hand wound wire resistors “cards” for lack of a better term. “Mystery” components as they are referred to in the literature, which just turn out to be a negative feed back variable capacitor, but Radiola was not labeling it on the schematic in an attempt to skirt around a German patent on the circuit design. Wholly different world than other vacuum tube gear I have previously worked on. GE Pre-Progress, and Progress line, Motracs, and Mastr II and Micor high power base stations & repeaters. Great video Paul. Side note: I was taught that a pi network was called that because the schematic was shaped like the Greek letter pi. Please “Hot Rod” that transmitter, I would love to see your improvements to that circuit.
My Dad had this radio back in the 50s. I have always wanted this transmitter, good find. I have my ham license too, but ham radio is not like it used to be back in the day. I see the old filter capacitors have been replaced with a bank of new electrolytic caps. Electrolytic capacitors become trash after 10 to 15 years.
When tuning a pi tank you tune for a dip it will a big one at first then open the load cap to bring it out of dip, re dip this time it will be smaller and output power will increase keep repeating this process until you get the smallest dip this will be the maximum power Phil
My vote is probably too late, but I would love to see your mods to this unit. I'll poke around, maybe you already did one. F.Y.I. I spent my first two years in the Air Force working on AM avionic transceivers (AN-ARC793 and AN-ARC546) that were installed on the F4 fighter. Lots of fun with tubes and high voltage and motorized mechanical tuning. We eventually retrofitted these planes in 1981/82 with an all solid state modular unit AN-ARC164. Back then I had all the latest and greatest test gear that I don't have now. Thanks, Mr. Carlson, VERY interesting and instructional video.
I wish that I'd had a video like this when I started in electronics years ago. Well done, sir.
Yes, please. Mod it up. Really look forward to that!
Thanks for article! Reminds me of my early ham radio days (ex-WA2YTO) and my original transmitter, an EICO 720, also with a single 6146.
What a great video. I operated a Globe Scout 65A, a later version of this one, when I got my Novice license in 1955. The Globe Scouts were very affordable but unrefined. Constantly replacing the transmit switch was a way of life for owners. The AM modulation was ‘screen modulation’ which is a cheap technique. These were typically used by novices on CW. I bought mine new and paid
$ 100 wired and tested. A kit version was available for a few dollars less.
Awesome, Thank You !! Mods are most welcome!
"took responsibility for there own actions", what a wonderful era it must have been...
Oh what memories you have brought back. There was the Globe Scout, Globe Chief and
the monster Globe King. I still have much of the old AM transmitting equipment like
an ART-13 from WWII Aircraft. Lots of high voltage there. LOL
All great equipment!
I had HIGH voltage go through my hand once when I was working on a Transmitter. Almost 3rd degree burns. I still have the scars. It was MY Fault. LOL. It doesn't hurt to be electrocuted, but when you wake up...if you do, and your hand is on fire and smoldering, nothing takes away the pain except Demerol in the Ambulance. Morphine does nothing for burns. The voltage melted/punctured my fingertips. Your body part doesn't hurt for about 20 minutes because of the adrenaline, but after 20 minutes it's unbearable. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Never have both arms inside a radio at once if you can help it. Take off all rings and Jewelry and only plug radios into a Variac and Isolation Transformer to work on them. ;)
I had a similar shock off the tube EHT on an old projection TV. About 30kv from an overwound mains transformer, supplying the 1.5 inch projection tube .. Knocked me across the room, and boy was it painful.. Still have the scar...but still alive 60 years later..!!
Very informative and explained very well. The only thing that I would have liked to have seen, was how the cw note sounded and what the a.m. modulated signal sounded like through a receiver. I gave you a thumbs up for the video.
Huge fan. Just started watching your channel a few weeks ago and I’m going to share to my music groups which are large and recommend everyone to watch. Not only informative but fun to watch for all. Keep up the great work and I’m learning alot so maybe i can fix some of my old vintage gear for my pro recording studio since im a producer, engineer, songwriter and multi instrumentalist and love using vintage gear and also just opened my own record label so i put your channel on on the big screen for all my clients to watch on breaks. Knowledge is power to all. Sincerely, guitar Michael hordorwich
Oh and also do you have any spots open for the $20 patreon left. I got a plethora of vintage gear for my Recording studio i need to get back in action and need help. Thanks again. Sincerely, Michael hordorwich
If you're interested Michael, sign up, I will let you in on that level. Thanks for your kind words!
Mr Carlson's Lab thanks look foreword to it.
I signed up for the $20 level and i guess need to learn how to navigate now. Im on there now. Thanks. Michael
Ok, Talk to you there.
I know you're just being diligent when you warn us about the high voltage and the like but I'm guessing most of us who watch your videos come from the school if you stick your finger in a light socket it your fault not the company that made the light socket. Love your videos. I've learn more than I care to admit watching your videos. Thanks for taking the time to produce them.
He does it because of possible liability is my guess.
That's just what I did when I was a kid, stick my finger in a light socket to see how it could light that bulb. I found out.
@@dougstrong696 Every curious kid did that ONE time.
Thank you sir for another great video. I still use my old Swans. Also like you informing the new folks about B+ and its potential for being lethal and being responsible for your own actions.
Hello, Paul. I just wanted to say, thank you for sharing your knowledge on vintage electronics. I grew up basically tagging along in my grandfathers Radio/TV shop. Just recently, I decided to restore some old equipment. Your channel has been such a valuable resource for me. I look forward to following along on Patreon as well. Keep up the superb work and your passion for teaching electronics.
Thanks for your kind comment Jeremy!
I always love watching old stuff get a makeover for the modern times :)
One of the wisest statements you have made, "back in the 50's an era when people took responsibility for their own actions" So very true and a lesson many should learn from. Those were the days when NO ONE would buy a wire antenna and many of us built at least 1 transmitter, feedline, our antenna relay boxes and we repaired our receivers. We depended on the elder Ops in our community for advice and parts if they had them. No hand holding and no cottling. When we were old enough to go off to college and exams came, our professors didn't bring kittens or Lama's to help us cope with the stress. You either passed your exams or repeated the courses; no excuses either way.
What has happened over the last 50 years??? Not saying all of the latest generation are wimps, certainly NOT. However way too many are..
I'd vote for modding the xmitter as well. I would not be surprised to see audio improvements byt trashing the 2 RC packs in the audio path. It would also be interesting to look at the signal on a spectrum analyzer and see if improvements could be made to improve the second harmonic radiation.
73, Glenn WA4AOS
id rather live in the present time than back then, even with the problems of today. its nice to not have to shoot/kill people trying to assault/murder me because im gay.
Tubes. It seems like it's becoming a thing of the past and less and less people have knowledge of it. Everything is mosfet, solid state and fiber these days. I did have a chance once to see an output tube for a AM tower. It must have been twice as big as one of those old LPS street light bulbs.
I'm so glad you've decided to depot the transformer from the previous video. That's going to be so cool to watch!
Yes, Mr. Carlson! Hot rod the Globe Scout transmitter, please! I learn something every time I watch you work on this old gear. Today I learned the meaning of 'dipping the plate current', something I've always been curious about. Thanks!
Ahhhh, another video featiring the smooth, dulcid voice of Mr. Carlson. Nice....
WRL made great equipment. I enjoyed watching this video very much. I had the Globe King 400C that put out 400 Watt on AM. It was rock solid and I had all the coils for the 20 - 160 Meter bands. I had a Johnson Viking 122 VFO and a wonderful National 183D Receiver. There are a couple of pictures of me with my rigs back in 1958 on my Facebook timeline. My call sign was K9BYI. I got my novice license when I was 11 years old. Looking forward to seeing more videos on older ham gear.
Thanks for taking the time to write Bruce!
Yes on the mod. video on this rig. Thanks.
My father (who recently passed away) told of a gentleman named Buck who stuttered so bad it was almost impossible to understand him. But, when he keyed his mic, all the stuttering went away. This was back in the early 50's, so I'm guessing this is the kind of equipment he used. Dad said he was always welcome in Buck's ham shack, but was forbidden to go in when he wasn't there... Now I know why :-) Wish dad could have seen this video, thanks Mr Carlson :-)
Another great master class in appreciating useful electronic gadgets from the golden era ! Very much enjoy the value of your experience and knowledge in this field, and safety warnings not to attempt working on these without proper methods and understanding. Between you and Uncle Doug, I have returning interest in electronics that I had a young man. Thanks for your effort !
Wow. I have never seen an older tube-type radio in action. What an excellent presentation! Modern transceivers make things so much easier and a lot safer! I would love to build a tube-type transmitter one day and operate CW. I have a passion for Morse code. 73 de AD0WE
I've always loved electronics and poked around with it. You have got me hooked on playing with vintage systems Thank you
Yes, please do "soup it up" on the Globe Scout! The first transmitter I ever had was a Globe Scout. I missed it so much that a few years ago I found one at the Huntsville Hamfest and bought it. Sadly, one of my X's family stole it and I no longer have it. Have not seen any since the last one that I bought. Looking forward to the "depotting" of the transformer too.
thank you great to see the old transmitter and i would like to see this transmitter give a make over and made safe!!
Perfect video me, thanks. I'm in the process of homebrewing a AM valve based transmitter. :) Good caution notes on high voltags :)
Smiling!
Back in the 80's I worked for Missouri Radio Center/MOcom. The owner took in an old WRL Duo Bander 84. World radio labs. I gave him 15 dollars for it, took it home. To my surprise it worked on 80 and 40 meters, after I cleaned it of all the hay and bird poop. Took it out of storage a few years ago and not working so good. Your video may have inspired me to try and get it running again,
I have several vintage 1950s AM transmitters like this including a Globe King 500, made by the same company that made the Globe Scout. However the Globe King is considered a "500 watt" transmitter consisting of 3 decks mounted in a rack. Namely a power supply desk, a modulator deck and an RF deck. It is basically a 4-400 tube modulated by a pair of 811''s. Also have a couple 100 watt category plate modulated transmitters including a Johnson Viking 2 (early 1950s) and a Johnson Viking Valiant (also 1950s). I've had them all on the air at one time or another. Just for the record I am a licensed ham.
Thanks for another great video Paul! Ya know... One time I got a nasty hit from a Heath DX-60 but I never considered blaming Heathkit for that. :-)
I have fun when I visit Mr. Carlson's Lab!!
I know that YOU know the importance, but for everyone else's sake, you should put a bit of emphasis on predicting what you expect to get out of the RF output, and ensuring what you are connecting the RF output TO is capable of safely accepting any reasonable level of RF. Warnings about B+ safety are for your safety, but you should also give a moment of planning for your equipment's safety. The 6146 was a very popular tube for HF in the 1960's, and if you have a 6146B, then you can get almost 100 Watts of RF out of it. (I remember the bad old days when we used a 100 Watt light bulb as a dummy RF load; your Marconi RF Analyzer would have been unimaginable magic in the Globe Scout era.)
Very interesting and informative, thank you.
"when people used to take responsibility for their own actions" Subscribed...
Thank you for explaining how the circuit works, very educational. I enjoyed it very much.
Mr Carlson, you are a celebrity!
Thats the great thing about electronics, whatever sphere one is into, and no matter what your skill level, there is fun for all, such is the diversity of our great hobby.
Interesting video as always, Paul. Thanks.
I was surprised to see that you detuned the final tank circuit to get more output. I was taught that you always tuned for the dip and used your loading control to increase the plate current (and output power). So, the procedure was dip, load, dip, load, dip, etc. until you got the maximum plate current (up to what is safe for the tube) possible, but were still at the dip.
I would very much like to see more RF / HF, Tx, Rx projects Paul. As a new Amateur and a Patreon following along in your Electronics Course, I'm finding your training highly instructive in working towards my Advanced license. Many thanks!
Thanks for your feedback Paul!
@@MrCarlsonsLab I love listening to HF although there's not as many Stations online as before, maybe you can include repair of some of the classic receivers from this period Grundig Sony etc. Thank you.
Sure would like to see mods to the transmitter, Very nice video, keep them comming. Greg
I love the videos of Mr. Carlson. He is truly the Bob Ross of Electronics.
Hi Paul , Yes it would be nice to see you hot rod this one, I use a Kenwood TS 820,so dipping and setting the plate is away of life, scares many hams I must say, I've had my TS 820 from New, she has't bitten me yet:)
Paul de M0BSW
It looks as if the "Phone/CW" switch interrupts filament voltage to the voice tubes when in "CW", so it might be a good idea to give them a few seconds to warm up when switching into "Phone" mode before transmitting.
By the way, I seem to recall that the tuning instructions for the 70's vintage RCA TT-25FH (television transmitter) aural PA pointed out that maximum efficiency would be found just to one side of the plate dip. You would dip plate current it to get close, then peak the reflectometer (power output meter), just off the dip point.
Excellent video, as always!
Loved the video - it takes me back to when I was a kid in the 70s and my Heathkit DX-60B with a matching Heath VFO.
Lol i know mine was a Heath Kit DX 100. It had a pair of 6146s and the parasitic suppression didnt work well. I had to stay on top of the tuning especially around 10 meters or the plates would turn cherry
Thanks, Mr. Carlson, this brought back so many memories. Between 1975 to 1976 I used to repair radio transmitters and receivers. There were many tube type transceivers then. I started out in around 1961 working on the old black and white televisions. Talk about getting electric shocks, the old TV turners had about 800 B+ on them. The picture was between 20Kv to 30 Kv. Do you remember the 6u6 tube ? I will be be very happy to keep watching your videos.
Sorry the second anode on the picture tube had this very high voltage, 20 Kv to 30 Kv.
I'm glad you said "take responsibility for their own actions" !
Pie filters: When I learned about them in 1968 or so I spelled it "Pi filter". I was taught that it was similar to the mathematical symbol for PI where the left leg is a Cap, the right leg is a Cap and the top hat is the choke. It was interesting to hear another method.
I still think the Internet and computers really did a disservice to the younger generation. I am 66years of age , and grew up in the age where we could build our own home brew sets, and shortwave and ham radio were just so much fun, because we were actually trotting all over the globe with air waves and no physical connection with coax such as with cable television! Slow scan ham radio was so cool!
Such a beautiful transmitter! Thanks for the video.
My first transmitter. That was such a very nostalgic video for me. Great stuff as usual.
Don't forget depending on the construction and/ or the direction you plug a non-polarized plug in the chassis can be live. I had an old guitar amplifier (1950's Chicago 10 watt tube amp), all wood box, had a plate amp in the back with a non-polarized plug. It gave me a nasty shock when testing it out, had it on a ballast so not as bad as it could have been.
I'm trying to learn or relearn some electronics. I really enjoy how you talk about how they were used in the past. The bit of history you add is cool, great channel. I remember going into the drug store with my dad and checking tubes to see if they were bad. They had a setup so you could check many tubes and below the tester there would be a cabinet filled with new tubes.