W5VID in Friendswood, Texas, USA
Frank Cooper's Amateur Radio Station
Mail Questions and/or Comments to: Frank Cooper@prodigy.net
MY HAM SHACK- pic by Sammi Cooper
From lower right. BC610-I AM and CW transmitter with BC640 Speech Amplifier; Next - (top to bottom)
BC342-N receiver, WW2 Navy RBB receiver (.5 to 4.0 Mc.), WW2 Navy RBC-2 receiver (4 to 27Mc) with power supplies
in wooden crate.
RBB and RBC Receivers work and will eventally be part of the on-board Battleship Texas Amateur Radio Station -
BTARS-NA5DV (www.na5dv.org); Next to Wall - computer for Seismology station, (www.seequake.com).
To my left - Lower, Collins R-380 receiver, Upper, Collins 310B-1, 15 watt CW transmitter; further left upper,
Dell mini P4 computer for SSTV and PSK31 and Yaesu FT736R VHF/UHF Transceiver, Ten Tec 2kw Tuner and Yaesu G-450
Rotator Controller, lower left Kenwood TS830S HF transceiver. Repair bench, 70cm ATV transmitter and receiver and
a Heathkit SB-220 linear amplifier not shown. QSL cards from 1952 to present line the walls.
My son, Stan, snapped this photo as I was making my first contact with the BC-610-I on May 2, 2009. The transmitter was running 115 watts output as measured by the Bird meter on top. The receiver used (in background) was a Collins R-388.
I contacted VE6SSC, the Edmonton (Canada) Space and Science Center. The operator, Charlie, said my 20 meter CW signal sounded good
with no chirp. It took several months to get me and the BC-610 ready for that first contact.
My vintage Collins station. On the bottom is a Collins 32V-3 that I have restored. The low voltage
transformer was commercially rewound. I re-installed the transformer, replaced a couple of tubes, cleaned contacts, and did some
cosmetic work and made the first CW contacts with the transmitter on June 30, 2009, with good reports. I am now
looking forward to an AM contact with the transmitter - my first in 50 plus years. Above the 32V-3 is a Collins Signal
Corps R-388 receiver.
1950's Sucker Stick Xmitter
CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR LARGER IMAGE. This 1950's transmitter using a single 6v6 tube was constructed
on wooden strips by Jon Zoller (now deceased), W5ZWQ of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The coils were wound on sucker sticks. A
second set of coils can be seen to the right of the transmitter. My first transmitter was an identical one that I
constructed using an article titled "A Simple Transmitter" in the 11th edition of
"How to Become a Radio Amateur".
WN5VID
The slightly blurred picture on the left shows my novice station WN5VID at Amarillo AFB, Texas, in
early 1952. The small sucker stick transmitter is on the right side of the table.
I recently found my long lost 1952 log book and the picture of my novice station. Using my log book
as reference, I found that I used the sucker stick transmitter from March 22 until June 24, 1952. If I counted right,
I made 79 CW contacts while operating on 80 meters and running 4 watts. On
June 26, 1952, I replaced the 4 watt transmitter with an Eldico 60 watt transmitter and the frequency of my CW
contacts went up dramatically. I sold the sucker stick transmitter to John Tudenham, W0JRP, who was also stationed at
Amarillo AFB. John told me recently, "I used the rig and modified it to work on 10 meters and added a 2E26 final. I
constructed a 10 meter dipole laying it on the floor, and actually made a few skip contacts." Shortly after selling
the sucker stick transmitter to John, I was transferred to Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls, Texas. In October I
acquired my general class ticket with the call W5VID.
On the far left is my late 1952 Amateur Radio Station W5VID at Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls, Texas.
The military high frequency receiver
(lower) is a BC312. A 60 Watt Eldico CW transmitter is on top. I have tried to recreate my original station with
the same equipment (to the right) in the year 2002 --- my 50th year as a radio amateur.
My circa 1952 Eldico TR-75 CW transmitter is shown at the top. It has coils wound for 20 meters
(my favorite band).To the right is an MFJ-267 dummy load and to the far right is a red variac to ensure that the
input AC voltage of a WW2, BC-312 receiver on the shelf below stays close to 110. The receiver has an external
power supply to the right. The
BC-312 runs really hot with the power supply in the case.
At the bottom is a Collins 310 C-1 with
PTO (VFO) and home made power supply. An extenal T/R switch on the back of the BC-312 changes the antenna from transmit
to receive and mutes the BC-312 receiver through the PL-114 connector on lower right. Resting on the 310 C-1 is a
Hallicrafters tube operated keyer. To the right is a Signal Corps LS-3 loudspeaker.
A pair of military headphones hangs by a nail from the bottom of the first shelf. A Radio Shack 22-306 Frequency
counter is used to check transmit frequencies.
My eldest son, Stan and I put together this small homemade radio telescope with an 18" Direct TV dish and
a Channel Master signal strength meter. The signal strength meter is powered by 12 volts from the satellite receiver.
It easily detects radiation from the Sun as shown by the change of signal strength of the Channel Master 1004IFD analog meter.
It also detects geosynchronous satellites along the Clarke Belt.
The idea for construction came from an article appropriately called "Build a Homebrew Radio Telescope" in the June,
2009, issue of QST. Another article refers to it as the "Itty Bitty Telescope." See
www.aoc.nrao.edu/epo/teachers/ittybitty/prodedure.html Stan is shown working on an A/D converter he designed for the Itty Bitty Radio Telescope.
A radio telescope with a six and ten foot dish is our next project.
Our first successful scan drift of the Sun on July 6, 2009. The sun image was not centered creating
an asymmetrical profile. The Channel Master was used with Stan's A/D converter.
Wire mesh Ten foot dish and solid aluminum six foot dish for future SETI and radio telescopes.
AMATEUR RADIO TELESCOPE
The portable six-foot (1.8 meter) solid aluminum dish is attached to a 2' x 4' garden cart. The cart
can be rotated in any direction and the dish can be moved from horizontal to near vertical with a small hand winch.
The dish was made portable because it has to be moved under various patches of open
sky within the thick canopy of trees over my house. Note the homemade paint-can feed horn.
The radio telescope is being used to survey active radio sources.
A successful sun transit was made at 1.420 GHz on Friday, September 4, 2009, using the
dish and an Icom R-8500 receiver. The receiver AGC has been disabled by the use of Norm White's external AGC mod. method
(Thanks Norm.)
BEGIN SUN SCAN, HOME MADE FEED HORN, 9-27-09
MID SUN SCAN, RADIO TELESCOPE CENTERED ON SUN
END SUN SCAN
SUN SCAN RECORDING at 1.4GHz, 9-27-09
The sun scan was made at 1.40405 GHz, AM mode, (12 KHz bandwidth) using an Icom R-8500 wide-band receiver.
The six foot dish was equipped with a home-made feed horn, a 20db pre-amplifier, and 50 feet of RG6 coax. We
estimate that the dish has a 5 or 6 degree beamwidth and has a performance similiar to our 18" dish at 12GHz. Peak
performance did not occur until after the scan had passed the central axis and the scan had a side lobe
which seems to indicate the feed-horn is off center.
C BAND DOWN CONVERTER WITH SCALAR RING
SUN SCAN RECORDING AT 4GHz, 9-30-09
The C band LNB input frequency was approx. 4 GHz. It was downconverted to 1.001GHz AM, 12KHz bandwidth,
with 30db attenuation by the Icom R-8500 receiver. The six-foot dish was fed with 50' RG6 coax. The recording shows a
good signal to noise ratio with approx. a three degree beamwidth. The downside of the curve exhibits unknown
outside inteference.
Ku BAND DOWN CONVERTER WITH SCALAR RING
SUN SCAN RECORDING AT 12GHz, 10-02-09
The Ku band LNB was mounted on the six foot dish with an input of about 12GHz.
The output was sent through 50' of RG6 coax
to an ICOM R8500 set to receive at 1.001 GHz, AM with 12 kHz bandwidth and 20 dB of attenuation.
Several intensity drops at the beginning of the curve are due to attempted configuration changes.
The beamwidth is about 2 degrees.
WINCH, PULLEY AND ROPE EASILY RAISES OR LOWERS DISH
DISH FOCUS NOT CENTERED, 11-20-09
Reflections of direct sun light from thin one-inch mirrors placed on the four quadrants of the dish
indicate the focus was not centered. A new adjustable four arm support for the feed horn is being constructed to
correct the problem.
Please do not buy any equipment to work through the repeater until all tests are finished and the repeater
antennas installed. Changes are possible as tests continue. The 70 cm collinear vertical receiving antenna and the 900 Mhz
transmitting vertical are installed on 20 foot poles. They will be installed on a top of a 45 foot tower shortly.
Anyone in the Bay area care to
volunteer a location for the repeater on top of a tall building?
The repeater is not fully operational at this point with tests being continually made. The TV on
the right shows the
picture being received. The TV on the left monitors the picture being sent.
BAATS was formed on Friday, March 20, 2009, by Frank Cooper, W5VID, and John Cole, W5AUH. My amateur television station is at the rear left. This includes a PC electronics 70cam 20 watt
transceiver and a 33cm converter. See
our web page at www.baats.tv
Please e-mail me if you would like to support the
repeater and join BAATS.
Contact on 70cm ATV
CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR A LARGER IMAGE. Above is a picture of W5AUH and me during a contact on 70cm
ATV. I am monitoring my own transmissions on a 10" TV (left) while taking a photograph with my digital camera. I
am receiving W5AUH's 70cm picture transmission on the 13" TV on the right. John, W5AUH, lives in Pearland, Texas,
11 miles from my QTH. We are both amateur seismologists and compare wave forms from incoming earthquakes via ATV.
See my seismology web page by clicking on the url at the following url.
Earthquake Recordings
CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR A LARGER IMAGE. Above is a picture taken of my two TV monitors while in
contact with W5AUH on 70cm ATV. On the 10" TV on the left I am showing W5AUH the wave forms of an earthquake in
progress as being inked on my chart recorder. Conversely on the 13" TV on the right W5AUH is showing me the wave
forms of the same earthquake in progress as being recorded on a chart recorder at his home.
70 cm AMATEUR TELEVISION LOFTED BY RED WHITE AND BLUE BALLOONS
Above is a picture of my wife, Pat, and several of the neighborhood kids after sun-set as she reeled
in 3 foot red, white, and blue balloons hoisting W5VID's 70 cm ATV transmitter and video camera called "SkyEye" to
get a sky view of the neighborhood on Friday, January 3, 2003. The 11 element 70 cm antenna can be seen in the lower
part of the picture. A small TV/VCR powered by a 12 volt battery was used to receive and record the video. The
local police investigated the launch saying they had had many calls inquiring about the balloons including one from
a woman who thought that perhaps terrorists were about to drop a bomb.
This is a view of "SkyEye." The orange painted balsa box contains two 9 volt re-chargeable batteries
(left), a small board video camera with sound(center), and a PC Electronics ATV 70cm transmitter (right). A
home-made ground plane antenna is on the right.
W5VID Radio Controlled Planes with Camera and Video
35mm Camera View
CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR A LARGER IMAGE. 35mm Camera shot from about 400 feet altitude from RC Plane.
Note plane wing (top). Image of a Houston Water Purification Plant near Beltway 8. My newest plane is a nearly completed
six foot wingspan Telemaster with electric motor.
Click here to see a dead stick landing of
video plane in streaming video
This should play within several seconds.
The Crosley 51
CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR A LARGER IMAGE. On the left is a 1924 Crosley 51 regenerative broadcast radio
receiver with matching Crosley 51 A Amplifier. I purchased the Crosley 51 from a ham operator in Bellville, Texas,
for $30. more than 25 years ago. It was in very poor condition and I spent many hours restoring it. It is unusual
in that it has a wooden face. It has two 01A tubes, a book condenser, and one stage of audio amplification. The
amplifier uses one 01A tube and has one stage of amplification. I own many other vintage radios
such as an AK Radiodyne breadboard, a Marconi 106D crystal receiver and a pre-WW1 spark transmitter, but the Crosley
with matching amp is my favorite. I have collected vintage radios for more than 35 years and was the founder of the
Houston Vintage Radio Assn. in 1978.
50TH ANNIVERSARY AMATEUR RADIO STATION.
MY NOVICE STATION IN 2009
THE ITTY BITTY RADIO TELESCOPE
AN AMATEUR TELEVISION REPEATER FOR THE BAY AREA SOUTH OF HOUSTON, TEXAS
Mosley TA-32 jr. HF Tri-Band Beam Antenna on a 40'
Crank-up Pole. BLOWN DOWN DURING HURRICAN IKE. A WILSON 45' CRANK-UP POLE WITH A WILSON MP-33-N, 3 ELEMENT BEAM WILL GO UP SOON
This page last modified on Saturday, November 21, 2009.