W5VID in Friendswood, Texas, USA
Frank Cooper's Amateur Radio Station
Mail Questions and/or Comments to: Frank Cooper@prodigy.net
MY HAM SHACK - Click on the Picture for a larger image
I took this panoramic image with my Nikon 950Z digital camera. The three images were stitched together
using Canon Photo software.
On the far left is my re-created 50th anniversary amateur radio station. The Eldico TR-75 Transmitter
rests on top of a BC 312 Receiver. To the right of the BC312 is a Yaesu vhf/uhf all mode transceiver FT736R. To the
right of the Yaesu is a Kenwood TS 830S.
Second shelf, center, is PC Electronics 70cm ATV transceiver and power supply. The computer is a
Pentium 233mmx used in logging ham calls, for slow scan TV, and for processing seismograms of earthquakes. Above the
computer are two 13-inch TV monitors. The one on the left is used to monitor my own 70cm Amateur Television images.
The 13-inch TV on the right is used to see the image transmitted by the ATV station I am in contact with.
On the top shelf on the far right is a Heathkit variable isolated AC supply. On top of the AC
supply is an early home made 50's wooden chassis transmitter
On the left side of the lower shelf is a 50 watt Knight T-50 modified CW transmitter. To the right of the Knight is
a 4 tube regenerative receiver with plug in coils. The back wall of QSL cards is part of my 50 year collection.
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.
50TH ANNIVERSARY AMATEUR RADIO STATION.
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.
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 and a Westinghouse RADA, but the Crosley with matching amp is my favorite. I
have collected vintage radios for more than 30 years and was co-founder of the Houston Vintage Radio Assn. in 1978.
Click here for the HVRA web page
Mosley TA-32 jr. HF Tri-Band Beam Antenna on a 40'
Crank-up Pole
W5VID Radio Controlled Planes with Camera and Video
RC Plane with 35mm Camera(left)............RC Plane with Video Camera(right)
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.
Click here to see a dead stick landing of
video plane in streaming video
This should play within several seconds.
70 cm AMATEUR TELEVISION
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.
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.
Click here for Frank Cooper's Seismology Page
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.
This page last modified on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007
Click here for Frank Cooper's Seismology Page
Frank Cooper is Trustee for the Battleship Texas Amateur Radio Station (BTARS) NA5DV.
Click here for the NA5DV web page
I took this panoramic image with my Nikon 950Z digital camera. The three images were stitched together
using Canon Photo software.
On the far left is my re-created 50th anniversary amateur radio station. The Eldico TR-75 Transmitter
rests on top of a BC 312 Receiver. To the right of the BC312 is a Yaesu vhf/uhf all mode transceiver FT736R. To the
right of the Yaesu is a Kenwood TS 830S.
Second shelf, center, is PC Electronics 70cm ATV transceiver and power supply. The computer is a
Pentium 233mmx used in logging ham calls, for slow scan TV, and for processing seismograms of earthquakes. Above the
computer are two 13-inch TV monitors. The one on the left is used to monitor my own 70cm Amateur Television images.
The 13-inch TV on the right is used to see the image transmitted by the ATV station I am in contact with.
On the top shelf on the far right is a Heathkit variable isolated AC supply. On top of the AC
supply is an early home made 50's wooden chassis transmitter
On the left side of the lower shelf is a 50 watt Knight T-50 modified CW transmitter. To the right of the Knight is
a 4 tube regenerative receiver with plug in coils. The back wall of QSL cards is part of my 50 year collection. 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.
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 and a Westinghouse RADA, but the Crosley with matching amp is my favorite. I
have collected vintage radios for more than 30 years and was co-founder of the Houston Vintage Radio Assn. in 1978.
Mosley TA-32 jr. HF Tri-Band Beam Antenna on a 40'
Crank-up Pole
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.
Click here to see a dead stick landing of
video plane in streaming video
This should play within several seconds.
70 cm AMATEUR TELEVISION
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.
50TH ANNIVERSARY AMATEUR RADIO STATION.
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.
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.
This page last modified on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007