My Experiences in the Civilian Conservation Corps, and How I learned Telegraphy and Became a Radio Amateur and a


My first Amateur Radio Station. - The National SW-3 receiver and operating table



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My first Amateur Radio Station. - The National SW-3 receiver and operating table.
The above photo, taken about late November 1938, shows my SW-3 receiver on the operating table. The transmitter is on a shelf above the receiver. As can be seen, there is no microphone on the table as only telegraphy was used. I couldn’t use the speaker that Ed Montgomery had given me at Greenville because the SW-3 didn’t have sufficient audio power to drive a speaker. Later, I would build an audio amplifier.

To the right of the receiver is my solid brass hand key, and next to it is my treasured Mac bug, both of which I still have. Two switches can be seen on the table beside the bug. The left one switched the heater power to the transmitter tubes, and the other switched the high voltage power supply for the transmitter plate circuits.

The top of the transmitter power supply is visible on the right hand side of the table. It was built entirely from junk parts, and was capable of supplying much more power than needed for the one-tube transmitter. There was not much safety, as the power supply high voltage was across the exposed terminals of the capacitor shown just to the right of the right-hand switch. I would be able to use the power supply later when I upgraded my transmitter. About the only things that I had to buy were batteries to supply the filament and plate requirements of the old National SW-3 receiver. I sat at this operating table for many hours, often far into the night, enjoying ham radio operating at its best. Among the first contacts I made were some of the C.C.C. operators with whom I had worked and who were hams. I also made a number of new friends who enjoyed CW (code). I don't think I've ever heard CW signals that sounded better than those received on that old SW-3 regenerative receiver.







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