I got a deal, or did I?

[qrper]

It's been said that even a blind cat will catch a mouse or two.

So boredom over too me and I found myself surfing Facebook market place.

I stumbled upon a Midnite solar MN125STMM still wrapped in plastic.

Three hour drive time and $75 bucks laterâ€" it's mine.

The door is punched for a Magnum MM series inverter, which I don't have nor plan on buying. I'd love to have the door parts for the Outback VFX series.
Called tech support and got a "We haven't made those in years." Apparently I have the skinny 9.5" epanel.

Is there any way in the world I can get either blank door or preferable, one for the Outback?
Perhaps there's one holding the door to the ladies room closed?

mike, wb8vge

[boB]

We used to make Epanels for Outback stuff.   Possibly !

Depends if we scrapped them all or not ?   I may have one though if I did not toss it ?

Will ask and check.

boB

[qrper]

Thanks, boB for looking...

mike

[Robin]

I will ask what we may still have for the skinny doors?

[qrper]

Robin....

any luck looking through the junk pile for a door?


mike

[boB]

Robin....

any luck looking through the junk pile for a door?


mike

I think he actually did ! (I think)  But he is in Florida at a solar show this week

[qrper]

Robin....

any luck looking through the junk pile for a door?


mike

I think he actually did ! (I think)  But he is in Florida at a solar show this week

That would be great!

I know you guys are super busy with all the shows coming up. There's a big one scheduled in California  next month if I recall.

I'm leaning toward an Outback VFXR series as a back  up to my 20+ year old Trace SW5548.

I would rather have a Rosie hanging on the wall instead of the Outback. Everyday I cross my fingers and hope the old trace has one more day in her.

The door panel would be a good start for my rebuild project. I'll leave some room on the wall for Rosie incase she shows up sooner than later.

Mike

[Robin]

I looked and looked, but was not able to find a skinny door. I could get you a wide door though. It would need to be cut down in width. The doors are too thick for our engineering sheer. Do you have the means to cut it down? We do have a machine shop that could machine it down, but we might scratch it. Not sure if we still have gray doors? Is white ok?email me directly with your contact info.
Robin@midnitesolar.com

[boB]

Hey !  I might actually have one of these ?

I got an FX E-panel during the early MidNite Solar days.  MIGHT be what you are looking for.

Unfortunately, it will probably be a couple of weeks before I get back to the house up north.

boB

[qrper]

Hey !  I might actually have one of these ?

I got an FX E-panel during the early MidNite Solar days.  MIGHT be what you are looking for.

Unfortunately, it will probably be a couple of weeks before I get back to the house up north.

boB

That's great! I can certainly wait a few more weeks.

Mike
WB8VGE

[boB]

Hey !  I might actually have one of these ?

I got an FX E-panel during the early MidNite Solar days.  MIGHT be what you are looking for.

Unfortunately, it will probably be a couple of weeks before I get back to the house up north.

boB


That's great! I can certainly wait a few more weeks.

Mike
WB8VGE

But don't let me give you something that will take up room where you could put more radios !

Save some radios for me !   I have a few boat-anchor radios that I re-bought because I had them in the 1960s when I was WN7IWN at age 13.   Nostalgia you know...

[qrper]

Hey !  I might actually have one of these ?

I got an FX E-panel during the early MidNite Solar days.  MIGHT be what you are looking for.

Unfortunately, it will probably be a couple of weeks before I get back to the house up north.

boB


That's great! I can certainly wait a few more weeks.

Mike
WB8VGE

But don't let me give you something that will take up room where you could put more radios !

Save some radios for me !   I have a few boat-anchor radios that I re-bought because I had them in the 1960s when I was WN7IWN at age 13.   Nostalgia you know...

Yeah, sometimes I wonder why I started this pile of radios. Back when I was WN8VGE, the only way I could get a new (used to me!) radio was to sell off what I had. So, yeah, nostalgia bit me in the butt big time. Over the years, I've collected, and I have to admit I enjoy working on the broken ones more than I do talking on them, most of my Novice station. Sure as hell glad I took some photos of the shack way back then.
I"m still looking for a mint Elimac AF-67 transciter. That was my first factory made transmitter. Silly thing did AM, too.

My first transmitter was a home brew job that used a sweep tube of some sort, a 5U4 for the power supply and a 6SK5 (?) oscillator. Worked great on paper, and I got nearly all 50 states for my WAS with that rig, only trouble was, they were from Official Observers reports in the mail for chirp, hum, freq drift, FMing, out of band, key clicks... I think I lacked North Dakota and Maine to snag WAS from the OOs. Oh, got my first RF burn off of that beast, too!

Hams today have no idea the amount of fun that could be had when you build your own stuff. There's nothing better than the faint red glow from a hard working plate to fill your soul. The smell of hot tubes, the misty scent of melted silicon from a power MOSFET, all mixed together with a dash of rosin solder fumes.

Never had formal training in electronics, and had I went to college, I'd been dangerous. Hell, no one can predict the future, and maybe if I went to college I'd end up at a small startup in Washington state designing dc/ac inverters. Life sure if fickle.

Mike, wb8vge

[boB]

Yeah, sometimes I wonder why I started this pile of radios. Back when I was WN8VGE, the only way I could get a new (used to me!) radio was to sell off what I had. So, yeah, nostalgia bit me in the butt big time. Over the years, I've collected, and I have to admit I enjoy working on the broken ones more than I do talking on them, most of my Novice station. Sure as hell glad I took some photos of the shack way back then.
I"m still looking for a mint Elimac AF-67 transciter. That was my first factory made transmitter. Silly thing did AM, too.

My first transmitter was a home brew job that used a sweep tube of some sort, a 5U4 for the power supply and a 6SK5 (?) oscillator. Worked great on paper, and I got nearly all 50 states for my WAS with that rig, only trouble was, they were from Official Observers reports in the mail for chirp, hum, freq drift, FMing, out of band, key clicks... I think I lacked North Dakota and Maine to snag WAS from the OOs. Oh, got my first RF burn off of that beast, too!

Hams today have no idea the amount of fun that could be had when you build your own stuff. There's nothing better than the faint red glow from a hard working plate to fill your soul. The smell of hot tubes, the misty scent of melted silicon from a power MOSFET, all mixed together with a dash of rosin solder fumes.

Never had formal training in electronics, and had I went to college, I'd been dangerous. Hell, no one can predict the future, and maybe if I went to college I'd end up at a small startup in Washington state designing dc/ac inverters. Life sure if fickle.

Mike, wb8vge

I built a 1 tube transmitter back in my early novice days in the 1960s too !  6V6 or something like that ?
Might have used silicon diodes ?  Can't remember. 

Working on my WAS  (worked all stations)  !  Not even close !


This is me back around 1967 in my bedroom..




This is me at the MidNite ARC station a few years ago with my Yaesu FT-101E before I sold it at a local hamfest...

KI7AIE   (Amateurs In Energy)




boB

[qrper]

Yeah, sometimes I wonder why I started this pile of radios. Back when I was WN8VGE, the only way I could get a new (used to me!) radio was to sell off what I had. So, yeah, nostalgia bit me in the butt big time. Over the years, I've collected, and I have to admit I enjoy working on the broken ones more than I do talking on them, most of my Novice station. Sure as hell glad I took some photos of the shack way back then.
I"m still looking for a mint Elimac AF-67 transciter. That was my first factory made transmitter. Silly thing did AM, too.

My first transmitter was a home brew job that used a sweep tube of some sort, a 5U4 for the power supply and a 6SK5 (?) oscillator. Worked great on paper, and I got nearly all 50 states for my WAS with that rig, only trouble was, they were from Official Observers reports in the mail for chirp, hum, freq drift, FMing, out of band, key clicks... I think I lacked North Dakota and Maine to snag WAS from the OOs. Oh, got my first RF burn off of that beast, too!

Hams today have no idea the amount of fun that could be had when you build your own stuff. There's nothing better than the faint red glow from a hard working plate to fill your soul. The smell of hot tubes, the misty scent of melted silicon from a power MOSFET, all mixed together with a dash of rosin solder fumes.

Never had formal training in electronics, and had I went to college, I'd been dangerous. Hell, no one can predict the future, and maybe if I went to college I'd end up at a small startup in Washington state designing dc/ac inverters. Life sure if fickle.

Mike, wb8vge

I built a 1 tube transmitter back in my early novice days in the 1960s too !  6V6 or something like that ?
Might have used silicon diodes ?  Can't remember. 

Working on my WAS  (worked all stations)  !  Not even close !


This is me back around 1967 in my bedroom..




This is me at the MidNite ARC station a few years ago with my Yaesu FT-101E before I sold it at a local hamfest...

KI7AIE   (Amateurs In Energy)




boB

Can you still use a bug?

[boB]

Can you still use a bug?

Yes. 

That one in the picture was my dad's Vibroplex and I had it for MANY years.  Then he decided he wanted to sell it for the money.   That was in the time where I was not a ham.  Between around 1969 until 1992.

I still have a bug but it doesn't go slow enough and I haven't added a weight to it.

I can do the speed it slows down to but I want to be able to do mid-20 WPM rather than in the 30 WPM range all the time.

I have a paddle that I can plug into my Yaesu FT-891 but haven't done that yet here in AZ.

So I have a bug, paddle and straight key.

Regarding QRP,  I would like to put up a 10M beacon here in AZ.  Rather than building one, is there anything like that that is ready for doing this ?

Or even a kit or PCB where I could buy parts.   I know it is simple but I don't want to spend a lot of time building one right now since I'm busy enough working on inverters and things.

boB