About ARS NB9M
My name is Brad, and I am an amateur radio operator, shortwave listener and broadcast radio enthusiast. I've always loved electronics, and was fascinated with shows like Super Car, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and many other 1960s television shows featuring lights, knobs, switches, meters and other cool things. The first spanking I remember, around 1959, resulted from my drawing knobs and switches on the living room drywall with a crayon.
Dad brought home from a local auction an old, original Hallicrafters S-38 around 1972. The old postwar receiver had a bad 60-cycle hum, but I clamped on the headphones and listened to HCJB (Quito, Equador) and RSA (Radio South Africa) every night. Both these stations have long disappeared from the air, but I still remember the lights of the tubes reflecting on the ceiling at night - long after I was supposed to be asleep.
A few months later, I transmitted for the first time on a Utica Town & Country Citizen's Band transceiver at a friends. Later, I mowed lawns all summer to get my first CB: a Metrotek Colt 23 transciever, and a Goldenrod vertical antenna. This was long before Citizen's Band became the depraved hellhole we now have. I wanted to be a ham, but I lived in a rural area, and couldn't find an "Elmer" (a typically older teacher) to enter the amateur radio hobby. Jobs, marriage and kids were in the cards first. In 1983, I finally got my first call as a Novice: KA9OWA. A few months later I was a General, and was issued the Extra call, NB9M in 1984.
My background is in consumer electronics, avionics and software development with several disciplines, including pharmaceutical, defense, retail, manufacturing and even death care. Currently, I am a software engineer, supporting a Navy project, for a major defense contractor. Other hobbies include writing, blogging, playing several musical instruments and raising chickens.
If you are interested in radio, there are lots of resources for you now that were not available when I was a kid. If there is anything I can help you with in the radio hobby, you'll always find my email address at the top-left of this site.
73,
Brad, NB9M
Latest Articles
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Crazy EBay Prices!
Pictures of radio suckerbait on the world's largest online auction! Below are some screen shots of incredible prices demanded by some EBay vendors. Since posting an auction is free as long as the item is not sold, it costs nothing for the unscrupulous vendor to display their (often unremarkable) wares as if they were priceless artifacts. Enjoy. ... READ MORE
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Swan Twins: 600-T, 600-R Custom, 600-S
From the Estate of AA5T These excellent examples of the Swan Twins are from the estate of John, AA5T of Houston, Texas. John had checked in to the 20M Swan net with these very desirable "big Swans" until a few years ago. A big thanks to Eddie, NU5K, who handled the estate and placed these on EBay. He packed them well, knowing they are indeed a rare find. Also thanks to Jeff, WA8SAJ,... READ MORE
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SDR techniques for Boatanchor Radios
W9RAN started playing with RTL-SDR dongles about 6 years ago, and knew they were going to have a big impact on the radio hobby. But since these $15 receivers only tuned the VHF and UHF bands, he designed a wideband upconverter to make HF coverage possible, and described how it worked in an article in Jan. 2013 QST "Cheap and Easy SDR". The "RANVerter" as... READ MORE
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2018 Cave City Hamfest
Cave City, Kentucky, 3/3/2018 Barry, AC9NK and I attendended the 2018 Cave City hamfest, which was awesome this year. The facility was packed, with lots of vendors. We enjoyed the company of my friend Tom, N4LID for dinner the night before. Tom, who is blind, had not been able to get to the hamfest for many years. You will find more pictures at the Kentucky Phone Net site. A big thanks to Rod, N4ZIF, fo... READ MORE
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Remembering the Electra Company
Cumberland Indiana For nearly five years, spanning 1978 - 1983, I worked as an Electronics Technician in the original Bearcat manufacturing and service facility in Cumberland, Indiana. Electra was one of the best places I've ever worked, and were among the many innovative consumer electronics companies which sprang up in and around Indianapolis. Al Lovell, a former employee of Regency (also in ... READ MORE
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Heath Tube-Type LMO Repair (PDF)
Glen E. Zook, K9STH The tube-type Linear Master Oscillators (“LMO”) used in the Heathkit SB-Line equipment is a very stable and accurate means of controlling the frequency in the equipment. Unfortunately, as the units age, many LMOs develop a “warble” when tuning. This “warble” usually stops when the frequency control knob is not rotated. However, accurately “zero-beating&rdq... READ MORE
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NB9M Studio C Installed
A creative solution to managing big boxes in limited space. (Shown: 1/7/2018 checkin with the DX-60 Net on 3880, using the DX-60/HG-10B/HO-10 and the RME-6900)Using furniture-grade 5/8" plywood, simple tools and cold garage during Christmas vacation, I constructed Studio C, which occupies the south wall of the shack. Exploiting a sturdy, existing cabinet with drawers that I've had since I was a kid, I devised a scheme to reliably handle the ... READ MORE
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Remembering Fielden Farrington (1909-1977)
CBS announcer, writer, author and announcer Remembering Fielden FarringtonAuthor, announcer and long-time CBS writer Fielden Ward Farrington was born July 4, 1909 in Clinton, Indiana. He was my great-uncle; the younger brother of my grandmother, Thelma (Farrington) Stone. Two weeks prior to his birth, his older brother Leo passed away with scarlet fever. Fielden's father Harry, a talented carpenter, built the hous... READ MORE
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Super Hoosier DynaLoop
Construction and Description of a 160M loop antenna The Super Hoosier DynaLoop consists of four 35ft (average) utility poles buried an average of 5ft, 125ft LMR-400 from R&L Electronics, a 5KW-rated 4-1 balun, rope and marine-grade hardware (mostly from EBay) and a 20ft length of 300ohm ladder line.. The closest pole is nearly 100ft away from the shack. The poles are 140ft apart. The antenna is far away from any powe... READ MORE
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NB9M Shack Construction, 2008
160M - 440MHz The hamshack is the result of a lot of thought. Featuring four 120V circuits on 200A service, as well as a 240V circuit for the amps, the idea was to have at hand dedicated equipment per band. About 12 'X 18', carefull planning allows for sufficient room to both work and play.The shack is air conditioned and heated, with numerous switched antenna options for HF/VHF and UHF. &nbs... READ MORE
Latest News
Bob, W9RAN, announces the VERSA-TR
Featured in the December 2018 issue of QST
Check Out the National NC-183D!
Thanks to Jerry, K9GAS, for this superb example.
2018 KI8BQ AM Gathering Info
Sturgis Michigan
New Arrival: Swan 350C & 117XC
Thanks to Dean, K4ATR
W9RAN Restores an Eldico TR1-TV
Globe King competitor gets a new life.
Build Your Own Altair 8800 Personal Computer
Go back to 1974 and the dawn of home computing with this Arduino-based kit
SK: John Clemens, W0BD
Designer of the Mosley CM-1 Receiver
The Philo T. Farnsworth Syndrome
Forgotten Relics of Inventor of Electronic TV