How times change!

When I was first licenced in the late 1960s, I wanted a Codar AT5 transmitter.  At the time it was the state of the art.  This was a valved 12W AM/CW transmitter. I never had one. 

I had the companion T28 RX, which was rubbish. I think the pair were really meant for mobile use, as most mobile in those days was on 160m AM. My T28 was a university prize for a VLF project on whistlers. It ended up as a 4-6 MHz IF for a VHF converter. I recall hearing USA stations on 2m via Oscar 6 and Oscar 7.

I also had an Eddystone EC10 receiver. Apart from the mechanical construction, this too was rubbish.

We have come a long way since those days. Today, you can buy a multi-mode transceiver with internal batteries covering 160m -70cm in a smaller size than the AT5!   In fact, this has been available for more than 20 years!

Nostalgia time again

Since the 1960s we have come a very long way. Back then, I thought G4PJ's AT5 from Codar was amazing (see photo). This was a valve 160m/80m AM/CW TX putting out about 10-12W.  There was a companion RX, the T28, which was dreadful.

These days, you can buy a whole SDR transceiver covering 160m-70cm with all modes plus Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS in much the same size.  Mind you, the AT5 was a lot less expensive!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/at5 .

Codar AT5 transmitter

Way back in the late 1960s, I had a G8 call and used to operate the station of the late G4PJ under supervision. 

Bill had a Codar AT5 160/80m AM/CW 12W TX which put out a good signal. I recall very well working a station about 70 miles away on 80m AM one afternoon.

Although I owned the companion RX (the T28) , I never owned an AT5. I wanted one! The photo shows the AT5 transmitter. We have come a long way since those days.

Codar AT5 transmitter

Image on G3XTZ's Radio Museum website

Way back when I was first licenced for VHF/UHF only in early 1967 as G8AWG, I used to operate under supervision at the HF station of Bill Honeywill G4PJ in Salcombe on 160 and 80m. Bill Had an old KW Viceroy TX and a Codar AT5, which was "state of the art" in its day.

The AT5 was a small valve TX producing around 10W on 160m and 80m. Using the AT5 we could work right up the English Channel in daylight on AM and CW over a mostly sea path.  I noticed a page about the AT5 on the W3EEE website and it took me back 45 years.

Image on G3XTZ's Radio Museum website

There was a companion RX called the T28 which I owned at one time - I got it as a university prize for writing one of the better final year theses - which was made using a couple of Mullard modules. The T28 was nothing special, but did make a useful tunable IF for my 2m converter used to copy signals from Oscar 6 and Oscar 7 amateur satellites.

Nowadays in a volume less than half that of these rigs one can have a complete multi-mode HF-VHF-UHF transceiver with performance far exceeding the AT5 and T28. We forget how much our hobby has changed.