History - HG7F

History - HG7F (Under formatting...)

'I try to put down the story of our club from the initial trials up today. There are several things we do not remember well, not everybody remembers in the same way, or the memories come up slowly piece by piece. For this reason, this summary is under a continuous change, from time to time, or may change as based on a memorial fact that we have, to remember the other one. (Tempora mutantur …) Please excuse the stumbling chronicler.

HA5EB

Radio amateurs and sympathizers having worked at the Company for Precision Works that was founded in 1949, wanted to formulate a communal radio amateur station. Only a radio amateur licensee was needed who could be responsible for the station. He was the first leader for all of us, Sándor Mészáros HA5AS (ex HA8X, HA5BG). Uncle Sanyi was the leader of military recipients at the company as a captain, and completely a radio amateur. Callsign of the communal station HA5KAS was connected to his name.

Radio communications had been started at short wave bands of 3.5 and 7 MHz, which were determined by our equipments R40 and NEV (Hungarian abbreviation for heavy unit receiver,  Orion ). As an antenna, we used a G5RV that was erected at the top of the cultural building. It is hard to remember the first operators because when I entered as a young radio amateur licensee aspirant in May 1956 – when I joined the firm after graduation at the university – I was only familiar rather with their given name, and after having spent three months at the army, I could not meet again all of them. A few names I can still remember are as follows:

Note: Callsigns serve only for identification, because then only  HA5AS, HA8UA (with different callsign), and HA7PB, HA7PE had got a license.

Because uncle Sanyi was redirected for some months there was a break at  HA5KAS, also because equipment was given back. Activity was redirected towards VHF  work as a result of possibilities at this workplace. Temporarily for a contest we used the callsign HG7PE/5 at the 2 m contest of IARU and we won the cup offered by the Hungarian Radio. Transmitter of our VHF station was a reformulated and retuned version of a radat transmitter designed for 160 MHz, using two plain triodes GI17, a push-pull, grounded anode, self excited power oscillator, with Lecher line in the grid and cathode circuits, applying amplitude modulation. Our receiver was a „high tech”  VU-2, produced by the Mechanical Laboratory.

When uncle Sanyi returned, our station started to work again, mainly in the 2 meters band, with the callsign HG5KAS accordingly. At the end on 1957, our team was reorganized as a radio club, and after our home training and preparation for a radio amateur exam, our mates allowed working with station responsible person before, received their own licenses: HG5EB, HA5HD, HG7PI, HA7PX.

Our station HA7KAS attended Hungarian and international competitions successfully. Our station in the Hungarian evaluation, reached 2nd place in March 1958, in May 2nd, in July (PD) 3rd, in September 4rd places.

In 1959, our enthusiastic team was reorganized with the callsigns HA/HG5KEB.

Radio communications were started in 1960 at short waves but mainly at VHF (2 m), from the club room at the enterprise. New quartz driven equipment has been ready for this time, (with 16 MHz xtal osc.-ft.-ft.-ppa blocks) with 10W output power,  and our 2x5 element Yagi anteanna has also been finished. In this year we started to move out for mountain peaks, in order to increase maximum achievable distance. In March 1960 from Hármashatárhegy (JH35c, 500 m), in July and September from Dobogókő (JH25a, 700 m), in July 1961 from Kékestető (KH01g, asl 1010 m). Places of relocations changed according to the official occupancies of club members (works at microwave TV chains).

In July 1960, two FM transceivers for the 2300 MHz band were completed (with the leadership of Karcsi Visegrádi). A 200 mW klystron, diode mixer with 1N23, IF=30 MHz, a paraboloid antenna of 40 cm diameter, in it as a primer radiator, a dipole rotated by 45 deg + cross Yagis with reflectors, where one was for transmission, the other was for reception. The first QSO was from the QTH at our enterprise (JH46e), with the station  HA5KBC of the Research Institute for Telecommunications  (JH36g), on 6 July 1960, ODX=19 km. Next step was increase of distance. On 8 July 1960 the QSO was repeated from Kékestető (KH01g) with excellent report 59fb, ODX=85 km. On 4 September 1963 we logged a successful QSO on the Kékestető-Tokaj path with our club mate  HG7PI/p (KI78h), occupied that time with official activity, ODX= 107 km. This distance was at that time a Hungarian and European record for HA5KEB, for our club and members for several years.

In the meantime, our club member József Cserháti HA7PX was engaged with radio telemetry (popular name: fox hunting). So much that as a member of the national team in 1960 at the Moscow international competition he got a bronze medal. His equipment is today a technical rarity: a device based on a sigle 6J6 double triode. One half tube operated as a super regenerative receiver, the other half as an audio amplifier. The antenna was a foldable three element yagi. Energy supply was provided by the anode battery in his bag, heating was provided by a heating battery. (Their total weight was about 10 kp).

From the beginning of 1963, our station was continuously developed technically:

• Pieces of equipment were built in one rack, transmitter at the top, in the middle a „high-tech” VU-21 received produced by the Mechanical Laboratory, at the bottom, an up-foldable antenna controller with synchron selsyn, which also served as the working table of the operator.   
• To the end of 1963, our quartz controlled transmitter was completed with a power amplifier using QQE 06/40, with official output power of 25 W (practically 50 W), still for CW and AM. Because of the increased power, as a modulator amplifier, a BEAG type 50 W audio amplifier was used, at the microphone input a transistor preamplifier was added. All these provided additional possibilities for QSOs of longer distance.
• This was supported by the home made 12 element Yagi antenna (DL6VU) and antenna rotator placed at the top of the tower, equipped by a position indicator.
• Station was completed by a line voltage stabilizer produced by the EMG, for compensation of frequent and load dependent voltage changes.
• To be continued soon...

Translated by János, HA7XNL