Sidetone etc. - DX-60

[Gabe Sellers]

> Does anyone know of a simple way to get a CW sidetone out of a DX-60 with a
> straight key?  The receiver being used is an HR-10B but without the antenna
> relay switchover relay, automatic muting etc. (done manually with antenna
> switch and receiver stby toggle) and no keyer.

Ha!  I would like to know too.  I got my ticket 5 years ago and wanted my
first QSO to be an all tube affair - like the rigs I saw in the Heathkit
catalog while a kid growing up.  While I was getting the DX-60B and HR-10B
ready, the electrolytic filter capacitor in the DX-60B suddenly shorted
out and the transmitter went up in smoke, literally.  Desperate to get
my first QSO that night, I pulled out an old Knightkit T-60 transmitter
that now needed a crystal.  Finding a crystal in another old transmitter
I found that my electronic (tube) T/R antenna switch had large chunks of
its power cord insulation missing because it had dried up and fallen off
due to old age.  I decided to risk using it anyway and was *very* careful
while hooking it up.  Manning the receiver standby switch, I found that I
had no sidetone when keying.  Not knowing better I called CQ anyway and
got my first QSO with a guy in Long Island, NY.  I wonder how I sounded.

While I ended up being successfull with my first QSO, I decided that
nostalgia wasn't all it was cracked up to be and that was the last QSO
that used any tubes.  Now I would like to know how to do it right.

Gabe Sellers  W2ZGB
gsellers at lucent.com
nr Denver, Colorado

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