Happy New
Year from your new TLARC President.
I am Richard
Meyer, your new President of TLARC for 2022, and I would like to
take this opportunity to introduce myself to you. After 40 some years in
the Dallas, Texas, area I retired to Tellico Village in December
of 2020. I am a member of the Tellico Village Volunteer Fire
Department; trained as a Fire Ground Technician and as a Medical
First Responder. I immediately joined TLARC and was impressed by
the people I have met.
I am not the type
of person that makes rapid changes to an organization. TLARC is your
organization and can only be as great as its individual parts. I will need your input,
suggestions, and expertise for the coming year. Most of my Ham
Radio exposure has been with the equipment side, not so much the
operating part of the hobby. I
will need your help as I try to get more involved in on-the-air
activities and the various contests.
Okay, a little
bit about me. I have
been involved in Ham Radio since I was a teenager almost 60
years ago. My mentor
(Elmer) was a retired TV Repairman and a Ham Radio operator,
W8CNY (SK). As a
tribute to him I changed my call sign to W8CNY last year when it
became available, I have my Extra Class license. My mentor had a
basement full of electronic parts, an experimenter’s delight.
While in High School during the mid-1960’s I built several
Heathkit projects. My first major DIY project was a fast scan
black & white TV camera that contained 8 vacuum tubes. The
TV camera was soon on the air operating at 420 MHz. I entered the TV camera
into my High School Science Fair, received awards at several
Regional Science Fairs and the US Air Force. After graduation I joined
the US Air Force and was trained in secure Crypto Communications
as an Electronic Technician, this was during the Vietnam War. I was stationed at a
remote Radar site on a mountain top in Germany; this was the Air
Traffic Control Center for Berlin. During the day, along with my other duties, I
ran the MARS Radio Station and made Ham contacts at night. Back then we used a
state-of-the-art Collins KWM-2A transceiver with a 1kW Linear
Amplifier feeding a 3 element beam antenna. The entire world was at
my doorstep.
After the
Military I received my Electrical Engineering degree from The
Ohio State University. Over my career I have; developed Radar
Missile Guidance Systems for the US Navy, developed Bar Code
Readers for the US Post Office, designed 50/60/400 Hz High Power
Inverter Systems, been a Research Professor at the University of
Arkansas, a Chief Engineer at two firms, and an Electrical
Safety Engineer for Underwriters Laboratory (UL). While working at Texas
Instruments I was on the team that developed the technology
behind the new digital televisions. I have 10 US Patents and over 40 International
Patents, all in Television and Optical Systems. My claim to fame is my
Patent 5,526,051 entitled “Digital Television System”, as it was
the beginning of High Definition Television (HDTV) as we know
it. The next time you
see a DLP Conference Room video projector or go to the Movie
Theater and watch their new Digital Projectors…those are mine
also.
So, what is in my
Ham Shack? It is
currently under construction as I am adding a rather large
Man-Cave above the garage and attic. My house backs up to the 16th
Fairway of the Toqua Golf Course, the lot is too small for a
typical antenna farm, not even enough room for a decent dipole
antenna. My HF rig is
a Kenwood TS-480SAT, currently no transmitting antenna for it at
this time. My 2m/70cm
UHF/VHF rig is a Yaesu FT-7900R/E with a mag mounted Comet
CA-2X4SR antenna, good enough for the time being. At this time my vehicle has
no Ham radio mounted in it, so I use a Yaesu FT2D HT for mobile
operations.
What are my other
hobbies? I enjoy the
restoration of vintage Vacuum Tube radio equipment. I have a Collins 51S-1 HF
Receiver (0.2-30 MHz range) and a Military R-390A/URR Receiver
(0.5-32 MHz range). I
enjoy rebuilding, calibrating, and selling old Vacuum Tube
Testers; the Military TV-7 is the most popular model. My electrical workbench
consists of; a Tektronix DPO3034 4-channel Oscilloscope (300 MHz
BW, 2.5 GS/s), an IFR A-7550 Spectrum Analyzer (10 kHz-1 GHz
range), an IFR-1500 AM/FM Transmitter/Receiver Calibrator (100
kHz-1 GHz range), an EIP-545A Frequency Counter (10 Hz-18 GHz
range), plus a multitude of other test equipment. In short, I have a
complete RF Test Lab. I
enjoy metal working with a mechanical workbench consisting of; a
Sherline CNC Metal Lathe, a Sherline CNC Metal Milling Machine,
plus other power and hand tools.
Over the years I have acquired a unique 250+ piece
collection of vintage Simpson analog test equipment, including
the Simpson 260 Volt/Ohmmeter series
.
So, what can I
offer you? I maintain
a complete set of resistors, capacitors, inductors, vacuum
tubes, and other electronic components. If you need some parts
for your own Ham Radio DIY project, just ask me. I am just returning the
favor of what my mentor (Elmer) did for me many years ago…tell
me about the project and these electronic parts are yours for
the asking.
Happy New Year
and 73’s to All.
Richard
Meyer – W8CNY
TLARC
President
richard@...
(214) 215-4518
