Acquisition of Two Collins Radios: ART-13 WWII transmitter and 75A-2 AM/CW Amateur Band Receiver.

At the NEAR-FEST ham fest, April 29th and 30th, 2022 in Deerfield, NH, USA. I picked up two new treasures (and sold a bunch of treasures) including two radios from Collins: An ART-13 WWII transmitter used in the B-17 bomber. And an amateur band AM/CW receiver to pair with my Collins 30K-4 transmitter (also circa 1957-ish).
For more information on NEAR-FEST please see: near-fest.com/
For info on the ART-13
www.radioblvd.com/art13.htm
www.collinsradio.org/cca-colli...
For info on the 75A-2
www.collinsradio.org/cca-coll...

[@EduLei]

Very nice gear!!

[@robertoler3795]

outstanding...well done WB5MZO you will love them

[@w2hx]

thanks! Can't wait to get some connectors and get the dynamotor for the ART-13 spun up.

[@mackfisher4487]

There's something exciting about mashing down on T-17 push to talk switch and hearing dynamometer power up. Thanks for preserving such great examples of military radio history.

[@w2hx]

Indeed! Thanks for the comment

[@milcommguy5927]

Thanks for sharing, very clean ART-13.

[@davidpotter5752]

Great looking ART-13. I have two of them in operation. It's fun using the old T-17 carbon Mic. Has that authentic military sound.

[@w2hx]

Thx vy much. I'll have to try the T-17 to see if there any life left it in. 73

[@davidpotter5752]

@@w2hx I have several T-17 mics. And I got all of them to except one. You can knock them on a hard surface to loosen the carbon granules. Also make sure the ptt contacts are clean. I enjoy using the ART-13 in it's historical condition and not make any modifications that can't be reversed. 73's KA5IXE

[@maestherc]

I suggest against modifying that nice 75A-2 for use with the aftermarket solid state product detector mentioned. I struggle to understand why would anyone want to try and convert an iconic classic AM/CW receiver into a mediocre SSB receiver. I happen to have a late model 75A-2 here in which someone installed the crummy little product detector kit discussed. It sounds poor with the SSB adapter -very unimpressive. I’ll have to go in and reconfigure the receiver wiring to operate properly. The toy little SSB board will be recycled as e-waste. BTW: a few years ago also had an otherwise pristine HRO-50T1 that some other joker had hacked a solid-state kit product detector into. In this instance, the directions actually called for breaking a contact tab off of the mode wafer switch as part of the kit installation. Unreal… And so I had to go back in there and fix the damage caused by the installation of the crummy little prod-det kit. Guys….. I submit: if you want a solid-state SSB rig then please go buy a solid-state SSB rig. PLEASE keep the cutting pliers and soldering iron out of these classic radios. Let classic AM/CW receivers remain AM/CW receivers. These old premium-quality vacuum-tube era receivers are essentially legacy heirloom items these days, and IMO they should be appreciated and cared-for as such. My two cents…. -KK7JD-

[@w2hx]

I agree with you. As I stated in the video, the primary purpose of this receiver will be for AM. The comment regarding a product detector was that there are ZERO modifications necessary (maybe just one wire soldered). It sits in a tube socket (actually I think it is the NBFM socket which is empty anyway). No other modifications. So whats the problem? If I dont like it I remove it. If I never use it, no harm no foul. Its a little like contesting if someone replaced a 6BA6 with another 6BA6 which wasn't original to the radio when purchased. Just put it back nothing lost if nothing gained.

[@maestherc]

@@w2hx Have to respectfully disagree on a few points: The solid state architecture of the prod det board is in an entirely different era of technology.It looks and feels completely out of place . Also: You have to remove several R's and C's nad do additional rewiring around the tube socket sacrificed. Finally, it works poorly and the recovered audio is unimpressive. If you must have a prod det in that receiver, why not put together a simple prod det with a couple 9-pin miniature tubes and simply plug this into the unused FM detector socket of the A2? Then you'd have a period congruent modification that likely would perform/sound much nicer as well.