G[mloulnal - Quarter Century Wireless Association

PART 1
This story starts in the early days of a young ham in the late
1950's when, to get started in the hobby, one only had to pass a
1 2 w p m code test taken by the local postmaster. In those days a
popular way of getting on the air with limited financial resources
was by converting war surplus radios. Surplus military equipment
could be found in abundance at the time at various outlets
in the major cities for next to nothing. There were iiteraily heaps
ofstuffto search through at your hearts content. Experts in converting
surplus gear and help to convert what ever you may have
acquired were just a matter of asking. Ideas to put these pieces of
equipment to ham use were ingenious, like the Command receiver
with plug in bank of coils
at the bottom. The companion
Command transmirrers covering
3,5 to 4 MHz formed a highly
stable VFO which could be
doubled ro the higher, harmonically
related amateur bands.
One of my ham teachers
those days was Jack Snyman,
ZS1OU of the Strand. Both he
and his wife, Marge, ZSIRM,
were very keen and good C\7
operators and they had a shack
that was the enr,y of every ham
that walked in, sporting a Collins
S-line, rhe absolure ulrimate in
those days. From Stellenbosch, I
could hear their signals on backscatter
good enough to have
many C\W QSOs at times when
DX was fading. Their sryle of code sending was outstanding in
rhythm, clarity and readabiliq,. I always tried to emulate their
perfection, even though only using converted surplus equipment,
home made bug and a single feed line'i(indom wire antenna.
Whenever I visited Jack, his invitation to listen around a bit
on the Collins was never declined and on more occasions than
one I am sure my weicome must have been exceeded by far. The
light amber backlit dials of the Collins transmitter and receiver
had thin black lined fiduciaries that had to be carefully set up on
each band, using the calibration oscillator. Tirrning the turning
dials felt like stoking a piece of velvet. Audio coming from the
oval ioudspeaker in the matching power supply was crisp and
fully rounded and the background noise was just a pleasant
crackle, enough to remind one that the rig was alive. "This was
what I wanted - - one day when I grow up." After finishing studies
and leaving the area to take up a position in Johannesburg,
contact with Jack over many years was maintained by regular
CW chats and the occasional personal visit when an opportuniry
presented itself. But, as with ail of us mortal beings, the years
started to take it's toll and I sadly saw my friend and mentor fade
due to terminal cancer. He had an exceptionally good memory
and enjoyed recalling and talking about the good times he and
Marge had on the air in great detail even at a late stage of his
illness. Thanks to modern medication he never suffered so bad
that he did not feel like operating his station. My last QSO with
Now Vidi is the owner of the Collins gedr he so much
admired in his youth.
44 QCWA fournal - Summer 2001
him was in June 1999 and my last personal visit to Jack was in
March 2000. At that time he had the 755-3 receiver and 325-3
transmitter out of their cabinets and the cabinets neatly wrapped
in plastic to preserve them. What is more, he believed that providing
extra air circulation would prolong the life of the 26 odd
tubes..... and of course to see them glow in the dark is something
special. Unfortunately the chemotherapy and radiation treatment
caused trembling of his hands and affected his CW sending to
such an extent that it was difficult to recognize that once musical
rhythm of his 30 wpm code. Spacing between letters and words
became vague and at occasions anticipation had to be used to
understand what he was trying to say. After several months of
not hearing him on the atr, news
came about problems he had with
the S-iine. He was asking for heip
and needed rectifier tubes for the
transmitter power supply. News
also reached me that he had to have
the power transformer rewound.
Apparently he never managed to
get the station back on the air before
his key sadly became silent on
the 5th ofAug 2000.
PART 2
Based on fond memories of
Jack, the respect and admiration I
had for him as a young ham and
the dream station he had, I decided
to make an offer for the now
crippied Collins S-line. The offer
was accepted by the family and
plans had to be made to collect the
equipment in Somerset'!(est. As it happened, an opportuniry to
house sit for reiatives in Somerset West suddenly appeared out of
the blue and the Collins expedition was on. My wife Hester,
ZS5ESU and I selected some very bare essentials for the expedition
in the line of tools, including a soldering iron, multi meter
and RF power meter so that we couid set up a small workshop in
the lower level of the large house we had to watch over for a
month. I collected the 37-year-old station together with the 'instruction
books which had fold out circuit diagrams of more than
1m long, falling apart in various places and heid together with
yellowing tape. The diagrams were speckled with hand written
notes. Some were in pencil and others in red, blue and black
ballpoint pen ofvoltages and resistance measurements. There were
many circles drawn around suspect components with question
marks and notes beside them. I realized that the thousands of
hours on the air did not go by unnoticed by our friend'wear and
tear'. The emission switch on the transmitter was hard to turn
and the front panel of both units had spots and blemishes but
fortunately no scratches. The control knobs had faded yellowy
index lines that used to be brilliant white and all the pilot lights
were fused. The power suppiy had obviously been a major problem.
There were no rectifier tubes and the wiring was very untidy
and temporary. Jack obviously never got the rig back on the air
after the transformer was rewound. This was the rig I once admired
and now had to face the challenge of getting it to, or close