Why are rigs so small? I think it's Art Collins' fault. And card tables.
Look at typical ham gear of the mid-to-late 1950s, and you'll see receivers
and 100-watt-class transmitters that took up most of the top of a standard
office desk, and whose combined weight ran 150-200 pounds. For example, the
classic Heathkit Mohawk/Apache pair took up a space about 40 inches wide, almost a
foot high and over a foot deep. And you better have a substantial operating
desk to hold them, because of the weight.
Then in 1959 came the revolutionary KWM-2. While not the first manufactured
amateur SSB transceiver, nor even the first 80-10 meter one, it was
revolutionary. A complete 100 watt SSB station in a box smaller than most receivers of
the day. Sure it needed an external power supply, but that could be tucked away
out of sight since it had no operating controls and was very small and light.
Such a rig could be tucked away in a small space, or even set up on a card
table with straining it.
Fast forward less than a decade, and many rigmakers were making their version
of the KWM-2. Heathkit had the SB-100/101/102 series, which were about the
same size as the KWM-2 and followed the same basic design ideas. Yet an SB-101
with power supply, speaker and CW filter cost less than the Apache/Mohawk
combo. For high power, add the Heath SB-200 amp - $200 and the same size as the
SB-101.
This reduction in size, weight and cost is why SSB replaced AM and why
transceivers replaced separates for most hams. Hamshacks could move out of the
basement and into the living space, and high power (particularly on 'phone) no
longer meant a six foot rack or two and a second mortgage. For many hams it meant
the ability to have a much better station than they had thought possible, due
to space and cost limits.
It all started with the KWM-2
73 de Jim, N2EY
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