Around 1975 I set up this shack in my third mobile home. I have no photos of my shack (if I had one) in the second mobile home.
There is a Collins KWM-2 transceiver sitting on the shelf, but I don't remember where I got it, how long I used it, or what happened to it. The Hammarlund HQ-215 receiver from the previous shack is present, but I must have sold the SX-117 receiver and HT-44 transmitter.
On the left is the Contester, a contest duplicate-checker I designed and built around 1973. My article about it appeared in the February 1975 QST magazine.
This was before the time of computerized logging programs (even before personal computers!), and before the 8080 microprocessor, so the Contester used at least 100 discrete TTL and MOS (not CMOS) logic chips. It had a 512-word content-addressable memory made of 14 512-bit dynamic shift registers in parallel, and 14 exclusive-OR gates.
The Contester displayed call signs on a Burroughs "Self-Scan" one-line dot-matrix alphanumeric plasma display – leading-edge technology at the time.
If a call sign entered on the keyboard matched one in the memory, a DUPE light would turn on. The Contester also would send Morse code from characters typed on the keyboard.
The Contester would be completely useless in today's contesting environment. Amazing progress has been made in 40 years!
The MITE teleprinter described in the mobile home #1 shack is sitting on top of the Contester.
Updated March 27, 2024