When I was a kid, my friends and I had the chance to play around with electronic components. We’d take apart old devices, and sometimes we’d even get burned by a hot soldering iron. I was fascinated by the oscilloscope screen. My father, Ing. Viliam Petrík, built that oscilloscope himself.
My father built his own equipment. He had several pieces. The hamshack was dominated by a KROT receiver, which was supplemented by a vacuum-tube converter for 144 MHz and an FM detector. Tube transmitters were used for broadcasting—separate FM and SSB transmitters. The SSB transmitter was based on the phase method of generating an SSB signal. Behind them was the output stage with a QQV-06/40.
OK3WAO’s antennas—a GW4CQT quad and a vertical Yagi
By the window was the handle for the cable drive. It extended all the way up to the roof, where it controlled the antenna’s rotation. It was a mechanical antenna rotator. My father was fond of quad antennas. For a long time, he used a 7-element GW4CQT quad, which was later replaced by a DL7KM antenna. My father also had the same type of antenna for 432 MHz.
There were preamplifiers beneath the antennas. The first one I remember was equipped with a BFT66—a rare transistor at the time. Later, we replaced it with popular MOSFET preamplifiers, such as those using the KF907 and similar devices.
My father also built an FM VHF transceiver. The 144 MHz SSB transceiver was also interesting. It was beautifully crafted with an unusual mechanical gear mechanism for the frequency display. The output transistor was a BLY87A. It was based on the phase-modulation method of SSB generation.
There was also a 70-cm transverter in a similar chassis. My father—already severely limited by Parkinson’s disease—tried to modify and improve it. He wasn’t very satisfied with the active mixer, so he eventually installed a UZ-07 there. The power stages used Russian transistors, which achieved a gain of only a few decibels at these frequencies.
We always had a supply of amateur radio literature at home. These included volumes of *Amatérske Rádia*, *RZ-et*, *AMA* magazines, *DUBUS*, *Radio*, a few issues of *FunkAmateur*, and others.
OK3WAO’s antennas—a GW4CQT quad and a vertical Yagi—
KN9DD, Tatranská Lomnica, is not a very favorable QTH for VHF. However, my father tried to transmit, even using unconventional modes (ES, Aurora, etc.). His childhood dream—aviation—was at least fulfilled through contacts with radio amateurs on the MIR space station and numerous contacts via amateur radio satellites. I regularly prepared a list of suitable satellite passes for him.
At the same time, he kindly guided me and passed on the knowledge he had to me. Thank you!