Rogers “Black Widow,” Black Widow Deluxe

Object/Artifact

-

Radio Alpha

Image: CQ, Apr 1957

Image: CQ, Apr 1957

Name/Title

Rogers “Black Widow,” "Black Widow Deluxe"

Description

Mobile AM Transceiver for 220 MHz, 2, 6, or 10 Meters

Category

Transceiver, VHF

Made/Created

Manufacturer

Rogers Electronics

Date made

1957

Valuations

Value

$165.00

General Notes

Note

CQ, Apr 1957, page 107. Review: CQ, Jan 1958, page 28. Info from this review not yet included here. I got all the following info from this YouTube video, by W6WUH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDrhXe9abE0 Not sure I got all the tubes right. He was a little hard to follow. An internal switch selects between a Hi-Z or carbon microphone. Double conversion. First IF 10.5 MHz Second IF 1500 kHz. AM only. Has a tunable receiver and a crystal controlled transmitter using 8 MHz crystals or a VFO. Requires external speaker and power supply. Power: 250–300 VDC @ 180–200 mA, and 12 or 6 VDC filament Tubes: (standard version) (13 total): (1) 2E26, (2) 12AT7, (2) 0B2, (1) 6BJ6, (1) 6T8, (3) 6BH6, (1) 12AU6, (1) 5687, (1) 6AQ5 The ad in the July 1957 issue of CQ (page 111) also mentions a 5763 driver, and a 6U8 crystal oscillator. And in a video which showed portions of the schematic I noticed a 12AU7. The ad also notes a first IF of 6 MHz and suggests that the design has been improved, so changes probably were made. So some work needs to be done to nail down the tube lineup and other details. Also, the July ad does not mention the 220 MHz version. Deluxe version uses a 6146 final and a 6CZ5 in place of the 6AQ5.