Originally published in the July 1989 issue of the Collector and Emitter.
After an absence of several years from the flea market at Ham Holiday, Q. R. Zedd, A5A, has reserved a table for the upcoming event.
On hearing the news, several local radio amateurs fainted. NASA set plans to send three scientists early the first day of the ham convention, hoping to learn new science insights by studying some of the home-made junk Zedd might be throwing away.
Zedd, world’s greatest DXer who lives just a hoot and a holler south of town, was characteristically modest and understated about his plans.
“I don’t often rent a flea market table,” Zedd told C&E, because when I do, nobody else can get their stuff looked at. That’s because everybody is over there at my table, wanting to touch the hem of my garment and get an autograph, and all.
“This year, though, I’ve just got so much surplus equipment and everything piled up that I have got to put in an appearance. I figure it will sure simplify my life, as well as give some of the boys and girls a big thrill. So what the heck.”
Pressed to tell us just a few of the goodies he planned to take to Hans Holiday, Zedd leaned back in his rocking chair on the porch of Honor Roll, propped his Roy Rogers boots on the railing, opened a Colorado KoolAid and package of Dingdongs, and let out a few secrets.
Zedd said he will try to unload four of the big Icom rigs which he has tested for the factory. These were not only furnished to him free of charge because it was known he would give them the ultimate test; Icom needed the sales boost Zedd’s testing would provide, and the factory will soon announce the special “Q.R. Zedd Autograph” model, which will cost $17,500. The all-band, all-mode rig is expected by Icom to become as famous in time as the Red Ryder carbine.
“These test models of mine are going to go at about $15 apiece,” Zedd told us. “Of course that’s without an autograph.”
In addition, Zedd says he plans to offer two slightly used power tubes out of his small walk-in linear “if I can get them through the door.” These tubes are specially built for Zedd by Boeing in Seattle, and require considerable voltage on the plate. The city of Purcell tried to use one to heat its city parks, but the county did not have enough power to light it up properly.
There will also be the following on Zedd’s table:
- 2 — 807s.
- 1 — box of assorted resistors.
- 1 — 1964 Philco AM radio.
- 1 — Zedd-built transceiver.
- 3 — 100-foot tower sections.
- 1 — broken keyer.
- 1 — burnt-out microphone.
- 200 – assorted medals.
- 1 — Boris Badenov dartboard.
Zedd assured us that each and every one of these items has great personal significance to him. “I hate to see ’em go,” he said, “but even W5SQJ parts with a piece of junk every now and then. And I have just got to make room in my workshop and storage area for some of my new projects.”
Pressed for more information about his flea market stuff, the great man said he would tell us just one story. “I would tell you more, but sometimes things look funny in print, and I don’t want anybody to ever get the idea that I am not humble and modest.”
The broken keyer, Zedd told us, is from his 1963 DXpedition to the Amazon Basin.
“It was so hot and humid there in the jungle,” he explained, “that we just could not work phone. Our words would mildew between our mouth and the mike, so by the time they got through the rigs and out into the air, they was already 2 and 9 or maybe worse. So we had to unplug the mikes and go strictly CW.
“Well, I worked about 9K with that old keyer the first afternoon, and it was just fine. But sometime in the night I forgot myself and started sending as fast as I can, rather than what normal mortals might can copy if they got a computer.
“Well, sir, sitting there in that tent, sending out the 5-9-9s as fast as I could paddle, imagine my surprise when all of a sudden I started getting feedback through my rig and a kind of orange glow around the contacts on the keyer paddles, and then an arc jumping around inside the keyer’s electronics. And then a blue bolt of lightning flang itself out of the keyer and went to ground right at my feet.
“Well, it got my attention, fer sure, fer sure. I suspended operations for a few minutes and investigated. Pried the lid off that keyer and found some fried chips in there.”
We asked what had caused the malfunction.
“The only thing I could figure then, or ever,” Zedd told us, “was how fast I got sending that CW. I was doing about a hundred contacts a minute, give or take a few. The way I figure it, my signals got going faster than the electrons could run around the circuit, and when the signals got ahead of the electrons, there started to be what you might call subatomic rear-end collisions in there. Naturally, the chips took the brunt of it because some of their channels are so fine.
“It taught me a lesson, boy. Since that day, I have never again forgot to slow down enough to let them electrons catch up on a real regular basis,”
Zedd said the keyer is repairable.
Oh. One final note. As usual, because of his modesty and all, Zedd may appear at his table in a clever disguise.
As is well known, he is a master of disguise. “It keeps the crowd under control,” Zedd told us. “And it’s fun, being anonymous.”
Last year Zedd attended in one of his disguises. That ruse can now be revealed. He went as W5LFK.
— KU5B