Seventy years ago this month, the September 1953 issue of Radio-Electronics carried the plans for this economical two-tube transmitter for the novice. It ran 35 watts input power, which the author, Richard Graham, W1VJV, acknowledged was less than the legal limit of 75 watts. But the advantage was cost. At the lower power level, common TV parts could be used, making it singificantly less expensive. And on the receiving end, the difference was only half an S unit, which wasn’t even discernible by the human ear.

The rig employed a 6C4 as Pierce oscillator, driving a 6BQ6-GT final. With the coils shown, it could tune both 80 and 40 meters. At the time, the Novice did not have privileges on 40, but would be ready the moment they upgraded to General.