Sixty years ago this month, the April 1965 issue of Popular Electronics showed the simple process for converting a Knight Kit C-100 walkie talkie to the ham bands. The author, Harland Smith, W8VVD, later W8QX, noted that a walkie talkie is handy for hams in many situations, such as staying in touch with friends at a hamfest, adjusting an antenna, or tracking down TV interference. But there were no low-cost units available for the ham bands.

He showed how simple it was to convert the $9.95 C-100 to 10, 6, or 15 meters. For ten meters, the set needed only a new crystal and a bit of retuning. For 15 or 6, it required rewinding a couple of coils.