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Sir John Honeybucket:
One of the great aspects of solid state electronics is being able to easily improvise power sources.  I did a similar thing once, using a treadle sewing machine, generator and regulator to power my now long gone, Ten Tec 505 qRP rig for a few QSOs.

https://youtu.be/_N-V61GRX6I

JohnyMac:
Coooooooooooool.  :cheers:

Jackalope:
     I've got a similar set-up out in one of our sheds.  Used an exercise bike, like in the video.  However, the bike tire was removed, and in it's place there's a belt, which is connected to an old tape drive motor.  I built a regulator for it too, and it terminates in a cord with an Anderson powerpole.  It works well enough, I forget how many amps it puts out.  It's a good device for kids that have too much energy.  Have the kid pedal for 10-15 minutes, and it'll top off your batteries.

     I had a Ten Tec 505 too, and a Power-Mite, and a 509, and a Century 21.  The Century 21 was one of my favorites of the Ten-Tec radios, used it to get to 13 wpm for the General license, back in the day.  Currently, the only Ten-Tec radio in the stable is an Omni D, which is the primary radio for CW here, so it doesn't get used much.

pkveazey:
These posts remind me of when I was young and was in the Civil Air Patrol. We had a big old world War 2 tube type radio and receiver and when we were out in the field with no power, we had an old military surplus power generator. It looked like a bicycle with no wheels and we powered it by pedaling it like a bike. As soon as someone keyed the microphone and the transmitter kicked in, that SOB was hard as Hell to pedal. When we were just listening, it was almost effortless.

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