A Story of Youth and Old Age...
Steve Lambert (KC0STL)
on
July 24, 2008
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I became interested in ham radio nearly 40 years ago. But I let other things take priority and waited a long, long time to become an active ham.
For the sake of nostalgia, I recently bought some early 70's QST magazines off eBay -- the vintage I was reading when I first became interested in amateur radio.
I have to say the ads alone are worth reading!
Two or thing struck me. First was the cost of equipment. Most of the HF transceivers of the day were between $500 and $700 in an era when I was earning $600 a month at a pretty good job.
Yikes! A month's wages was a lot. It tells you a lot when I paid not much more than that recently for my one-size-does-everything FT-897D with all kinds of bells and whistles that were unheard of 25 or 30 years ago.
The other thing that leaped out at me was the world-before-internet. I've almost forgotten what that was like.
Every advertiser had coupons you could mail in for a brochure or catalog- no instant websites.
And then there was the cost of phone calls. One amateur store in St. Louis advertised in every issue that if you called station-to-station and placed and order they would reimburse you for the long distance charges upon submission of your phone bill.
My, how much things have changed in a world where we have 24/7 access to information via the internet- unlimited long distance for a few dollars per month... and state-of-the-art equipment for a fraction of what it cost in terms of earned dollars.
I wish I had become involved in amateur radio back in 1970, but that's water under the bridge. In the meantime, I'm thankful for the products, services and prices available in 2008.
Steve Lambert
KC0STL
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A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by N4CQR on July 24, 2008
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Much the same as I remember with my interest in audio equipment. Everything was a phone order, items were shipped COD (no credit cards) Delivery by UPS was anyone's guess since there was no way for the average person to track a package.
Further back.. I hung out at the telegraph office at the Berea KY train depot. At that time, 99% of the packages (and mail) came in by train. As a kid I was amazed at the numbrr of roll-a-round carts sitting there waiting to be put on the REA (Railway Express Agency) truck to be delivered around town.
Craig
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RE: A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by N2EY on July 24, 2008
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I became a ham in October 1967, so I lived through all the things described. My QST collection goes back to the 1920s, too.
When you take inflation into account, new equipment was incredibly expensive compared to today. The rigs then did a lot less, and tended to be bigger and heavier.
OTOH, we had lots of surplus and used equipment, kits and homebrew, to keep costs down.
Because equipment cost so much, many hams had only one rig, and needed to sell one rig to buy another. So a rig would pass through many hands in its lifetime, and would be used for decades.
Cost also turned a lot of us into pack-rats, saving everything that might someday be useful, tearing apart anything electronic for the parts, and coming up with ingenious re-uses of things (would you believe a plastic cereal bowl reused as a dial in a receiver?)
The result was that there were relatively few hams but they were very enthusiastic.
But one thing was a lot better:
In those days it was pretty much an accepted thing that people put antennas on their houses. Radio antennas, TV antennas, cb antennas, ham radio antennas, satellite dishes several feet across, etc. A tower would require a building permit and safety inspection in some cases, but that was just to make sure it was built right, not to question your right to put it up.
Somehow that idea got turned on its head in the 1970s.
73 de Jim, N2EY
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A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by KA2SSX on July 24, 2008
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Hi Steve-Tnx for the story, it reminds me of the late 1950s and into the sixties. I would go through the Allied Radio and Lafayette catalogs and get a check from my parents for a handful of small parts. Then the wait for the mailman in about ten days to two weeks. Simple and fun times. Glenn.-KA2SSX.
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RE: A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by K6CRC on July 24, 2008
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I wasn't a ham in the 1970s, but did build a BCB/SW rig from surplus. There was this incredible store in downtown Los Angeles. When I was about 12, I took the 90 minute bus ride about once every couple of months. For $25 in paper delivery money, I bought a couple of command sets. One was the BCB rig, the other the low band SW rig, and the third was a LW rig (second conversion system). Put the antenna for the lowband rig into the BCB IF can, add parts from old surplus TVs,and voila! a dual conversion radio!
We didn't have much, and if I wanted to get something, I had to figure out how to buy or build it myself.
Two things strike me now. One, there were lots of magazine articles/books on converting mil surplus so it was very common, and Two, my parents didn't care that I rode the bus into one of the worst sections of the country. Yet, I never had a problem, and always had a good, cheap lunch at one of the BBQ or Burrito stands near the store.
Either life was simpler then, or people were more ingenious, and less paranoid. Given how smart the kids are around here now, I would vote that life was just simpler then...
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Are antennas limiting our numbers?
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by KC8BYF on July 24, 2008
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N3EY says...
"In those days it was pretty much an accepted thing that people put antennas on their houses. Radio antennas, TV antennas, cb antennas, ham radio antennas, satellite dishes several feet across, etc. A tower would require a building permit and safety inspection in some cases, but that was just to make sure it was built right, not to question your right to put it up."
>>>> I have been trying to figure out this, ever growing, problem since I began SWLing back in the early 1970's <<<<
I would really like to know and try to understand where the heart of this issue with antennas began...( I just don't get it )
Seems as if every neighborhood has restrictions and covenants on ANY kind of antenna installations, presuming a person is even permitted to put up an antenna at all.
Are there people out here that truly believe their idea of aesthetics are much more refined than anyone else's?
What ever happened to the words like "justice" and "property rights"?
Why are the people in the neighborhoods so willing to take these matters to court and make enemies out of their neighbors?
Are the courts not filled with enough "real problems"?
How did the issue of antenna installations get to the ridiculous level it has gotten to?
Can we say this is the work of a communist/socialist group who deemed this to be an acceptable practice in a systematic approach to removing our dignities one piece at a time?
Going way out on a limb (or perhaps not)... With the onset of digital TV (and eventually commercial radio as well) ...could this all be part of a bigger picture?
Are the governments of the world (not just the USA) slowly but surely removing our abilities to pass, share and take part in communications via the air waves without fabricating "spin" or filtering on the information being passed?
To me this seems to be just one small issue in a world that is dying from the wounds suffered in an undefinable social war.
Live and let live... 73
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A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by KC8BYF on July 24, 2008
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OH ! By the way Steve... Good read. Yes, the financial cost of the equipment we use has definitely become more affordable.
Still, the best radios are quite unproductive without a good antenna system. On HF (especially under 20 meters) a "good antenna system" IS going to put one (or more) of your neighbors' boxers in a bunch. Why ? Because they have been given the legal rights to become a pain in the tookus to any one ...for any reason.
73 & 72
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RE: A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by VE6CNU on July 24, 2008
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I got my ticket in the early 70s while in high school and remember drooling over all those catalogs and ads in ham radio magazines. I was working part time bagging groceries for minimum wage and soon realized that there were two groups of hams. The majority seemed to be much older, either retired or without much in the way of family obligations. They had the nice rigs and fancy antennas in their back yard. Then there was the rest of us - poor students whose enthusiasm for the hobby far outpaced our bank accounts. We managed to find used rigs for cheap and string up wires from our chimneys. My first station consisted of a DX-40/HR-10 combo that cost me about $75 at the time. In 2008 dollars, that would be about $750. Today, newcomers to the hobby can pick up a nice used rig for less than half of that. And even though these newer rigs have a ton more features, most of them should be considered as "throw-away" as parts are probably no longer available or if they are, they may cost more than the rig is worth. The good news is that there are still a lot of the old reliable radios around and plenty of old timers available to demonstrate how to use them.
Jerry VE6CNU
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RE: A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by RADIOROY on July 24, 2008
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Started in 1956, and when the FCC moved the test date up by a month, I GAVE UP!! Fast forward to 1992, and the urge hit again. By this time the motley crew had vacated the home, and some money was available. This time the XYL became interested, and bang! We started to study. She stopped at general, and I went for the whole enchilada. Her first radio still sits here, given to her by our elmer(W5ZF) , a Motorola rep., and it is a 2 frequency mobile business band radio with the power supply. Stan was a good elmer, and helped a lot of new hams from Albuquerque to Clovis. We love OM Stan and thank him for his guidance. Our only regret is that we did not get started sooner. We were hams for about 6 years while trucking, and have a bunch of friends all over the country.Even in 1992, my first radio was a handy talkie, and a lot of money for us then. Life has been good to us, and Sandy (KC5EGP) and I enjoy the good life of retirement and our OLD radios. They are easy to operate, and just keep on a ticking. Just like a Timex. 73 gd DX de W5ROY Roy
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A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by AI2IA on July 24, 2008
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If you want to go back to older days and read local legal notices, you will see that most began with "We the people of the State of (name your state), by the grace of God free and independent, do hereby ......"
Now the legal notices have dropped that important preamble. Oh, I could pick a lot of significant items from that deleted phrase, but a most relevant one for hams is this: ...free and independent...
Somehow the critical American idea of independence is fast fading under the "it takes a village" mentality, under the notion that government was intended to solve problems of all kinds including social problems, and that people are not free to do what others deem are unsafe or ugly things.
Ham radio is most useful and most fun when it is tied to American independence, property rights, American ingenuity, and carefree experimentation without local ordinances hanging over your head, or the "you've got to wear a safety helmut mentality," or your hobby offends me.
It is a myth that government can solve many problems at all. It is a myth that narrow minded "safety" ordinances can protect people against themselves. It is a self-defeating notion that freedom to experiment must be banned in the name of homeland security. It is wrong for folks to make unreasonable demands of their neighbors. This is how we arrived at the mess we have today.
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RE: A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by N3DF on July 24, 2008
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The 1970s were an interesting time period for VHF. In 1970, two meter FM was just starting to become a popular mode. There were a few amateur market rigs, but a number of hams still used converted commercial surplus. HTs were still fairly exotic and were typically used by hams who already had base and mobile two meter FM rigs. Just about all rigs were crystal controlled and if you wanted to work a new repeater you had to wait a couple of weeks until the crystals you ordered arrived in the mail.
By 1979, it seemed that just about every ham was on two meters. Rigs had synthesized channel selection and the HT became the first rig for many new hams.
Neil N3DF
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RE: Are antennas limiting our numbers?
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by N2EY on July 24, 2008
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I (N2EY) previously wrote: "In those days it was pretty much an accepted thing that people put antennas on their houses."
KC8BYF replies: "I would really like to know and try to understand where the heart of this issue with antennas began"
Blame cable TV.
KC8BYF: "Seems as if every neighborhood has restrictions and covenants on ANY kind of antenna installations, presuming a person is even permitted to put up an antenna at all."
Not every neighborhood. Only the newer ones.
KC8BYF: "What ever happened to the words like "justice" and "property rights"?"
They mean different things to different people. But they are not the source of anti-antenna covenants.
KC8BYF: "How did the issue of antenna installations get to the ridiculous level it has gotten to?
Can we say this is the work of a communist/socialist group who deemed this to be an acceptable practice in a systematic approach to removing our dignities one piece at a time?"
Nope. In fact it's just the opposite: It's good ol' *capitalism* and the *free market* at work.
Here's what happened:
Back in the 1970s, cable TV began to expand from its fringe-area origins to places that were closer to the TV stations.
In fringe areas, almost everyone got on cable as soon as it was offered, because it was less cost and hassle to pay the cable company than it was to put up and maintain a big TV antenna just to get a few stations.
But in other areas cable TV was a harder sell. When a simple Radio Shack log-periodic on the roof got you plenty of TV stations for free, why get cable? Many folks predicted that cable TV would fail outside of fringe areas because not enough people would pay for TV.
At the same time, a lot of new construction housing was going to all-buried utilities, condos, etc. Installing cable TV after the fact was a big costly headache.
Then came The Marketing Idea:
The cable-TV folks would wire all the houses in a development for cable TV as they were being built, at little or no cost to the developer. Easier, faster and much less trouble. The developer would put no-antenna clauses in the deeds to all the properties, and advertise the houses as "cable ready" and "no installation fee".
The new homeowners would move in and find the cable TV folks offering them a good deal, so most went to cable and never looked back. The few who said "No" at first usually found that TV reception on an indoor antenna was so bad that they gave up and went to cable.
The result was that the developers had a new selling feature for their homes, the cable-TV folks had lots of new customers in a small area, and both made more money.
This idea worked so well that "no antennas" restrictions became part of the boilerplate for most new developments, particularly condos, townhomes, and planned subdivisions. And since most people aren't hams, there weren't a lot of complaints.
These restrictions usually take the form of private contracts, not laws or ordinances, that people agree to when they buy the house.
Over time, people got used to seeing no antennas on houses, no utility poles, no wires, etc. It became "normal" to them to *not* see such things.
KC8BYF: "Are the governments of the world (not just the USA) slowly but surely removing our abilities to pass, share and take part in communications via the air waves without fabricating "spin" or filtering on the information being passed?"
Nope. It's about getting more customers for a business, nothing more. Good ol' American free market capitalism, that's all.
How many people do you know that do not have cable or satellite TV, where it is available?
That's the history. Some years back, the satellite-TV companies successfully won a court case (look up "OTARD ruling") that broke the cable-TV monopoly. But the ruling does not apply to amateur radio antennas, only broadcast-TV antennas.
73 de Jim, N2EY
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RE: Are antennas limiting our numbers?
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by KI4WAF on July 24, 2008
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I blame Cable TV.
Back in the 60s, everyone had antennas because they had to. Once 90+% of the population switched to cable, you were pretty much expected to. Now, the "property value" police balk whenever anything metal shows up outside of your house.
I don't think the government (or at least not the State and Federal levels) are responsible for this, nor are they trying to limit information flow. But, society as a whole has shifted to this whole "don't try to do anything for yourself" mentality. You are expected to come home from work (if you choose to go to work in the first place), sit on your behind, drink beer, and watch American Idol.
If you try to do anything for yourself, or at least control your own destiny you are labeled a weirdo. Be that carry a gun, fly a plane, or operate ham radio (though I would argue we get the least amount of flak of those 3).
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RE: Are antennas limiting our numbers?
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by W7ETA on July 24, 2008
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When I became licensed, I had to wait 8 weeks for my ticket to arrive via Uncle Sam.
I wanted the hot set up at the time, Drake C-line--Collins was out of the question!
I wound up with an new FT101EX and had to save up for a CW filter.
About 10 years ago, I observed that I could finally afford that C-line. I still SMILE whenever I turn the rigs on, see the blue light, and wait for it to finish warming up in the Stand-By mode.
I scan old articles and wish I really could get step up xformers from old radios and TV for homebrew.
73
Bob
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the good old days....
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by NV2A on July 24, 2008
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I remember that most good sized towns had a surplus store or ham radio store to dream in. Then later the big mailorder/website houses took over. Nice topic to cover but then it got derailed into this:
As for the antenna. Some folks may be forgetting what roll "some" hams played in antenna restrictive neighborhoods when they sought to turn residential properties into antenna farms. Who the heck wants to live next to a nut job with miles of wire in the air. That's how antenna restrictions came about. It was safer for people living in these nice neighborhoods to just restrict all antennas rather then take the chance someone would only put up one tower with a TH11DX on it. Hams who want antenna farms maybe ought to consider living in the farming type communities. I can sympathize with someone with a beautiful home and a neighbor "who has the right to do any damn thing he pleases.
PS. My tower will be up in the next 2 months. I only have to satisfy the xyl but she ain't real found of a yard full of aluminum either.
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RE: the good old days....
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by N4KZ on July 24, 2008
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I got interested in ham radio in 1967 and received my novice license 2 years later at the age of 14. I was self-taught on the theory and taught myself Morse Code, which wasn't easy.
I still have the World Radio Lab catalogs from 1967 and '68. I still love to look through them all these years later and look at the great gear on sale in that day. One of the two, the 1968 WRL catalog, I think, features a new E.F. Johnson SSB transceiver for HF. Unfortunately, Johnson abandoned the ham market before the rig became available. I've heard that a few prototypes were made and are in the hands of collectors.
After working a ton of HF DX for my first two years on the air, I wanted to try VHF so I bought a Drake TR-22 in 1971. Two-meter FM was just becoming popular in the rural area where I lived. I put up an 11-element Cushcraft 2m beam and began working simplex and repeater DX with low power. It was great sport.
But today, I love the fact our equipment is much more affordable, does a lot more and is smaller and more portable than the gear of yesteryear. Plus, instant upgrading and nearly instant licensing is great. And the online FCC license database sure beats the heck of out yesteryear and those thick and expensive Callbooks!
Although the era of the DX spots courtesy of the Internet offers many pros and cons, I honestly don't yearn for a return to the past. The present is too much fun.
73, N4KZ
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To Live and Die in L.A.
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by AF6AY on July 24, 2008
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K6CRC posted on July 24, 2008:
"I wasn't a ham in the 1970s, but did build a BCB/SW rig from surplus. There was this incredible store in downtown Los Angeles. When I was about 12, I took the 90 minute bus ride about once every couple of months. For $25 in paper delivery money, I bought a couple of command sets. One was the BCB rig, the other the low band SW rig, and the third was a LW rig (second conversion system). Put the antenna for the lowband rig into the BCB IF can, add parts from old surplus TVs,and voila! a dual conversion radio!"
Don Stoner publicized the "Q5er" in one of the old magazines (I have a copy archived on backup CDs) on doing dual-conversion for sharp selectivity an easy way. Stoner would later team up with Pierre Goral to form SGC in Washington state. [both are SK now]
World War II "surplus" started to became a very big thing in 1947. It was enough for two middle-aged hams to form H & H Electronics in Rockford, IL, primarily selling ARC-5 Command Sets and propeller-pitch motors (for those newfangled "beam" antennas...:-) plus the standard radio parts of the day. Big news locally then since that city never had such a store before..."electronics" was a relatively new term to the public. The prices for unused ARC-5 components (still in domestic shipping boxes) was $6 for receivers, $12 for transmitters, $18 for the long-wire antenna tuner and AM modulator! I put together a couple of Rx-Tx combinations and just as promptly sold them at a very modest profit but one that was large to a 14-year-old. :-)
By 1965 there was still some "surplus" around Los Angeles, most notably in Pasadena on the border to Glendale. The LF Command receiver (heart of the Q5-er) price had climbed to $25 for a scrungy used one without tubes, even up to $50 for a slightly-modified one. Most of the publicity for such surplus outlets was by word-of-mouth...which went well in the aerospace industry of the Greater Los Angeles area.
............
K6CRC: "We didn't have much, and if I wanted to get something, I had to figure out how to buy or build it myself."
Yes, for the 50s and 60s era that was the general rule for those without high incomes. Even in the Los Angeles area (where I've lived since 1956). However, for those of us "older" and working in the electronics industry, that environment helped a great deal. We had access to tons more information on radio communications (and many other things electronic) than could be contained in ham publications. If not directly through technical libraries, then on the advice and data from co-workers.
.............
K6CRC: "Two things strike me now. One, there were lots of magazine articles/books on converting mil surplus so it was very common, and Two, my parents didn't care that I rode the bus into one of the worst sections of the country. Yet, I never had a problem, and always had a good, cheap lunch at one of the BBQ or Burrito stands near the store."
I'm trying to pin down the location in L.A. but fast-food stands abound here. :-)
It can't be Henry Radio where I bought a Johnson CB transceiver 1959...or a nearby surplus store (within a mile or so by Angeleno reckoning). But, ignoring the dire predictions of so many, I've never had a problem driving to or parking in any area of L.A. since I've lived here. <shrug>
............
K6CRC: "Either life was simpler then, or people were more ingenious, and less paranoid. Given how smart the kids are around here now, I would vote that life was just simpler then..."
Heh heh, that's a personal point of view. Mine is different. By 1967 I'd recovered from my first wife's passing and had become a full-time bachelor again, trading in that wonderful ground-plane of an aluminum body Austin-Healey sports car for a screaming yellow zonker of a '67 Camaro SS. "Radio" was just of academic interest off-work. Life itself was greater and more glorious but also full of pitfalls and traps besides lots and lots of new interests and things to DO.
I've no doubt that Silicon Gulch territory has some sharp folks there. But it is also cut-throat entrepreneur territory for electronics. Down here in what was an aerospace industry center all we had to worry about were project schedule times, impossible Mil Specs, and whether or not an employer would lay us off when they couldn't land a new contract. :-)
I've read Michael Malone's "Bill & Dave" so I have some info on the Santa Clara County area even if I've never physically been there.
For example, by 1975 I'd gotten into personal computing. There lay lots of creative possibilities to end so much of the drudgery of manual computation. One could actually build one's own personal computer almost right out of the logic datasheets; TTL rules were easy to handle and the logic state sequences were, well, logical. One could go from paper design to finished hardware without fussing around with so many analogues nor need fancy text equipment other than a good oscilloscope. That wasn't the PC environment of now. A mixed age group was involved with programming and some of it was very, very clever. It still is but now there are big price tags attached and, often, problems of interoperability among different systems, not to mention planned obsolescence of softwares.
In the next three decades there has been a great blurring between analog and digital circuitry in radio. Nowadays it is common to have, literally, rock-stability of a VFO setting down to 1 Hz increments, ANY increments within a DDS tuning range. Note: The best a Collins rig had to offer five decades ago was +/- 100 Hz via pure analog tuning...but the price tag was phenomenal, too. Once upon a time a good frequency counter was a whole separate unit (about 3 1/2" high rack structure) and cost over $500. Now anyone can get a two-IC plus LCD display on a small PCB to mount in an Rx or Tx for less than $100 ready-built from Neil Heckt's AADE...and even order the versions with the IF-offset to compensate for multiple conversion.
I rather think that those sharp kids of yesteryear are still sharp as adults and have brought about a wholesale upgrade of this whole electronic life. I say More power to them! :-)
73, Len AF6AY
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What Antennas? Don't ask and don't tell.
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by K5END on July 24, 2008
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Nice article, Steve.
You're in good company. I've had it in the back of my mind since 1978 to become a licensed amateur.
On the antenna issue.
Antennas? What antennas? OK, they are down until next weekend. But, drive by my QTH next week and you won't see any antennas. Walk into my backyard and you'll have to look pretty hard to see any antennas.
Unless you happen to drive by when the antennas are raised and operating, that is. And even then they will be hard to see.
Some careful planning, some foldover hardware, six-foot wooden privacy fencing on all sides (who says you can't install a new fence two feet away from and parallel to another fence?)a dog kennel, also with a six-foot fence, a lot of trees in the surrounding yards for a perfect background, some camo paint from Home Depot and some camo vinyl stick-on sheets have made this challenge into a fun project.
This hobby is both serious and fun. I don't know which is more exciting: talking to a remote island in the South Pacific or the satisfaction of operating completely in cognito.
When I get this project to a point that I can be proud of it overall, I'll submit it with photos as an article. That's a promise.
The only real design challenge is getting ground radials into my neighbor's yards to cover the 80 meter band. I'm working on it.
Stealthy antennas have just become another aspect to ham radio. We have to live with that. Embrace it and use it. Look at it as a design challenge to get performance from an antenna you can't see. My outlook is, "there is always a way" to do most anything.
Besides, keeping the antennas down when not in use improves my chances against lightning damage.
I don't have a 70' tower, yet.
At least, not one that you can "see."
:-)
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A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by KB2DHG on July 24, 2008
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AHHH those days of riding my bike to the local Lafayette Store and going through those catalogs and wishing I could afford thoes wonderful tube rigs... Well I am happy to say that in my adult life I now have that radio station of my dreams and enjoy this hobby to it's fullest. Your article as you can see sparks many emotions and I can add that I too am disheartened with todays rules and regulations. I had to move from a home to a condo and have lost my right to have an antenna / antennas...
As I look out my balcony, I see a slew of Sat dishes hanging out windows of the condo. BUT I had to fight and plead to hang a simple wire antenna out on the roof... It took me several months of fighting and going to zoning boards to make my case to have my hobby and antenna.(a G5RV is all I have now) Miss my beam!
But I don't want to stray the topic of this article.
Personally, I found Amateur Radio more enjoyable back in the 70's and 80's than it is today...The personal computer has taken many a would be HAM away from us...
people today want instant gradification and am not willing to learn to do anything or build anything. The days of inventors and tinkerers have left this country and found refuse in foreign lands... We have become their consumers...
I was happy to construct and build a little transmitter from scratch, the excitment and thrill I got when I made that first contact from a junk box of parts I got out of an old TV was wonderful...
YEP! times have surly changed... We have given away too much and degressed not progressed...
BUT JUST MY OPINION...
nice article... thank you
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A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by W4LWZ on July 24, 2008
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I remember the "good old days". I grew up on Long Island, New York, and was first licensed at the age of 13 in 1956. My firs rig was a National SW-54 and a Heathkit AT-1. I had an end fed long wire from my room to a tree out by the street. I had a lot of fun with that rig. We had a surplus/used equipment store in the next town. I think that it was called Algeradio, and it was owned by an old guy name Al and his wife. They had all kinds of surplus gear and parts along with a good selection of used equipment. Us kids would ride our bikes over there and drool over stuff we couldn't afford until he would throw us out. Those were great times and I miss them. Today's new hams don't know what fun they missed.
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RE: A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by N2EY on July 24, 2008
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AI2IA writes: "Somehow the critical American idea of independence is fast fading under the "it takes a village" mentality, under the notion that government was intended to solve problems of all kinds including social problems, and that people are not free to do what others deem are unsafe or ugly things."
Well, for a lot of things, it *does* take a village.
And there are many things that only government can do.
Did you or anyone in your family go to public school or a state university? That's the village in action. Do you use the public streets and roads, the national weather service, Medicare, Social Security, public sewer systems? The village, again.
Of course that doesn't mean government can or should solve every problem, or that the govt. solution is the best one. But when you look at how a lot of things used to be, it's clear that for many things it really does take a village.
However, anti-antenna covenants, for the most part, are not the result of government actions. They're the result of private businesses and citizens with agendas. (See earlier posting about cable TV).
AI2IA: "Ham radio is most useful and most fun when it is tied to American independence, property rights, American ingenuity, and carefree experimentation without local ordinances hanging over your head, or the "you've got to wear a safety helmut mentality," or your hobby offends me."
I agree in part and disagree in part.
The government has an interest in the public safety; that's what building codes are all about. If someone does something unsafe and injures or kills themselves or others, the whole community usually pays for at least some of it. So there's an interest in seeing that *reasonable* safety measures are taken.
AI2IA: "It is a myth that government can solve many problems at all."
Actually, government has solved or reduced many, many problems. Here in the USA we tend to take having a safe and plentiful water supply for granted, yet forget that it's usually the result of government actions that we have it.
AI2IA: "It is a myth that narrow minded "safety" ordinances can protect people against themselves."
No ordinance can totally protect a person from themselves. But they can help, and more important, can protect others.
Like it or not, safety is all about asking "what if" and taking preventive measures *before* something really bad happens.
AI2IA: "It is a self-defeating notion that freedom to experiment must be banned in the name of homeland security."
Who is doing that? What experimentation in amateur radio is being banned in the name of homeland security?
AI2IA: "It is wrong for folks to make unreasonable demands of their neighbors."
AGREED! The tough part is defining "reasonable".
For example, if someone in a suburban residential area of 1 or 2 story homes lives on a lot that is 200 x 250 feet, and wants to put a 75 foot ham radio tower with big beams in the center of it, that's pretty reasonable. But if someone in the same area lives on a 50 x 100 foot lot and wants to put the same 75 foot tower on it, that's kind of unreasonable.
AI2IA: "This is how we arrived at the mess we have today."
Not really. The anti-antenna mindset was the direct result of cable-TV and developer folks looking to improve their business prospects. And it has worked for more than 30 years.
73 de Jim, N2EY
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RE: Are antennas limiting our numbers?
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by KC8BYF on July 24, 2008
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To : N2EY
Thanks Jim for taking the time to make such a good explanation on the antenna issues. Most of the points you make are clear and concise. I can't say I disagree with any of your observations.
However, there are not only restrictions in "new" neighborhoods. There are restrictions being placed by city governments popping up all around the country (possibly the world). For example, here in Dayton Ohio, about three years ago, there was a city ordinance passed that requires antennas, even existing ones, to be at no more that 30 feet in height at the supporting structures. There are of course some who have grandfathered to maintain their present height. However, in the event that the tower or supporting structure should undergo any needed maintenance or modifications (like taking down a TV antenna and putting up an amateur antenna in it's place), the supporting structure must be lowered to 30 feet ! I am certain Dayton, Ohio is not alone with that particular new "law".
As for a lot of "community type neighborhoods" new and old alike; Along with the restrictions on antennas there are, of course, many other property restrictions... Grass cutting height, drive way and sidewalk maintenance, choice of window treatments (visible from exterior), what color scheme you choose for paintable surfaces being pre-approved by a "neighborhood committee" and I am sure many others that I need not go into. The focus being on amateur radio... I can't help but "feel" there is more to the controversy involved in antenna restrictions.
Yes, some of the rhetoric I go on about may lead some to believe I may be a conspiracy theorist ...not that I even subscribe to much of what I convey in my text... Simply put, I like to make observations from MANY perspectives on situations. That way I can maintain an open mind and not be considered gullible nor un-informed.
Yet still... As much as the Cable TV industry may have played a part in "antenna restrictions"; What seems to be good for the masses may also be a connecting factor for the underlying "filter of information" (i.e. brainwashing) ...which is eminent. I am sure the lobbyists for the Cable networks, the communications divisions of our federal government and the satellite industries are all "in bed together" shoveling the monies around under the cloak of "free enterprise".
73 & CUL Jim and Thanks,
jim KC8BYF
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RE: Are antennas limiting our numbers?
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by N2EY on July 24, 2008
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KC8BYF writes: "There are restrictions being placed by city governments popping up all around the country (possibly the world)."
That's different from deed restrictions, covenants and HOA rules.
KC8BYF: "here in Dayton Ohio, about three years ago, there was a city ordinance passed that requires antennas, even existing ones, to be at no more that 30 feet in height at the supporting structures."
Clearly in violation of PRB-1. Has anyone challenged it?
KC8BYF: "I am certain Dayton, Ohio is not alone with that particular new "law"."
It's an ordinance, which means it's a law. But laws can be changed, and ruled invalid by the courts.
And what does "30 feet in height at the supporting structures" mean? Suppose I own a 5 story building whose flat roof is 50 feet above the ground - can I not put any antennas on the roof?
KC8BYF: "there are, of course, many other property restrictions... Grass cutting height, drive way and sidewalk maintenance, choice of window treatments (visible from exterior), what color scheme you choose for paintable surfaces being pre-approved by a "neighborhood committee" and I am sure many others that I need not go into. The focus being on amateur radio... I can't help but "feel" there is more to the controversy involved in antenna restrictions."
What's behind it is a mistrust of people. Those community rules are there because the folks who set up the development (not government!) do not trust that their neighbors will maintain their properties in a reasonable fashion. And when people live in close proximity, those things become magnified in importance.
All it takes is one neighbor who won't mow the lawn, won't paint the trim, won't fix the broken window, sagging siding, leaky roof, etc. to start ruining it for everyone. That's what the HOAs fear the most, and so they try to have a rule to prevent every possible problem.
The developers also have a hand in it. Say a developer buys land and starts building a 100 unit complex in sections, say 20 units at a time, selling them off as soon as they are built.
If the first couple of folks who move in make a mess, it will be difficult or impossible to sell the other units. So the developer creates a lot of rules and an association to enforce them from Day 1. That way, though it may take a year or a couple to sell all the units, they will all look brand-new and well cared for until the last one is sold.
KC8BYF: "As much as the Cable TV industry may have played a part in "antenna restrictions"; What seems to be good for the masses may also be a connecting factor for the underlying "filter of information" (i.e. brainwashing) ...which is eminent. I am sure the lobbyists for the Cable networks, the communications divisions of our federal government and the satellite industries are all "in bed together" shoveling the monies around under the cloak of "free enterprise"."
Not really. Look up the OTARD ruling and see how it came to be.
The big problem is the breakdown of shared value systems and people being invested in their communities. Or the fear of same. Most people don't have to be told to mow their lawns or fix their fences, but a few do, and the rules are written for those few, rather than educating them to what it means to be a good neighbor.
Another way to look at it is that it's the result of our mobility and diversity. It used to be that most people lived and died within a few miles of where they were born. It wasn't unusual to find the same families in the same town for generations, and to find a lot of uniformity of culture in a neighborhood or town.
Not anymore! Americans move around a lot, in the same area and across the country. Ironically, the newcomers to an area often want it to be just like the place they left! The possibility of a clash of culutres is obvious. So some folks try to enforce a culture by rules telling you how to do almost everything.
The big problem is that so many Americans buy the homes and live by those rules rather than saying "No thanks!"
73 de Jim, N2EY
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Cable TV Tell Tale
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by K5END on July 24, 2008
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Long preface, but you'll love the ending. Read on.
I lived in Lubbock, TX for well over a decade.
At the time it wasn't brimming with exciting things to do. There ARE things to do, and very nice, honest good people live there, but you have to seek out entertainment. Lubbock is a great place to live. But it's not known for excitement.
"Travel" was known jokingly as one of the more popular hobbies, if that means anything.
Of the entertainment choices, cable TV was one.
The local company was Cox Communications aka Cox Cable.
During the time I had cable tv service with that company I had these electronic property items damaged:
>2 VCR receivers blown up when attached to the cable,
>1 very nice Yamaha FM Stereo radio receiver blown up while attached to the cable (back then they didn't have digital stereo music on cable, so they piped it in on FM radio frequencies over the cable facility. It was also used for Stereo-TV simulcast.)
>and two Mitsubishi TV receivers blown up while hooked up to the cable.
Billing and customer service was a nightmare. Don't get me started on that. I might go postal if I think about it too much.
It was during that time that I formed my opinions about how cable TV corporations are run: very poorly.
Years later Katrina hit New Orleans. We all know how well that was managed by the local authorities.
How are these related?
Well, I'll tell you how they are related.
During the time I had subscribed to Cox cable, Ray Nagin was General Manager and Vice President of Cox Communications.
What a small world!
You can't make this stuff up. It is what it is and speaks for itself.
Form your own opinion. I have mine.
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BC-453s Etc.
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by N2EY on July 24, 2008
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AF6AY writes "Don Stoner"
(better known as W6TNS)
AF6AY: "publicized the "Q5er" in one of the old magazines (I have a copy archived on backup CDs) on doing dual-conversion for sharp selectivity an easy way."
Which one, Len?
The "Q5er" was first described in QST for December, 1947, by Phil Rand, W1DBM. His article described a homebrew add-on converter/IF strip to improve the selectivity of a receiver like the BC-342. "Q5er" refers to the concept, not the BC-453.
In QST for January, 1948, W1DX describes "A Lazy Man's Q5'er", which uses the BC-453 for the converter-IF strip. He credits W5KWI and W6OZB for the idea, not W6TNS.
In QST for October, 1949, there's an article about putting a simple crystal-controlled converter in front of a BC-453, and making an effective and simple receiver. W6TNS would describe a similar project in CQ magazine in the mid-1950s.
AF6AY: "By 1965 there was still some "surplus" around Los Angeles, most notably in Pasadena on the border to Glendale. The LF Command receiver (heart of the Q5-er) price had climbed to $25 for a scrungy used one without tubes, even up to $50 for a slightly-modified one."
Well, you just didn't know where to look, Len.
My 1967 Fair Radio catalog lists a government-reconditioned BC-453, complete, for $24.95. A used one was $16.95. Fair Radio is still in business today, though I think their ARC-5s are long gone.
AF6AY: "We had access to tons more information on radio communications (and many other things electronic) than could be contained in ham publications. If not directly through technical libraries, then on the advice and data from co-workers."
And yet, with all that information, you didn't become a ham until March 2007.
73 de Jim, N2EY
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A Story of Freedom and Independence
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by AI2IA on July 24, 2008
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To N2EY and similar regimented government-minded drones:
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." -10th Amendment
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As Americans who know our American heritage (Yes, Dorothy, just like Middle-Easternrs, Africans, Chinese, and the rest of the world, there really is an American heritage) we ARE a self-governing people. This means as INDIVIDUALS we are fully capable of governing our individual selves. Yes, we have laws; we have standards; we even have inspectors, but they must be kept to the bare minimum. "It takes a village" mentality is the forerunner of Communism. Our Forefathers and Patriots were no communists. They were no socialists, either. Oh, and by the way, most of them were schooled at home.
Amateur radio works when all else fails primarily because we are independent. With government drones, when one bites the dust, they all bite the dust.
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RE: A Story of Freedom and Independence
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by N2EY on July 25, 2008
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AI2IA writes: "To N2EY and similar regimented government-minded drones:"
I'm not one of those.
AI2IA: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." -10th Amendment"
That's right. Which means the people can delegate powers to the government as they see fit. The Constitution is not a static thing; the very fact that it has Amendments proves it.
"As Americans who know our American heritage (Yes, Dorothy, just like Middle-Easternrs, Africans, Chinese, and the rest of the world, there really is an American heritage) we ARE a self-governing people."
That "American heritage" includes all kinds of things. It is not static, nor is all of it things to be proud of.
AI2IA: "This means as INDIVIDUALS we are fully capable of governing our individual selves."
Some of us are. Children and people declared incompetent cannot, for example.
AI2IA: "Yes, we have laws; we have standards; we even have inspectors, but they must be kept to the bare minimum."
Of course; everyone says that. The question is, what is the bare minimum? That's the tough part, figuring out the details.
AI2IA: " "It takes a village" mentality is the forerunner of Communism."
No, it isn't. The forerunner of communism is the idea that people don't own property individually, that everything is jointly owned by everyone.
AI2IA: "Our Forefathers and Patriots were no communists. They were no socialists, either."
They did, however, understand the necessity of community, the common good, and banding together to form a Union.
However, some of them did own other human beings as property. The "property" was owned against their will, too.
The owners thought it was such a good idea that they insisted people owning people be allowed in about half of the early USA. They protected it by providing for it in the Constitution, which had to be amended to outlaw people owning people. It took almost a century to do that.
The "forefathers and patriots" also thought that female citizens should not be allowed to vote. It took another amendment, and more than a century, to fix that.
What was done to the Americans who were here for tens of thousands of years before Europeans arrived is part of our American heritage, too.
IOW, just because they did it, doesn't make it right. They were human beings and made serious mistakes. They knew it, and so made the Constitution a changeable document.
All in "the land of the free". Ironically, the Country from which the USA separated itself abolished slavery and gave women the vote before the USA did.
AI2IA: "Oh, and by the way, most of them were schooled at home."
And yet they went on to found universities and to provide for public education. One of my alma maters was founded by Benjamin Franklin.
If you want to talk about history, be sure to include all the important facts, not just the ones that look good. And realize that the founders of this nation were real people, who did some very smart things and some very dumb ones.
AI2IA: "Amateur radio works when all else fails primarily because we are independent."
But how independent are you, really? Do you grow all your own food, make your own clothes, have your own independent supplies of water and energy/fuel?
Or are you at least partially dependent on "the village" to supply those things?
The "forefathers and patriots" lived in a very different world than we do, with very different technologies.
73 de Jim, N2EY
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RE: A Story of Freedom and Independence
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by KI6CDF on July 25, 2008
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N2EY: "All in "the land of the free". Ironically, the Country from which the USA separated itself abolished slavery and gave women the vote before the USA did."
It may be true that Britain abolished slavery before the colonies (1776). I take issue with the liberal-minded guilt trip regarding US slavery. Enlightened Europeans created this abomination and made fortunes from the trade. Slavery was not invented here.
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A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by AI2IA on July 25, 2008
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The "forefathers and patriots" lived in a very different world than we do, with very different technologies.
73 de Jim, N2EY
My goodness, I must have hit a very sensitive nerve on N2EY!
Get it straight. "Technologies" do not make a very different world. They are superficial in the ultimate sense. Technologies are merely a means to an end. On the other hand, no army can withstand an idea whose time has come.
We live in a world governed by ideas. All ideas that make government the master are bad ideas of enslavement. eHam.net is hardly the place to set people like N2EY straight, but when the "it takes a village" mentality folks impinge upon property rights for antenna purposes everyone can see just one small instance of the harmful effects of this un-American and very foolish slave mentality. If my words irritate you and people like you, than I am glad. At least you know that there are people like me out there and we do more than vote. You will have to contend with us and we stand as witnesses against you.
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RE: A Story of Freedom and Independence
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by N2EY on July 25, 2008
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KI6CDF writes: "It may be true that Britain abolished slavery before the colonies (1776)."
It is true. The British Empire abolished it decades before the USA did.
KI6CDF: "I take issue with the liberal-minded guilt trip regarding US slavery."
What "liberal-minded guilt trip"? I'm simply pointing out historical facts. Like it or not, slavery is part of Our American Heritage. It is not a "guilt-trip" to point out when some other country does something better or sooner. One of the things that made the USA great was the ability to look at what others did and adapt it to our own use.
KI6CDF: "Enlightened Europeans created this abomination and made fortunes from the trade. Slavery was not invented here."
That's absolutely true; it predates the Revolution by over 150 years.
But while it was not invented here, the fact remains that it took decades longer, and a major war, for the USA to abolish it than Europeans. Long after the USA was free of European rule, some parts of the USA allowed people-owning-people to flourish.
Remember too that it was our first *Republican* president who took on the task of eliminating it.
73 de Jim, N2EY
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RE: A Story of Freedom and Independence
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by KF4HR on July 25, 2008
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Interesting how how thread went from:
"I became interested in ham radio nearly 40 years ago."
to... slavery and the British Empire. Go figure!
KF4HR
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RE: A Story of Freedom and Independence
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by KI6CDF on July 25, 2008
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"But while it was not invented here, the fact remains that it took decades longer, and a major war, for the USA to abolish it than Europeans. Long after the USA was free of European rule, some parts of the USA allowed people-owning-people to flourish."
Decades longer than Europeans???? I don't think that is historically accurate.
Let's not lose sight of the fact that European money supported the slave trade right up to and during the Civil War. (Why else was money going to the Confederacy from Europe?) And, it occurs to me that slavery continued in other British colonies even after 1776.
But for the fact that a Republican President took action to end it that abomination could have gone on even longer to the enrichment of many overseas.
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A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by AI2IA on July 25, 2008
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Let me try to bring this back to the original track.
Yes, ham radio forty years ago and ham radio today relect considerable changes. Some of the non-technological forces shaping America as a nation are also responsible in part for shaping at least some of the challenges facing ham radio today in more ways than would seem possible at first consideration.
The political ideas that put pressure on people also affect their choice of interest in or hostility to ham radio (include antennas in this point). We have seen some discussion of this aspect in this thread.
I think that all that can be said on that score has been said. So now, if the thread can be moved back to a closer alignment with the ham radio direct purpose this would be the time. Any takers?
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A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by N4OI on July 25, 2008
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Great story, Steve. Especially the setting in my home town, St. Louis. I remember when I was about 11 years old, my dad took me to Walter Ashe on Olive Street and bought me a National NC-60B 5-tube receiver. I listened to all kinds of magic on the air with that little rig -- from numbers stations to good old cold war propaganda! I used to ride my bike from Webster Groves into south St. Louis to rummage around the Lafeyette store on Hampton Avenue -- always tinkering with something electrical. Guess it led my my first degree in EE and then working with computers as a career. I continued my hobby as an SWL only (but with a Drake R8) until about 6 years ago when I got my first ticket. Now having a ball with CW and building QRP kits. Thanks again for bringing back some memories!
73 de Ken - N4OI
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RE: A Story of Freedom and Independence
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by N2EY on July 25, 2008
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KI6CDF writes: "Decades longer than Europeans???? I don't think that is historically accurate."
Well, decades longer than the British Empire, from which the USA removed itself.
Slavery was outlawed everywhere in the British Empire by 1833:
http://demo.lutherproductions.com/historytutor/basic/modern/genknow/end-slavery.htm
Slavery was outlawed everywhere in the USA in 1865, by the 13th Amendment - 32 years later.
KI6CDF: "Let's not lose sight of the fact that European money supported the slave trade right up to and during the Civil War."
The slave *trade* was outlawed in 1807-1808.
KI6CDF: "(Why else was money going to the Confederacy from Europe?)"
Couple of reasons:
1) The Confederacy was a source of raw materials like cotton and timber, and other agricultural products like tobacco, that were in demand among Europeans. The development of Egyptian cotton changed that somewhat.
(In a wooden-sailing-ship era, timber, cotton and other shipbuilding supplies were strategic materials).
2) There were European interests that would have liked to see the "American experiment" fail. Splitting up the Union was a first step.
KI6CDF: "And, it occurs to me that slavery continued in other British colonies even after 1776."
It was gone by 1833 in the British Empire.
KI6CDF: "But for the fact that a Republican President took action to end it that abomination could have gone on even longer to the enrichment of many overseas."
It enriched certain Americans far more than it enriched any Europeans.
The main point is, why did *Americans* permit it to exist after 1787? This was "the land of the free" then, where "all men are created equal".
73 de Jim, N2EY
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RE: A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by N2EY on July 25, 2008
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AI2IA writes: "Some of the non-technological forces shaping America as a nation are also responsible in part for shaping at least some of the challenges facing ham radio today in more ways than would seem possible at first consideration."
That's certainly true.
For example, today it is much more common for a middle-class family to have both adults working full-time outside the home than it was 40-odd years ago.
That change in lifestyle and family economics changes the choice of where families live, because commuting to two jobs (which may be in very different locations) must be considered.
It also means that the division of family/household duties, and the resources available for them is very different than it used to be. Which changes both the amount of time available for something like ham radio, and the way that time is distributed.
73 de Jim, N2EY
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RE: A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by AF6AY on July 25, 2008
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Posted By AI2IA on 25 Jul 08:
"Let me try to bring this back to the original track."
"Yes, ham radio forty years ago and ham radio today relect considerable changes. Some of the non-technological forces shaping America as a nation are also responsible in part for shaping at least some of the challenges facing ham radio today in more ways than would seem possible at first consideration."
"The political ideas that put pressure on people also affect their choice of interest in or hostility to ham radio (include antennas in this point). We have seen some discussion of this aspect in this thread."
All good thoughts, a salute in your direction from me.
On antennas, a personal note: I have exactly two at this point in time, a scanner discone visible from (at only certain angles) from the street and a single thin green pole in the back yard. I am not affected by any restrictions on antennas from local codes, only by the FAA due to a mile-and-a-half proximity to Bob Hope Airport (BUR) in adjoining Burbank, CA. I did that purposely for ME...and my wife...and - more notably - for my neighbors. Having selected this HOME 45 years ago, I did it to LIVE in rather than be some kind of radio station. I know most of my immediate neighbors and respect their wishes just as they respect mine. It is a good neighborhood and we keep our properties neat and in order.
Some 55 years ago in the US Army I wound up assigned to a BIGGER antenna farm and MUCH Larger HF transmitter station than any radio amateur could ever have. For about six months I lived *IN* the new site antenna field built on an abandoned airfield in Japan. While IN the military I admired it for its utilitarian aspects and function. In practicality I would NOT have chosen to live there the rest, or even a remaining part of my life.
In 1953 times, HF radio was the only practical way to communicate over long distances. There were no communication satellites, few undersea cables (and those of marginal reliability) to Japan from the United States. That was changed radically with technological advances: first the communications satellites, then tropospheric microwave links for medium distances, then fiber-optic cable (some laid with self-amplifying 'pump' energy in optical form). The station I mentioned was shut down in 1978 and military HF links were consigned to second- and third tier backups for other kinds of communications.
Looking at the overall picture of long-distance radio communications throughout the world, the dependency on HF now has been reduced to a few specific services, mainly for small users such as individual ships and boats in deep waters and aircraft on long routes, fixed services such as broadcasting, and the hobbyists such as radio amateurs. The 3 to 30 MHz part of the EM spectrum had found its final use over two decades ago and those users will likely remain as they are for a longer period of time. That small part of the overall EM spectrum is very unlikely to be 'sold' off to any corporate need...despite some paranoic fears expressed by others. The rest of the radio world is concerned with spectrum above 30 MHz, not below it.
One of the unusual things about one area of opinion in amateur radio is the over-glamorization of the 'importance' or even 'national need' of amateur radio, including the quaint rationalization that 'it will always be there to help in emergencies.' Yes, it could, but, in all honesty, I doubt that even one licensee in a thousand ever envisioned themselves as some kind of radio-minutemen saving their community during a crisis just by being a trained (only in amateurism) radio operator. When it comes to law and regulatory aspects, the whole of radio communications must be considered, not just the minority who enjoy the hobby activities. Yes, I think there must be regulation in radio use. We can't repeat the fighting-for-control of radio that went on in the second decade of the 20th century.
Carrying the uber-patriot flag may be emotionally satisfying to some, but it solves nothing. Trying to equate fighting CC&Rs and antenna restrictions with the American Revolution...or even some (imagined) fight for independence (under the Constitution?)...gets downright assinine in its emotion-laden mental mathematics.
A federally-issued amateur radio license is NOT some guarantor of 'rights' over and above anyone else other than being legally permissible to transmit very specific RF on specific frequency bands. That legal grant (permission, really) carries with it the responsibility to operate so as not to interfere with others. Local and state laws can and do take precedence over what some of the FCC regulates. Such laws and codes must be argued separately, do not all apply everywhere. The FCC cannot solve such local dilemmas.
............
AI2IA: "... So now, if the thread can be moved back to a closer alignment with the ham radio direct purpose this would be the time. Any takers?"
Having the great fortune of being a (very small) part of military, commercial, industrial, (and now amateur) electronics-radio for 55 years, I've seen a great deal of CHANGE in both the states of the art and operating practices in all those fields of communications. CHANGE is anathema to so many and I consider that unfortunate for those who hate change. Change is inevitable. We must adjust to changes or give up activities which are not to our liking...or we can seek to Change Law that seems unreasonable to us.
73, Len AF6AY
ex-RA16408336 (USA 1952-1960)
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RE: BC-453s Etc.
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by AF6AY on July 25, 2008
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N2EY contentiously stated on July 24, 2008:
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"And yet, with all that information, you didn't become a ham until March 2007."
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You've remarked that before. I still consider it a thinly-veiled vile personal insult from you as to my moral and ethical outlook on MY life.
It matters not what you 'think' about any of the choices I've made.
It was legally permissible that, at age 74, I got my very first amateur radio license on 7 July 2007. The FCC granted it, not some nebulous 'amateur community.'
My test was conducted by an ARRL VEC examination team on 25 Feb 07. I passed all three tests in one Sunday afternoon...and received personal congratulations from all four in the VEC team. I saw no one else get such personal congratulations.
It was almost chronologically coincidental to my passing all four tests for a First Class Radiotelephone license in March, 1956, at an FCC Field Office in Chicago, IL, a 90 mile train ride from my Illinois home at the time.
Before both test times I had committed myself to taking them with preparedness, purpose, and presumption that I could pass. That worked well despite over a half century of time between each session.
Any further remarks from you on 'what I SHOULD have done' will simply be met with silence deserving such inflammatory personal commentary that has nothing to do with the article subject.
AF6AY
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A Story of Freedom, Independence and Ham Radio
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by KC8VWM on July 25, 2008
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Ah yes, slavery and ham radio... I now see the connection.
Thanks.
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You can't put down ham emergency help.
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by AI2IA on July 25, 2008
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"One of the unusual things about one area of opinion in amateur radio is the over-glamorization of the 'importance' or even 'national need' of amateur radio, including the quaint rationalization that 'it will always be there to help in emergencies.' Yes, it could, but, in all honesty, I doubt that even one licensee in a thousand ever envisioned themselves as some kind of radio-minutemen saving their community during a crisis just by being a trained (only in amateurism) radio operator." - AF6AY
It is a much respected fact that attentive and skilled amateur radio operators save lives. You can mock skilled and attentive hams by evoking "radio-minutemen saving their community," but you cannot diminish their capability or their record of accomplishments.
One of the unusual things about one area of opinion in amateur radio are the self-denigrating hams such as yourself. These types attempt to make ham radio subservient to some higher truth that only they know better than anyone else, and then try to enlighten the rest of us by mockery of what we know by fact and experience.
They are easy to spot on eHam.net. They often have "community" tattooed on their brains. When hams do save lives they do it as individuals, and they do it by saving individuals. It does not take a village of hams to save lives. When hams work in cooperation as in ARES or RACES or such, they are there as individual volunteers, not employees or socialist conscripts. As such, they are free and independent operators working together voluntarily, not by court order to do community service. America is a beutiful place!
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RE: BC-453s Etc.
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by N2EY on July 25, 2008
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N2EY wrote (referring to AF6AY):
"And yet, with all that information, you didn't become a ham until March 2007."
AF6AY: "You've remarked that before."
I've written similar things.
AF6AY: "I still consider it a thinly-veiled vile personal insult from you as to my moral and ethical outlook on MY life."
Why? It's simply a statement of fact.
AF6AY: "It matters not what you 'think' about any of the choices I've made."
If it really doesn't matter, why are you so upset?
AF6AY: "It was legally permissible that, at age 74, I got my very first amateur radio license on 7 July 2007."
7 July 2007, Len? Wasn't it back in March 2007? According to qrz.com, your license was effective March 7, 2007.
AF6AY: "My test was conducted by an ARRL VEC examination team on 25 Feb 07. I passed all three tests in one Sunday afternoon...and received personal congratulations from all four in the VEC team. I saw no one else get such personal congratulations."
That's nice, Len, but why is it significant?
My first amateur radio license was granted by FCC effective October 12, 1967. I was 13 years old at the time. Less than a year later, in the summer before I entered high school, I upgraded to Advanced, and two years after that I upgraded to Extra. All according to FCC regulations and requirements of the time. The FCC Examiner did not congratulate me, though.
AF6AY: "Before both test times I had committed myself to taking them with preparedness, purpose, and presumption that I could pass."
Well, since you declared on January 19, 2000, in a public forum, that you were "going for Extra out of the box", I guess you had adequate time to prepare.
AF6AY: "Any further remarks from you on 'what I SHOULD have done' will simply be met with silence deserving such inflammatory personal commentary that has nothing to do with the article subject."
Where did I say anything at all about what you should have done, Len? All I have done is note what you actually did.
Is there something wrong with that?
Why does it bother you?
73 de Jim, N2EY
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Patriotism - nothing to be ashamed of!
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by AI2IA on July 25, 2008
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"Carrying the uber-patriot flag may be emotionally satisfying to some, but it solves nothing. Trying to equate fighting CC&Rs and antenna restrictions with the American Revolution...or even some (imagined) fight for independence (under the Constitution?)...gets downright assinine in its emotion-laden mental mathematics" - AF6AY
A poorly constructed paragraph is an unconvincing container for ideas.
"Uber-patriot,emotion-laden mental mathematics"? What? Have you coined a new German-English word? Mental mathematics? What is that?
Hams are for the most part intelligent folks, in fact they are often very intelligent folks who are worthy of attention and respect - for the most part. Of course, there are always a few kooks. Is there a connection between American Heritage (Yes, Dorothy, we do have such a heritage), property rights, use of one's own property, and antennas? Laws, rules and regulations, and even the villages as in "it takes a village" notwithstanding, intelligent and sincere hams are not so dull minded as to not see the connection. They see it. You don't like it, and you try to distort it. What does that say about you?
I for one will never use the word "patriot" in mockery. Patriotism is a virtue and one that is forever far above any shame. The word should be used in respect and sincerity and treated much like the Flag of the Country we all ought to love. There is no such thing as an "Uber-Patriot" except in you head, but there are a lot of real hams out there who would take being called a patriot as an honor.
"...assinine in its emotion-laden mental mathematics." Well, you will have to do better than that if you want to convince anyone of something.
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RE: A Story of Youth and Old Age...
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by N2EY on July 25, 2008
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AI2IA writes: " "Technologies" do not make a very different world."
Yes, they do. The world we live in today is very different from that of 1776, 1876 or even 1976, largely because of the available technology.
AI2IA: "They are superficial in the ultimate sense."
No, they're not.
Technology is how we humans get clean water, adequate shelter, proper food and other necessities of life. They are hardly superficial.
In 1776, a trip from Philadelphia to New York City was a major journey that would take a couple of days by the fastest method (a boat) or several days by horse-drawn vehicle. Today it's a common day trip to go from one city to the other and return.
In 1776, a message from Philadelphia to New York traveled no faster than a human being could carry it using the fastest transport of the day. In the War of 1812, the Battle of New Orleans was fought after the war was over, because word of the peace agreement took so long to get to New Orleans. But by the middle of the 19th century, communication traveled at nearly the speed of light.
AI2IA: "Technologies are merely a means to an end."
Agreed! But some means are a lot better than others. Would you rather have electric lighting or candles?
AI2IA: "On the other hand, no army can withstand an idea whose time has come."
Armies have been withstanding ideas for a long time. Technology, OTOH, is a different matter.
AI2IA: "We live in a world governed by ideas."
Technology makes it possible for us to live.
AI2IA: "All ideas that make government the master are bad ideas of enslavement....when the "it takes a village" mentality folks impinge upon property rights for antenna purposes everyone can see just one small instance of the harmful effects of this un-American and very foolish slave mentality."
You misunderstand the "it takes a village" idea.
A true "village" is not against antennas, because a true "village" consists of people who understand how important they are.
Antennas are a technology, btw.
AI2IA: "If my words irritate you and people like you, than I am glad. At least you know that there are people like me out there and we do more than vote. You will have to contend with us and we stand as witnesses against you."
They don't irritate me at all. Part of what a true "village" is about is that everyone can speak their mind, and have their ideas judged by their merits rather than by ad-hominem nonlogic.
As I have previously noted, the prevalence of no-antenna CC&Rs is largely due to cable TV trying to eliminate competition in the 1970s. Good ol' American big business!
IMHO, one of the problems in modern-day America is that too many people do not understand the technologies that surround them and make their lives possible. Their aesthetics are based on a sort of fantasy-magic world rather than the one they actually inhabit. And it is this ignorant-of-technology mindset that is the real source of trouble for us hams and our antennas.
It's a mindset that wants cheap clean energy, but does not want oil/gas wells, power plants or power lines, or even wind farms. A mindset that wants cheap cellphones that work perfectly everywhere, but no cellphone towers. Perfect climate control but no air-conditioning equipment. Homes that have all the modern conveniences but look as if it were 1808. not 2008.
Take something as ordinary as a utility pole carrying electrical distribution wires, a transformer, lightning arrestor and cutouts, telephone, cable TV, and fiber-optic cables.
Many people today see such a pole as "ugly" or "an eyesore". They cannot see any beauty in it, because they do not understand it.
But to me, such a pole is beautiful. When done right, the craftsmanship of the line crew and the clear utilitarian design is the purest form of art, because it is what it does and it does what it is.
The existence of that pole and many like it means inexpensive, high-quality electricity and all the benefits it brings plus communications of several types. Its form follows its function. That's beauty, pure and simple. But you have to understand the technology to see the beauty. That's something which has changed in 40 years.
A properly-designed radio antenna is a similar thing of beauty. Whether it be a simple dipole or vertical, or a giant dish like the Parkes Observatory, it is beautiful, because of what the antenna means - an interconnection to Radio.
To me a house is not "home" unless it has a properly-designed amateur radio antenna on it.
Of course there are questions of scale and proper structural and electrical engineering, but those apply to any structure. A 75 foot tower on a 50 foot wide residential lot is probably out of scale for the property, just as a ten-story apartment block built right to the boundary lines would be out of scale in a neighborhood of ranch houses with large setbacks. But that's a different issue than the idea that all (fill in the technology) are "ugly".
What we hams need to do is to educate others to the real technological world we live in, because without that education we won't have our technological world for long.
Technology is not superficial. Look around where you live, and think how long your neighborhood would be livable without the basic technology that makes it possible, such as water, sewer, and electricity.
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As for "communism" - do you believe in insurance?
73 de Jim, N2EY
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Keep a good perspective on technology.
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by AI2IA on July 25, 2008
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I said, "Technologies" do not make a very different world."
I said, "They are superficial in the ultimate sense."
Technology is primarily an endeavor of profit and delight. At best it offers service to those who pay, often dearly, for it. Education, on the other hand is, in its true and finest sense, is a lofty calling and it alone can satisfy the highest aspirations of mankind.
An educated man knows the place of technology in the scheme of things, and knows that at best it will ever be a servant, while higher pursuits will ever be the master. It shares, however, with education the danger that it gives power over the many to the few who control it. Hence free men must guard their independence as carefully as their freedom.
So, never be persuaded by a fool or a rascal who praises technology, but instead use technology wisely to safeguard your freedom and your independence.
Now I have had enough of this nonsense from these odd hams who would like to twist my words to make a trap for fools like themselves. I have written plainly. I have pointed out the pitfalls to those many who are sincere enough to see them. I leave for these fugitives from reason the opportunity to have the last word, but by the record of what I have written, I deny them the satisfaction of having the sober truth. – Dr. Raymond Mullin, AI2IA
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RE: Keep a good perspective on technology.
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by WA8FOZ on July 25, 2008
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Darn this 21st century, and especially that wretched Internet! It's making it harder and harder to sustain illusory notions about what things constitute and sustain freedom.
It was so much easier to believe in the libertarian gig when we were living in cabins by ourselves, carrying our own water, killing our own food (and Native people), and beating our own wives and kids. Nowadays, with everyone living next to each other and even exchanging megabytes, we have become so dratted interdependent. Pretty soon, freedom and even happiness will involve - dare I say it?- communitarianism. We may even have to learn to communicate in ways that are understandable to people different from ourselves - quelle horreur!
Ah well. The world changes, whether we like it or not. Why not try to look at reality and influence the process of change for our common good?
Anyway, in a communitarian society, people believe whatever they like, so knock yourselves out, guys. Just don't take ham radio down with you, for example, by blaming our problems with antennas on imaginary governmental hobgoblins. And if you can't successfully pursue happiness in the real world, try this: get a box of good Cuban cigars, a big bottle of single-barrel Jack Daniels, a pile of Louis L'Amour novels, and a soundproof Faraday cage. ;>
William M. Klykylo, A.M., M.D., WA8FOZ
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RE: Patriotism - nothing to be ashamed of!
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by AF6AY on July 25, 2008
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Posted By English language "critic" AI2IA on 25 Jul 08:
"Carrying the uber-patriot flag may be emotionally satisfying to some, but it solves nothing. Trying to equate fighting CC&Rs and antenna restrictions with the American Revolution...or even some (imagined) fight for independence (under the Constitution?)...gets downright assinine in its emotion-laden mental mathematics" - AF6AY
AI2IA: "A poorly constructed paragraph is an unconvincing container for ideas."
...and yours is a poorly-constructed over | |
