Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
(SV9DRU)
on
November 3, 2003
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For some reason, since I was a child, before I even knew that such a thing existed, I was dreaming having a tube transceiver glowing in my room, using it to talk to people on the other side of the world...
During my teenage years I managed to learn some basics in electronics and actually started building tube AM transmitters which were used from my friends as "pirate" stations.
For them operating a station was a perfect way to get in touch with girls listening all around the area, or even to make themselves popular to other kids, but for me it was something beyond communication. It was about building the station, creating the machine from distinct components purchased off the shelf of the local electronics store and giving it "life" with your own hands.
That was the main reward for me. I can not even remember how many times I was burned from accidentally touching those charged capacitors or even the 220V AC during this but at the end I was always proud of my achievement...
In the early 90's, I finally got involved with the true ham radio, but when I found an old Heathkit schematic and tried to purchase all the components in order to build it, I was informed from my local dealer that these stuff (tubes, coils etc) needed for this project are not available any more. Besides, he said, "you can never build a serious transceiver by today's standards using technology from the past. Go buy a radio whenever you have the $$ and save yourself the hassle".
Well, I pretty much have been following his advise for the last 10 years or so, but after having spend thousands of $$ buying top of the line rigs there was always something missing at the end. The excitement of a new purchase was over a couple of days after opening the box and there I was looking for something else....
Recently, having a high tech top-notch transceiver as my "main" rig, I decided to buy an old tube radio just for the fun of it, just for the sake of that old childhood dream of mine. I ended up getting an old Yaesu FT-401B for only $130 from eBay, which while in pristine physical condition, had a TX problem. Instead of sending it for professional repair, I invested another $130 (eBay) buying a signal generator, an Oscilloscope, a VTVM and some replacement final tubes...Two weeks after not getting much sleep, the old guy is kicking again! And it is kicking GOOD!
Not only is it getting 250W PEP out even with semi-destroyed (from my stupidity) finals in all the bands, but also its receiver is CRYSTAL CLEAR. -- Listening to it even for hours does not cause you fatigue. Even my wife likes its sound!
Today I did some direct comparisons with my high end "main" $2000 rig RX listening to stations barely copy-able on 15-meters. And yes using the new rig I could definitely copy the same signal and much more... NOISE. Now if you consider as main rig the one, which is, used the most, definitely the FT-401b has occupied that position in my shack.
Some will commend on the stability issue of the tube rig until warm up, some others about the whole "ordeal" of having to go through peaking the preselector, dipping and loading the finals etc before you can transmit, or even having to work hard getting that analog dial from one end of the band to the other etc, but my perspective on this is: If you like having all that convenience built in your radio, and none of the hassle mentioned above, you could potentially pick up a telephone, dial a number and speak to someone in Mongolia any time with or without propagation, but is that the only thing that matters in ham radio? I think not.
To get to the point, I believe that we as hams have been largely steered away from a major part of our hobby, which is building and repairing our own equipment. The only thing the average ham is "allowed" to do anymore, considering the complexity of the modern equipment, is to experiment with his/her antennas, which for the most part is even limited to installing an already factory made antenna on a tower.
I even think that we were too quick to drop the vacuum tube from our design boards. The audio fans are still paying top $$ for tube based designs and I do not think that comes only from some sort of bizarre nostalgia for antiquated electronics. It comes from the fact that sometimes tubes can outperform their solid-state counterparts; only they cannot be as cheaply available as the latter can be.
I even believe that if there were a company selling Heathkit like kits for hams, it would definitely have a good share in today's market worldwide... I am interested to know what other people say about the subject.
73,
Marinos, sv9dru/w4
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by W6PWJ on November 3, 2003
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Hello:
By your logic we all would still only be getting around on horses that 'poop' all over the ground. Change is inevitable, at 63 years of age, and licensed since 1953 (50 years... wow doesn't seem that long!), and having built many, many, many of those beautiful tube-component kits in 50 years... yes, I do miss them.... but time marches on.... can't live in the past.... 'changes are always changing'... I have come to accept it.... and be OK with it. Sometimes (sometimes!) you can learn a lot from newer generations..... are things always better.... yes-no, but one thing is for sure... things WILL change.
Ken, W6PWJ
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by KA5N on November 3, 2003
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Have you never heard of Elecraft? This U.S.A. based company makes kits which have superior performance and don't take a back seat to anybody.
Even in the "Golden Years" most homebrew equipment was copied or modified "standard" radios. Back in the 30's to 70's you punched holes in metal chassis boxes and bolted and wired in components. Today things are installed in or on printed circuit boards. It's a different world. Build yourself a retro-rig if you wish but I would rather build and use my K2.
73 Allen
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by FJGH on November 3, 2003
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Building your own equipment will probably be the biggest hassle a ham will endure, will not save any money, and most projects will probably never be finished. 99% of those amp parts sold on ebay will never go into a project that gets finished.
But building something you can't buy, that has features you want, is the most enjoyable part of ham radio if one has patience, knows enough to finish the job.
I have built at least 50 major pieces of equipment and thats more than the number of contacts I ever made. Building IS NOT for everone, but those who get it in their blood will never quit building.
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by K0BG on November 3, 2003
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Marinos, I agree with you and with FJGH as well. While building or repairing is not everyone's bag, it is nonetheless a good way to learn the technical ropes. Far too many hams nowadays don't have a clue about what goes on inside their radio, and couldn't fix it if their life depended upon it.
Although I don't do as much building as I used to as far as rigs, amps and the like are concerned, I still indulge in building ancillary stuff mainly to make my life in the shack simpler and more enjoyable.
Good write up.
Alan, KØBG
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by KA4KOE on November 3, 2003
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Hey, whatever blows your dress up, is what I say. At least it helps dispel self-doubts about one being an "appliance operator".
Lets not slam the guy for his interests.
I personally cleaned up and reconditioned electrically an R388 Collins with no prior tube radio experience. It was more fun than the proverbial barrel of monkeys. It has an honored place right night to the 756PRO, and BOTH get used.
PAN
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by NI0C on November 3, 2003
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As long as I've been licensed there have been hams that are primarily "builders" and those that are primarily "operators." I happen to fall into the latter category-- call me "appliance operator," if you must, but I enjoy getting on the air. I've built equipment in the past, including a QRP CW transceiver, but that's not how I prefer to spend my time. There's something in ham radio for everyone to enjoy!
73 de Chuck NI0C
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by W5HTW on November 3, 2003
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I agree, Chuck ... I've built a lot of things over the years, from small things that take 15 minutes to put together, to Heathkits, to home-designed and home-built amplifiers and transmitters. But I had periods in which I much preferred to get on the air and just operate and have fun. Often when I built things it was because I wanted something but could not afford to buy a new one, so I just accumulated parts to build one. Since it was made from random parts, it frequently did not look all that great! (And sometimes didn't work all that great, either!) But the goal was operating, not building, so when I built a project, it was something I intended to use on the air.
In more recent times, especially in the past 2-3 years, I have found operating does not have that 'pull' anymore, and I no longer have the patience for building. So I have redirected my efforts at repairing boat anchors and putting them on the air. Only this time the goal appears not to be operating, as some of them go on the air only long enough for a suitable test, and then are relegated to the closet, or are sold.
I would be against any program that required hams to build anything. In decades past hams had to build things not as a part of a test but simply because either they couldn't find what they wanted, it didn't exist, or they couldn't afford it. As we approach probably 80 percent or better Plug and Play, and I believe we will go much further than that, requiring us to have technical skills is no longer applicable. What we need to know is how to put up an antenna safetly away from power lines, how to operate within our frequency assignments, and how to avoid interference. And perhaps most of all, how to respect the rights of others.
Ham radio is no longer a technical hobby. It doesn't need to be. We are not going to 'save the world' because we can build a kit radio. Time has marched on, and has made ham radio into just a fun activity, not a college course in electronics. The military no longer needs us as a "backup pool of trained reservists" to get into the field and operate with baling wire, hairpins and old tubes.
I liken it to sports cars. I used to, many years ago, buy old sports cars and get them running, and enjoy driving them. But I finally awoke to the idea that driving a sports car, like a Triumph or Austin-Healey, or MGA, is one heck of a fun experience. I didn't have to build the darned car! Just drive it. Appliance driver.
I'm not sure how I would feel if I had a plug and play radio, though, as I do still like doing at least minor repairs and upkeep. But as time goes on, and the eyes and fingers get older, a good "buy-it-plug-it-in" radio might be just the thing for me.
73
Ed
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by AE4X on November 3, 2003
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Nice comments and ideas. Building radios SOUNDS like fun but I would NEVER have the patience or time to even start a kit. I know me and I know all those tiny components, solder drippings and misplaced parts would frustrate the living H*LL out of me.
I'm an appliance operator tried and true and I'm obviosly not ashamed to admit it. I like to be able to order a radio over the internet, get it in a few days and have my station running as I want it.
To me the thrill is to delve learn a new radio and its functions and get it working correctly. The less I have to read a manual and learn it on my own the more satisfying it is to me. I love the complex radios and all the new features, menus and functions.
A previous poster said "time marches on" and he's dead right! If I hop around bands (and I do very often) the last thing I want to do is dip the plate and all that other nonsense.
I grinded my teeth in the early 80's with a used Heathkit SB300/400 pair with all its drifting, tube failures, heat and poor sensitivity. I'm NEVER going back to those days.
This is not to say that I don't LOVE the older radios. I do..but more so with older receivers. I have an old Hammarlund and Hallicrafters radio just for fun and love the older looks of the radios.
But if building kits is something you'd like to do I think today's companies like Elecraft, etc. are fine.
73.
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by WB2WIK on November 3, 2003
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Nice article.
I'm one of those who have both built a lot of equipment and also spent thousands of hours using the stuff on the air. Other than my receivers, my entire first several stations were completely homebrewed, from transmitters to VFOs to antenna tuners to amplifiers to antennas. I always regretted I never took the time to tackle a serious "receiver" project --maybe one day.
Three out of four of my kilowatt amplifiers are homebrew, from home designs which evolved based on the available parts and my limited abilities with a drill press, hand tools, and a large box of Greenlee chassis punches. I wrote up every one of those amplifiers as a "construction project" article for the magazines, and they were all published, and much to my delight, a number of other hams built amps based on my articles. That's a great feeling.
I think the reason that ham gear went all solid-state many years ago was simply economics. Transistors and ICs were getting cheaper by the minute, and tube prices were going the other way. When RCA closed its huge tube factory in Harrison, NJ back about 30 years ago, far as I can tell that pretty much slammed the door shut on product development based on receiving tubes. Heck, Eimac, who made tubes since WW2, hasn't made a glass tube in years and is cutting back on the ceramic/metal tube line.
Elecraft and others are making some splendid equipment in kit form, but I also miss Heathkit! I built about the entire "SB" series of ham products in the late 1960's and early 1970's, and I cannot remember any of it not working perfectly almost from the first moment power was applied. Ingenious kits, even more ingeniously written instructions.
A lot of hams today are reliving their youth by bringing "boat anchors" back to life and using them on CW and AM. That's a cool sub-hobby, and one I hope to enjoy more in retirement!
WB2WIK/6
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KB9RBY on November 3, 2003
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Yep,time does march on.BUT!,it does not mean an active hobby oriented amateur can't still have fun with boatanchors or even one tube or transistor regen receivers.I have some hot digital microprocessor based rigs with their outstanding features here,and I certainly love them.And then there are my old Drake and Hallicrafter rigs,plus a generous supply of homebrew toys,both tube and solid state.The old tube commercial rigs have undergone restoration,safety and performance updates as were seen fit.My Drake"C"line gives my late model Icom and Yaesu a run for it's money on HF.Did my own enhancements to improve the receive audio and even got it to talk well on AM.I know there are people that are tired of working on their own radios,and they retire to the store bought stuff.But most of you old timers at least have had the chance to explore radio technology in the pioneering era.Something today's hams will never experience.With off the shelf technology with high performance capabilities so easily available,it does not leave much room for improvment or even allows for it.Just buying a radio to talk on it,or work contests,would be boring to me.On the subject of people in the"good old days"just copying and modifying somebody else's designs;Well,thats been happening since the era of Marconi and Lee DeForest.The old radio companies sold you a commercial,or kit design with service information and operational theory behind it.Some of these companies actually invited you into that radio to make it do what you wanted it to do,sometimes providing suggestions to steer you in the right direction.There are jacks on the back of some my old gear marked"spare"for that purpose.History shows great ideas are built on good ones.Many great communication product developments came from motivated experimenters in our brotherhood/sisterhood.What does it matter if someone wants to bring an old tube rig back to life or build an Elecraft K2,or build a version of the one tube CW tranceiver recently published in ELECTRIC RADIO magazine.Ham radio is a rich diverse hobby.Let's not knock this time honored tradition.IT'S ALL GOOD!
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by K0RGR on November 3, 2003
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I think everyone should have the opportunity to try their hand at building things, but it probably should not be a requirement. We're looking into the interest level here on offering a (kit)building class for those who are interested - I hope we get enough people wanting to do this that we can do it as a club project.
If somebody comes up with a good design, there's a project I'd love to build. How about a 5-channel, crystal controlled rig for 60 meters? It could be a small unit that would sit on the desk connected to a dedicated 60-meter dipole. Want to get on 60? Turn on the rig, and flip through the channels until you find a CQ or generate one yourself. A super-simple rig like this would be a big boon to emergency communications, too. You could have an antenna similar to a BuddiPole and a small storage battery to run the thing for hours, all ready to go.
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by W5EI on November 3, 2003
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Elecraft has done a creditable job of filling the vacuum that was created by the demise of Heathkit. I've successfully built a loaded K2/100, and helped my son build his K1. These kits are really quite easy to build with some prior soldering practice and a little patience. That being said, I would not begrudge another ham his or her preference for appliance operating. I have a TS2000 in the shack, and though the K2 is my CW rig of choice, the big Kenwood also holds its attractions for me. Ham radio is a many faceted hobby that can accomodate all of us whether we like to build our rigs or not. The idea is to have fun.
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by HAMDUDE on November 3, 2003
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Building is cool but its not for everyone. In todays world, it hardly makes sense to build when you can buy digital technology thats mass produced and actually quite good. Everyone has their "thing" in this hobby, so enjoy what you like. Building an amplifier makes good sense due to inflated prices of commercially built units, but here again, if you have the time to spend ironing out the bugs, and enjoy that sort of thing then you get the satisfaction of working contacts with your very own amplifier.
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by K8LEA on November 3, 2003
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I miss the Heathkits, and built more than a few of them, as well as some homebrew equipment.
Everybody should at least build a Heathkit, if not a "from scratch" project....
But, like a modern automobile, I don't think it's necessary to know how to build one to drive it....
What's useful is a good command of things like soldering, shielding, antennas, and the purposes of various components we're likely to run into - especially in "replacement" issues, like a blown Zener in an HT's "mobile power cord".
IMHO, there's more fun in re-habing the desk charger to an old HT than in building a one-tube transmitter, but that's just my opinion.
(Said desk charger was a combo - high-speed plus trickle. Both settings used Zener's to set voltages, and various simple goodies to handle timing, charge level monitoring, and assorted blinking lights. The thing popped both Zeners, somehow.... I called tech support and was sent a nice single sheet of "how to fix me" that essentially stated that "if you don't have a 3.5 digit DVM and a BIG - 400mf - electrolytic hanging about, don't bother". Worked fine, though, when I got done. Yeah - I had a place to borrow the DVM [grin].)
Or, there was the time I fried a crystal in a transmitter.... "Just like QST except...." Seems that when I decided to substitute a handy 6L6 for a smaller "receiving tube" - can't think of the part number - the grid current requirements changed quite a bit. That would have been OK, except that the crystal basically sat on the grid and.... I forget how I figured out that a bit of that current should just go through a resistor....
I don't think it's necessary to totally home-brew your station, nor to look down on the guy who buys the top-of-the-line from (pick your favorite manufacturer) either. I wouldn't even think of building my own computer at board level, but can't remember how many of them I've "built" by stuffing parts into a motherboard and/or case. Maybe that's it - we need to try to learn how to get the parts we buy to interoperate. How to put a connector on the end of the coax, or the mic, speaker, or earphones. How to install a "Powerpole" setup. How to put that mobile into the car. Things like that. Then we can move into the rice boxes and learn how to replace a blown protection diode, or change a lamp. With today's current crop of SMD's and other "smaller than a grain of salt" components, board level work on a radio by the average ham involves a level of dexterity (and some serious equipment) that may be beyond expectation.
Years ago, as a club project, K8BAA looked at the Heath "Sixer", and designed a version (superhet receiver!) for the club. Of the dozen or so we built on an "assembly line" basis, only his original really worked well without some serious fiddling. Homebrew seems to require some skills we didn't quite master....
More recently, I "helped" a friend who runs a commercial shop work on a repeate. Stripline finals. He's got little stubby fingers - I have no idea how he was able to swap out a transistor in that thing. I don't think I could have.... But I did know exactly why the part was suspect....
(OTOH, one of the IBM techs and I tackled a defective disk drive in the computer at the former day job. HIs docs said that a certain power transistor was faulty. We yanked it, and I tested it with a VOM. Looked fine to me. Absolutely what I'd expect. Put a new one in the drive and it worked! Some obscure parameter had shifted and....)
It all boils down, I think, to "learn", and have fun....
Stu K8LEA
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by NE1RD on November 3, 2003
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My friend owns one of these houses that is old and
"historic". There is some pressure from the historical
society to keep it outfitted with its original fixtures
including the steam heat, but I had often wondered why
this was desirable. At the time the house was built,
or at least the last time the house was rebuilt on the
inside, as is often done, those who did the work put in
the most modern heating system they could muster at the
time. In this case, it happened to be forced hot water
by oil through big clunky radiators that bang and hiss
all hours of the night and day. If they had the option
for forced hot air by natural gas with one of those
98% efficient furances along with a nice central air unit,
they probably would have gone for that!
Getting back to amateur radio, I've built an Elecraft
K1 (very, very nice!), a RockMite, a Pixie II, and
lots of other stuff. I did it because this is a hobby
and I enjoy the work. I also did it because I'm
interested in how things work and building things helps
me learn. I didn't build these things out of a sense of
obbligation to the hobby nor out of some misguided
veneration of the past. These things aren't a right of
passage; they're just radios.
Returning to the house analogy for just a moment, I
wonder if amateurs 50 years ago built their projects
out of a love for "pushing the envelope". They didn't
recreate spark-gap transmitters; they created the best
radios they could make with the technology available--
and drove the technology a bit, too! So, if we are to
follow in their footsteps, we should push the envelope
as those a half a centure did: explore digital radio,
internet linking, software defined radio, digital
signal processing techniques, computer-based antenna
modeling, and the like. Those folks fifty years ago
didn't recreate the past; they created the future.
This isn't to say that returning to classic radios,
CW-only rigs, and other old-time ways and gear
should not be done. Of course it should, if that's
what brings you enjoyment! I'm hoping my eyesight
hold out so I can build an Elecraft K2. I'll not
build it to celebrate the past, get a "merit badge",
or win the acceptance from the ham community. I'll
build it because it will be fun and because I'll
learn something. I can think of no better reason to
do anything!
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by KA4KOE on November 3, 2003
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My daughter and I are building a crystal set using real galena and a cats whisker....her FIRST project.
Now, that's fun!!!!!
Philip
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by AE6IP on November 3, 2003
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I like building things. I'm not good at it, but the pleasure of making one of my own is sometimes greater than the pleasure of having the best.
I also like using the best stuff I can afford. So I build for pleasure and buy for performance.
Your mileage will, no doubt vary.
73
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by WB2WIK on November 3, 2003
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KA4KOE, you are starting her off exactly the right way, good for you!
I built my first "cat's whisker + galena crystal" receiver at the age of eight, I think, with some encouragement from my Dad. That led to experimenting with a 1N34 diode detector and a tuner, for better sensitivity and easier tuning around. Which led to...a Collins S-Line only about ten years later!
Keep up the good work!
WB2WIK/6
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by KC8VWM on November 3, 2003
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Building equipment doesn't always mean your "tranciever."
While I agree that building spark gap transmitters, and making tube trancievers from quaker oats cans may be a thing of the past, There are still many "equipment building" opportunities available for the so called appliance operator.
Some quick & dirty suggestions come to mind for the avid amateur homebrewer and experimenter:
Antenna tuners & switchboxes
Power supplies
Digital Chip Homebrewing - Digital breadboard projects
Solar and power backup systems
Audio /RF/ and other functional metering devices.
Build your own shack microphone
Use your imagination.
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by RobertKoernerExAE7G on November 3, 2003
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Nice article.
Nice prose.
Thomas Khun points out in his book, "The Structure of Scientific Revolution" that evolving starts at a point, it is not headed anywhere. As a result, evolution is away from a point. It is only after time, someone incorrectly thinks it was headed to the current point. Much of science is taught along the lines of evolving towards something, which he asserted was incorrect.
He also points out how there are “warring” factions when new theories are introduced that are at odds with currently accepted theories.
Have FUN
Bob
PS: just remember, the answer is ALWAYS “Fan Dipole”.
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by SV9DRU on November 3, 2003
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I appreciate all the comments, just for clarification purposes, I do know about Elecraft and have actually built a K2+accessories in 2001.
Nice concept about building a receiver using a cat's whisker ?? Now that is true home-brewing indeed, provided that your cat friend agrees to supply the necessary parts !
Marinos,
sv9dru/w4
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by K4FAU on November 3, 2003
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Greetings.
My son is a senior design engineer for ICOM.
I want all of you to disregard any good advice about building your own things... I need for my son to make lots of money so when i retire he cn afford me..
haha
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by OLDFART13 on November 3, 2003
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Our hobby is not evolving in the right direction. Anything that requires work or dedication is being eliminated. We will soon be appliance operators who tune up our linears and use echo mikes. Yes, we use more sophisticated radios today but we have no clue what is going on inside of them. We have Extras who ask questions on the elmer forum about dipoles and grounding. We think we are so high speed because we can hook up our radios to our sound card and work PSK31 with an over modulated signal and wipe out others QSO and not even know it.
Even with the more sophisticated radios we don’t even know what the ALC is for. We think if we have a good SWR that our antenna system, that we bought, is top notch. I know that there are some exceptions, but this your average ham these days. Extra in a day.
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KN4LF on November 3, 2003
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Building competitive rigs may be out of reach for all but a priveliged few, especially for serious 160 work but smaller things can still be built.
I've always made my own antennas, tuners, etc. Recently I completed a a couple of rig to computer
soundcard interfaces for my FT-840. Also in the past I've made mods and repairs to my modern rigs including an FT-990 and FT-840.
Thomas Giella, KN4LF
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by KG5JJ on November 3, 2003
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Wow! A stroll down memory lane. Gonsets, Johnson Vikings, very first rig was a homebrew 6L6 40-meter CW (Morse) transmitter and DX-100 receiver. High-level plate modulated AM transmitters that dimmed the house lights in step with modulation peaks. Listening to the modulation transformer windings "talk". Cherry-red plates of final tubes. Wow!
That was then, this is now; solid-state HF/VHF/UHF amplifiers, Kenwood TS-2000, remote mounted/tuned microprocessor controlled antenna coupler. Instant band switching.
The only home-made item in the shack is an K8RA iambic keyer. It gets the most comments from visitors, and is my prized piece of gear, even though I didn't make it.
As warm-and-fuzzy as it seemed back then, I wouldn't want to run that old gear today. Hats-off to the nostalgia buffs who do.
73 KG5JJ (Mike)
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by AE4X on November 3, 2003
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K4FAU:
Your son is a senior ICOM engineer?
We'll do our part in helping with his financial gain if YOU find out from HIM about the progress of the IC 7800! (hi hi). Get some inside scoop for all of us hams, will ya'? Apparently everyone here except for "oldfart" (a previous poster and, by the way, a fitting albeit non-callsign name) would perhaps be interested.
Tnx!
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by WR8D on November 3, 2003
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Heck no...simple as that. I worked for what i have...most of you are gonna get it give to you. I fix my radios and amplifiers. Most of you guys have to send them off for repair. It sure doesnt look like a very good direction to be going in. I guess i got about 25 more years left in me. Really sad to think i'll probably live to see the end of all this mess some of you guys have helped to come about. Thats really something for those of you to throw your chests out about. Cb is free why didnt most of you stay there.
Sorry to be so blunt but thats just the way most of us really feel. Sorry also if my opinion pisses you off. Its better to be pissed off that pissed on.
John WR8D
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by NI0C on November 3, 2003
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John, what makes you believe most of us came from the CB band? I've never touched a CB radio. But I don't apologize for being an appliance operator, either. I'm an EE-- used to design analog circuits for a living, now I teach electricity and electronics. Spend my work days trouble-shooting one thing or another-- want to come home and relax at a station that works-- don't enjoy fixing radios because it is too much like work. I don't think our hobby is going to hell in a handbasket as you seem to.
73 de Chuck NI0C
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by W9LBB on November 3, 2003
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Ya got it right, John.
When the ARRL Handbook started including a section on how to properly pack your rig to send it back to the factory for repairs, it told the story for the future of amateur radio.
And what's so sacred about KITS?
The final generation of Heathkit gear was pathetic, and virtually ALL Knight Kit stuff was an example of shoddy engineering.
Anyone here ever heard of getting a blank chassis and starting from scratch?
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KC0ODY on November 3, 2003
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John W8RD:
Somehow, I doubt that the way you feel is the way that "most of us" feel. What gives you the authority to state so? I have never touched an 11 meter rig, am not an EE, am teaching myself through trial and error how to build the kits that are available out there-- not that I feel any particular need to try and look good for you or your ilk. If you fix your own rigs, fine. But don't hold the rest of us in this multifaceted hobby to your standards and expect not to get called on your arrogance.
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KB8YJU on November 3, 2003
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It's not the evolution of the hobby....... it's the evolution of society.
At one time...... say 500 years ago, it was possible for one person to know and understand the theory behind almost every piece of technology that was known at the time. Inventions happened by recognizing the limitations of existing technologies, and attempting to overcome these limitations.
As we have advanced, it has become more and more difficult to be familiar with not just new technology, but even the science and mechanics behind objects that we use every day. Not only is it impossible for one person to "know" everything that is knowable, today we have difficulties understanding and mastering one technolgy. The changes in computer software, for example, have rendered most of what I was taught in the 1980's almost totally useless.
The problem is, how many people can devote the time an energy needed to stay current in even "one" subject, without falling hopelessly behind in all others?
Do you realize how many people can not tell you the reason light comes from a light bulb when you throw the switch? How many of us could build a working steam engine? Or do basic engine repairs on their late model cars? Or design and build from scratch any piece of electronics?
Think about it :)
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by W6NNABE on November 4, 2003
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As usual you old farts are making us newbies wonder what the hell we got our ticket for. You sound like a bunch of cliches.
Look. Like any other branch of technology, radio has developed to the point where it's far too wide-ranging for any one person to do everything they want to do. Those of you repeating the "kids these days" mantra -- how many of you are still working CW the same way you did twenty, thirty, fifty years ago on homemade equipment while "appliance operators" are ignoring the technology and having fun with the science by doing moonbounces and playing DX games with unusual forms of skip propagation?
Now I'm not saying that there's anything inherently superior about appliance operators -- I'm not. What I am saying is that there's enough room in the amateur radio world for all of us, if for no other reason than, as I stated above, amateur radio is too big for one person to know it all. Some hams do their old-school Morse QSOs. Some do it digitally, and even create their own modes. Some build their equipment, some buy it, some do both. The nice thing about amateur radio being a hobby is that there's plenty of room for appliance operators and homebrewers, software guys and hardware guys, and what have you. The exclusive attitude of the old farts is not going to help us keep what we have.
It's an awful big spectrum out there. Relax and enjoy.
73,
KB1KKC
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by WR8D on November 4, 2003
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Goodness i never knew being a "ham" made one arrogant. As for the cb band being free and the comment i made about that...well if the shoe fits wear it. Those of you that it doesnt apply to should not get in a tizzy. I guess i stepped on a few tender toes so i guess the shoe does fit a few here. As for me not speaking for some...well you'd be amazed at the numbers i do speak for but most folks just dont want to get in here and rub cheeks with you higher up kind of hams and have to fan the flames later.
73
Mean Ole WR8D:
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KC0ODY on November 4, 2003
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W8RD: >Goodness i never knew being a "ham" made one arrogant.
Didn't say that being a "ham" made one arrogant. The tone of your posts make you sound arrogant.
> As for the cb band being free and the comment i made about that...well if the shoe fits wear it.
It doesn't fit this foot, nor does it fit the foot of a number of us who post here. Not everyone who does not live by your standards of what makes a "ham" is a CBer or freebander. Some people in this hobby don't build their own stuff. Don't like that fact? Too bad. Live with it.
> As for me not speaking for some...well you'd be amazed at the numbers i do speak for but most folks just dont want to get in here and rub cheeks with you higher up kind of hams and have to fan the flames later.
And who, pray tell, are they? Both those you purportedly speak for and the so-called "higher ups"?
On second thought, never mind. I've already wasted too much time on this incoherence. I hope you and the cadre you speak for enjoy much in the way of mutual admiration.
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KC8VWM on November 4, 2003
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>>>>Anyone here ever heard of getting a blank chassis and starting from scratch? <<<<
Yeah actually. Do you know what a "twinplex" is? This would be a good starting place for those that wish to build a homebrew from scratch.
73
KC8VWM
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Appliance Ops
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by G5FSD on November 4, 2003
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I'd have no qualms about being regarded as an appliance operator. Racing drivers may know only a tiny fraction of what their mechanics know, but who gets the glory when they win the race?!
Anyone can play with electronics. You need a licence to OPERATE.
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by WR8D on November 4, 2003
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RE KC0ODY: Just pulling your chain a little. Use this example. Look at the time you wasted getting all fuzzed up when you could of been on the air talking to other hams. This is all these threads are good for. It makes no differance what your or my opinion is to the powers that will make the decisions. All of this is a waste of space and time by folks that are opinionated. Get on the air guys get out from infront of these monitors and play with the radio. Thats one of the things thats wrong with us today. Get on the air and make a band open up. Who needs this stupid stuff. Its a waste of time and useless.
73
John WR8D:
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by K0RGR on November 4, 2003
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I started out in this industry as a NASA-certified assembler and technician, tuning and testing microwave components. This work was done with dissecting microscopes on components that looked like grains of pepper soldered to sub-millimeter diameter copper tubing. Eventually, stripline equivalents of these circuits were developed that did not require any of this delicate hand artwork.
I moved on to a decade in the computer industry as a technician and later engineer. In the beginning, we debugged all circuits down to the component level, because many of the components were expensive. By about 1982, however, the industry discovered that it was generally cheaper to throw the whole circuit away and replace it, rather than pay my salary to repair it. Some expensive circuit boards were shipped overseas where the expensive parts could be scavenged and retested. but this was a rare exception. Instead of fixing analog circuits, I became an expert at finding problems in big logic systems.
Eventually, though, we started swapping whole subsystems, and sending the malfunctioning units out for repairs. The 'systems' guys were considered much higher level techs than the 'component' guys. I was a rare bird, in that I could debug systems down to the component level when pressed.
All of this has now passed. The systems are built and used somewhere in East Asia. We who survived went into marketing or software. Now, the software jobs are going to India.
The point of this whole saga is that technology changes, and requirements change with it. Thankfully, there is still room for some component-level work in ham radio, and in many small repair shops around the country. But those who prefer to be 'systems-level' people, as I mostly do now, are not necessarily the bad guys. My most recent attempt to modify one of my rigs was an IC-725. Even with the best tools we had years ago, this would have been a difficult job to do neatly. I managed to get it done, but it was not pretty. And this did not involve any surface mount components! I haven't learned how to apply surface mount components to WWII-vintage steel chassis yet.
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KD5QEF on November 4, 2003
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I agree with the general premise of the article here. While I built an Elecraft K2 and use that as my main station rig, it's not a homebrew transceiver. I wish there was more emphasis on building simple CW transceiver from commmonly available parts. For example, somewhere out there are Elmers who could take a 14.000Mhz crystal from a dead computer mainboard, a few transistors, resistors, capacitors, etc. from a broken AM/FM radio and turn that into a QRP CW transceiver. I'd like to know how to do that...and it concerns me that few people do.
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KC0ODY on November 4, 2003
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>Get on the air and make a band open up. Who needs this stupid stuff.
I would if I didn't live in an antenna-restricted building. All I can do is build and listen for now.
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by CWTITAN on November 4, 2003
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I agree with your thoughts. I have "dreamed" of a new company on the line of "Heathkit" making a comeback. I built almost all of their HF rigs, use them, and would go for more. I DO NOT AGREE IN ANY WAY WITH W6PWJ.
We need to keep history, and the old rigs are better in many ways than the new ones. The noise floor on most new rigs is just deplorable. Give me a nice ole tube rig any day....73
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KB2FCV on November 4, 2003
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I enjoyed the article. I personally love to build radio gear and antennas. I am glad to see companies like Elecraft, OHR, etc are around that put out a great superior product and makes people pick up a soldering iron. I think there is a greater satisfaction to making that first QSO on a rig or antenna that you built versus something you pulled out of a box and plugged in. I also enjoy building older technology as well. For field day this year, I built a breadboard 2 tube regen running 201-A's on 80 meters to match up with a breadboard single tube rock bound transmitter... all battery powered (gotta play by the field day rules!) It was quite a challenge to make QSO's on there, but I think I had more fun making QSO's with that than any other piece of gear I have ever owned.
Although Elecraft is kit building versus home brewing, I feel it's still better than buying the latest XYZ transceiver off the shelf. To each his own!
73,
James KB2FCV
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KF6TCM on November 4, 2003
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Hello,
Thank you for the article. I am a beginner of HAM and I am under age 40 and definitely a member of digital generation. For me some one who is talking about the tube technology is very mysterious and historic since I have hardly seen tube radios and even not many transister circuits recently. Any way I am building couple of kits (TRs and ICs) and also building some digital measurement tools myself. And it is fun for me as far as I am building the kits and tools. :)
K.W. Lee, KF6TCM
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by SV9DRU on November 4, 2003
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Just a comment for people who commented how horribly back in performance, tube radios would take us if we were to go back using them instead of the modern "superior" designs:
A couple of months ago I had a TS940S in my QTH which is surrounded by quite a few multi KW broadcast stations. When listening to any band, especially 20m at night, I always had at least S6 - S8 noise in the receiver from spurious signals coming through its passband. Using 10db attenuation helped but not completely eliminated the problem.
Neither my 40 year old National NCX5 nor my 30 year old Yaesu FT 401B have ANY evidence of those spurious signals. Plus their noise floor is much better than any modern rig I have tried...
Older design does not necessarily mean poor performance.
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KC8VWM on November 5, 2003
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I would like to be able to build a rig from a couple of broken twigs, fishing line, firewood carbon, and a box of rocks. This would be useful if I was stranded in the wilderness or something.
:)
Charles
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KC8VWM on November 5, 2003
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This brings me to an intersting point. Did you know that Leonard Nemoy (Spock) was an Amateur Radio operator?
There were a few episodes where he used his "Amateur Radio engineering" abilities to create a few scenes for the Star Trek series..
One episode showed "spock" and the "captain" trapped in a town in the 1930's and Spock came up with an idea to build what was termed as an "Crude Amplitude Modulation Transmitter" They were trying to contact the ship for help.
The episode showed Spock building what appeared to be a crude transmitter with various tubes, wires, test equipment and other collected parts.
During the scene, it showed a clock as many hours went by. When he attempted to activate the tubes, they all started glowing and making an erie sound. After a few minutes the whole thing started arcing and sparks started flying everywhere.
Try and catch this particular "homebrew" episode if you can sometime.
73
Charles
KC8VWM
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by VE2LEU on November 5, 2003
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Sorry for the off-topic rant.
begin{quote}
My friend owns one of these houses that is old and "historic". There is some pressure from the historical society to keep it outfitted with its original fixtures including the steam heat, but I had often wondered why this was desirable. At the time the house was built, or at least the last time the house was rebuilt on the inside, as is often done, those who did the work put in the most modern heating system they could muster at the time.
end{quote}
As a hvac professional, i'll tell you that nowaday what they put in a house is the cheapest POS system that they can find. General contractors want cheap and cheap. Cheap materials, cheap installers(read incompetent).
begin{quote}
In this case, it happened to be forced hot water by oil through big clunky radiators that bang and hiss all hours of the night and day.
end{quote}
If they bang and hiss, that's not normal operation. On a well maintained hot water system, you might hear the pump if you put your ear on a pipe. Tell your friend that if he wants to save on his heating bill, to call a competent, licensed HVAC professional.
What your friend have in his basement was probably originaly coal fired then converted to oil.
begin{quote}
If they had the option for forced hot air by natural gas with one of those 98% efficient furances along with a nice central air unit, they probably would have gone for that!
end{quote}
You're so wrong, not wrong in what they would have installed but wrong in it been "nice"...The contractor would have gone with the cheapest 80% forced air furnace he could find. The cheapest split unit AC he could find. The cheapest ductwork he could install. Installed by the cheapest hack he could find.
A modern hydronic system is probably the most comfortable heating system you could install today. It's noiseless, draftless, non-invasive, clean, very flexible and energy efficient.
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KE2IV on November 5, 2003
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And on and on it goes....
Seems it only takes the latest clown to come out with a shibboleth so as to draw the roaches from the woodwork!
This one wants to build Heathkits in the early 21st Century.
And, of course, the relentless "should've beens" crawl out with the usual crap about the decline of ham radio, America, civilization and humanity.
Some days you almost wish there were Black Helicopters.
What's the worst they could do? Get rid of the paranoids still sniffin' for horse poop?
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KD7KGX on November 5, 2003
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I think that, as a ham, we are fortunate to live in the time that we do.
Never have such extraordinarily sophisticated radios been affordable for the average ham. The radio we can buy today for $1k is light-years beyond the performance of the top-of-the-line rigs 30 years ago. To those who say that new rigs are not necessarily better, I respond with "they're not necessarily worse, either!" If I want usability (instead of collectibility) then give me a 756 Pro II, FT-1000 Mk V, or Orion over any rig built before 1999. If tubes really WERE better, then someone would offer a top-of-the-line tube HF rig.
For those who want to build their own radios, the variety of kits is equivalent to any time out there, and the quality is much better. How many hams of the '70s would have KILLED to be able to build an Elecraft K2, and buy the kit for the average working man's 2-week paycheck? How many GOOD kits for QRP CW rigs are out there, as compared to the HW-7 and -8, and at a much better price/performance ratio?
The only 'fly in the ointment' is the disappearance of more and more leaded thru-hole components as the electronics industry turns to SMT. But someone will eventually design, build, and market a device that facilitates building SMT circuits by hand, along with some interesting circuits, and the rest will take off. How small could an Elecraft K2 be if it was all SMD? As small as a paperback book? (In that respect, how small could most of the commercial rigs be? There's a lot of empty space inside most boxes. Perhaps rigs are as big as they are for marketing instead of technical reasons.)
In summary, our hobby is generally evolving in the right direction. Of course, what we REALLY need are small antennas that work as well as big ones! Hmmm... how 'bout a fractal all-HF band yagi that gets 8 dB of gain and 30 dB F/R... and looks like a large TV antenna?
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KC0ODY on November 5, 2003
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KC8VWM: That "Spock" episode's nothing compared to the Professor of Gilligan's Island's amazing feat of building a radio out of coconuts.
Guess I'll have to settle for an Elecraft (one of these days). Sigh.
Jackie
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by AG4DG on November 5, 2003
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Why is the focus of homebrewing on the radio itself? I prefer to build something that I can't buy. The textbook example of this is the Next Generation SWR/Wattmeter (http://www.jasonhsu.com/ee.html) that I designed and built for my graduate school independent study project last semester. Its capabilities:
1. 160m-10m
2. Both QRO and QRP capability: 200mW to over 100W! You can crank down the power when you tune so that you reduce the QRM you cause to other operators! MFJ meters can handle 100W but don't work at QRP. Most homebrew SWR/wattmeters are for QRP only and cannot handle 100W. The QROP Meter is the best of both worlds.
3. Easy-to-read LED display: No tiny, crude, hard-to-read cross-needle meter.
4. Better accuracy at QRP power levels: The MFJ meters understate SWR at low power levels due to the infamous diode drop loss. My QROP Meter compensates for this.
5. Better resolution at high SWR levels, even above 5!6. NO calibration required: There are NO potentiometers to adjust.
Don't expect MFJ to make anything like this. The noninterchangeable parts required (two matched diode pairs and two resistors whose value will vary from one unit to another) make the QROP Meter unmanufacturable. This illustrates what I like the best about homebrewing: If something I want is not available at any price, I can create my own equipment.
Personally, I probably won't design my own radio, and I wouldn't bother building anything much more complicated than a Pixie II. Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu transceivers have many, many capabilities that even an Elecraft won't have, and the Elecraft takes a lot of time to build. If I want a small and simple QRP transceiver, I'd rather just build a simple Pixie II. I wouldn't bother designing my own transceiver, because there are so many existing designs out there I can use.
Basically, the only two categories of things I would bother to homebrew are:
1. Devices that I can easily and cheaply build and are not sold at a competitive price by anyone (such as a Pixie II)
2. A device that has capabilities not available on any commercially available product (such as my QROP Meter)
Of course, that's just my personal taste. These aren't the only two reasons to homebrew.
By the way, I don't consider homebrewing to be a way to save money. There's the cost of the tools, the parts, and your time. The cost of the parts for the small-time homebrewer has escalated as local electronics parts stores have gone out of business and Radio Shack carries fewer and fewer parts. It's just my luck that I didn't discover homebrewing until the last 2 years, thanks to the Northern Virginia QRP Club. The 1N34A Germanium diode is a perfect example of what's happened to homebrewing. I have heard that it was available at Radio Shack as recently as the middle 1990s. You can't buy a 1N34A from Radio Shack anymore - you have to order from Digi-Key, Mouser, Ocean State Electronics, etc. This requires a shipping cost, and you have to know the difference between DIP and SOIC (and can't LOOK at things like you can at Radio Shack). This shipping will cost you more than the parts unless you buy many, many parts in one order. The cost and limited availability of parts are the reason homebrewing has been on the decline.
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by AG4DG on November 5, 2003
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Homebrewing does have a chance at a comeback thanks to the recent proliferation of kits. When you buy a kit, all the parts (particularly the hard-to-find parts like toroids, specific ICs, etc.) are included, so you don't have to figure out what parts you need, hunt for them on Digi-Key and Mouser, find out the part you need is obsolete, or end up with the wrong package (like surface mount instead of DIP). Of course, you don't get to design the device, since the individual or group selling the kit already did that for you.
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KC8VWM on November 6, 2003
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>>> That "Spock" episode's nothing compared to the Professor of Gilligan's Island's amazing feat of building a radio out of coconuts. <<<<
Don't you think it's kinda strange that cell phones resemble the "communicators" that were used on the Star Trek series way back in the 60's ?
Or how about those sliding doors at the supermarket? Where do you think those ideas came from exactly? Don't you think they look a lot like the sliding doors on the 60's series "enterprise"?
A car manufacturer decided to put "power options and controls on seats" that looked quite a bit similar to the captains chair on the enterprise. In fact the first car headrests where designed based on this precise information.
Happy homebrewing.
73
KC8VWM
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KA7BTV on November 6, 2003
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Marinos, thanks for the stroll down memory lane. I owned and used an FT-401B from early 1985 to about mid 1991. Sorry I sold it. Did all of my own work on it and enjoyed it. Anyway, I'd have to say that our hobby is probably okay. I sometimes find myself getting impatient with the less technically inclined among us too, but I've come to realize that most of these folks have their own talents and skills to contribute to the hobby. Some are good communicators and work well under pressure, such as in emergencies. Some like to conduct nets and pass traffic, and do really good at it but have no clue what is happening inside their radios. There are are other examples but you get the idea. But fear not - these people all have a place in ham radio and so do those of us who are technically inclined. I agree that all of us should have at least a basic understanding of electronics and radio, but in the modern world of ham radio, it might pay more to be well versed in computer science. Anyway, enjoy that FT-401B. Kinda makes me want to go find one.....
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by AG4RQ on November 8, 2003
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AG4DG said:
"You can't buy a 1N34A from Radio Shack anymore - you have to order from Digi-Key, Mouser, Ocean State Electronics, etc. This requires a shipping cost, and you have to know the difference between DIP and SOIC (and can't LOOK at things like you can at Radio Shack). This shipping will cost you more than the parts unless you buy many, many parts in one order."
Do you have a junk CB? If not, how about a junk broadcast radio? If you have either, you have at least one (probably a few or several) 1N34A diode(s).
Every ham, especially those who are interested in homebrewing should have a "junkbox". I've been collecting junk parts and many junk chassis since the late seventies. If I need a 1N34A, I just heat up the iron and remove one from a junk CB chassis. I don't buy any parts unless I've done a thorough search through my junk first and determine that I don't have it either in a parts drawer or on a junk chassis.
Homebrewing is fun, and if you have been collecting electronic junk over the years, you usually find that you have most, or maybe all of what you need for a project.
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by WA9SVD on November 8, 2003
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a (sort of) sad progression.
Homebrew gave way to "kits" when the kits got to be less expensive than buying the individual parts. (Mostly because the kit suppliers could buy at bulk rate prices, and a
homebrewer had to pay single part prices.)
Finally, multi-layer circuit boards and finally surface mount components all but eliminated homebrew of sophisticated equipment.
Do I wish "HeathKit" and the like were still around? SURE. But if they were to produce a transceiver kit the equal of a Yaesu Mark V, or an Icom 756, or a Kenwood 570, what
would it entail? Either the kit would be just a bunch of "plug in" preassembled boards, which doesn't take a lot of skill, or if it were built of discrete components, it would be the size of
a 27" TV. (Yes, there ARE some kits available that are relatively aophisticated, but they are few and far between, and not to everyone's liking.) And a modern dual-band H-T?
Would a homebrew equivalent be smaller than the proverbial "breadbox?" And when is the last time you saw plans for a modern dual-band H-T in CQ, QST, or any other
publication?
The miniaturization of components, and the technology to go along with it is wonderful, but it's almost impossible to build our own equipment or perform repairs on our equipment.
So for the rest of us, (without a microscope and similar sized tools) we have to be content to build accessories and add-ons that the manufacturers did not include in their original
design.
For the most part, I believe a large part of the issue boils down to economics. If I (or anyone) can buy the equivalent radio for the same price (or less) than homebrewing, why would
I homebrew? I personally would savor the satisfaction of knowing I "Did it myself," but that's not for everyone.
Sadly, in many cases, the "build it yourself" ideal is no longer realistic.
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by N1KGH on November 9, 2003
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I don't think DIY in ham radio is any less relevant than it ever was. It's just different.
I have on my workbench a $50 Encore development board from Zilog; it is an 8-bit processor with 64K and lots of peripherals including analog I/O, two serial interfaces, a multitude of I/O's and lots of other possibilities. (The development board has a cool dot-matrix LED display. Great for $50; the chips themselves are only $15 and even available in DIP40.)
Ham apps? No idea. I just know it's a neat device and I *could* find things to do with it. Don't try telling me it's "not ham radio", because the old-timers never made any such distinctions either.
I'm in IT by trade and interested in modding 802.11 wireless hardware to conform to Part 97 (Part 15 shares with us). I'm wondering if AX.25 TCP/IP can be made to work with IP6. Maybe it's feasible, maybe it's not. But I submit that that is experimentation just as "real" as anything done by the old timers, because *they* were playing with the latest technology *of their time* just as I am playing with it *today*.
73,
Dave
P.S. If any "real ham" can point me to a PSK31 transceiver kit that does 20 meters, I will be happy.
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by NUTONES on November 9, 2003
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Great article...
Now, will someone please tell Hollingsworth that it is not a crime to build and modify's one's own radio?
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by N3TTN on November 11, 2003
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OLDFART13 Wrote: " Our hobby is not evolving in the right direction. Anything that requires work or dedication is being eliminated. We will soon be appliance operators who tune up our linears and use echo mikes. Yes, we use more sophisticated radios today but we have no clue what is going on inside of them. We have Extras who ask questions on the elmer forum about dipoles and grounding. We think we are so high speed because we can hook up our radios to our sound card and work PSK31 with an over modulated signal and wipe out others QSO and not even know it.
Even with the more sophisticated radios we don’t even know what the ALC is for. We think if we have a good SWR that our antenna system, that we bought, is top notch. I know that there are some exceptions, but this your average ham these days. Extra in a day...."
Our hobby??? There is no "our" because YOU ARE NOT A HAM...How many times am I going to have to explain this to you??? By your OWN ADMISSION, you do not hold an amateur license, so the only "we, our, or us" is in your dreams. As long as you continue to represent yourself as a ham, I am going to hound you everywhere you go, to make people (who are actually licensed!) aware of exactly what you ARE!....or more precisely, what you are not: A HAM! To continually represent yourself as a ham when you are not, is at best a shallow deception, and at worst an outright sham. You can call yourself Santa Claus for all I care, but DO NOT call yourself a ham, you are not a ham anymore than I am king of England.
N3TTN
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by W5ME on November 12, 2003
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you sir are right on line. i would love to see kits come back. i built my first rig. an HW101 and still have it along with several other old tube rigs that all still work and in some cases work a lot better than the new high tech ones. i feel that this is one reason for our hobby going down the tubes the way it is. BRING BACK THE KITS. i love the smell of heated tubes in the morning.
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KC8VWM on November 13, 2003
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>>>>As long as you continue to represent yourself as a ham, I am going to hound you everywhere you go, to make people (who are actually licensed!) aware of exactly what you ARE!....<<<<
Whatever happened to the idea of encouraging (not discouraging) those people who are interested in becoming hams anyways?
Charles - KC8VWM
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KC8VWM on November 13, 2003
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I have been robbed of the golden opportunity to imagine what it was like to wait for your heathkit radio parts to arrive in the mail box.
Beaver and Wally Cleaver must have spent many enjoyable hours with a soldering iron at hand, reading schematics, and assembling a radio like a jigsaw puzzle.
I can understand why they would take pride in thier work when the day finally arrived that marked the first day they actually transmited to others from thier newly and carefully engineered stations.
Today, we go down to the "candy store" buy a rig, talk on it for a few hours and after the initial "new appeal" fades away, we put the rig in the closet.
Today's technology makes it rather difficult to assemble a radio yourself given the many complexities we expect our radios to perform.
73
Charles - KC8VWM
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by TECH2003 on November 13, 2003
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Ham radio is definately Evolving in the Right Direction. We no longer need CW. This is not realy a technical hobby anymore. A simple exam on the rules, regulations and band plans is all that is required nowdays. The info on the current tech exam should be all that is required to obtain a general license.
Steve
NCI-3069
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by KD5NWK on November 14, 2003
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I belive that the hobby is evolving, Its just that the tool set has changed. A tube is just a tool as are transistors, mosfets or MCU's. People tend to use the tools they know about and what parts are available. No way I'd buy a $100 tube when I can do the same with $15 worth of IC's and in fact be more stable and efficient than a tube could possibly be. Add to that digitial control and not only does the builder have to know hardware design but also be able to write software / firmware to control it. Point is that we are building things and understanding how they work. Just like the old days. Pick up any QST mag and its full of designs. I think thats the real jest of the articial anyway.
I do hate to see the art, and it is an art, of building tube electronics fade away. The bright side is that is also an art to design modern hardware that is quality over quanty and if anyone thinks writing software / firmware is not an art, well they just don't get it.
Is our Hobby evolving in the right direction? That remains to be seen. If its not then its due to social reasons not techinicial ones.
Doug
KD5NWK
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by NJ0E on November 15, 2003
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well, i think the hobby is okay, in general.
i have been licensed since 1976. i recently constructed
a small wonder labs sw40+ solid state qrp cw
transceiver. it cost a little less than $100. i would
have ***killed*** for this radio in 1976! ( i have no
affiliation). the receiver is very quiet. the full breakin/qsk is great! i think some of the kits
offered today are truly fb. the norcal 40 is probably
comparable. i've heard people rave about the
norcal 20, though sadly, it is no longer available.
i have assembled a little 40 meter rockmite; i really
enjoy taking it on backpacking trips.
roy lewallen's optimized qrp transceiver looks like
a very intriguing project (plans available on arrl
web site or arrl handbook from a few years ago).
my point is; there are some truly awesome kit or from
scratch units available today that i can't imagine
any ham wouldn't enjoy.
73,
scott nj0e
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Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by SV9SK on November 17, 2003
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Dear friend Marinos....I am very happy to have your article on my screen today...
I really aggree with you to all your comments and thoughts about our hobby. Note that i also followed the same way except that it had happened on 70's decade..
Please let me know about your news there in the states...
My e-mail addreess is as follows; sv9sk@med.uoc.gr
Your friend Alex - SV9SK
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by WB4M on July 10, 2005
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction? Reply
by TECH2003 on November 13, 2003 Mail this to a friend!
"Ham radio is definately Evolving in the Right Direction. We no longer need CW. This is not realy a technical hobby anymore. A simple exam on the rules, regulations and band plans is all that is required nowdays. The info on the current tech exam should be all that is required to obtain a general license. "
Steve
Don't fret Steve, the ARRL will GIVE you your higher class license someday soon...
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RE: Is Our Hobby Evolving in the Right Direction?
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by WR8Y on November 16, 2005
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OLDFART13:
"Our hobby is not evolving in the right direction. Anything that requires work or dedication is being eliminated."
True. But it's not just this hobby, I used to think that it was the whole world. I have come to the conclusion that it's a "western world" thing. After talking to friends in Europe, it seems they are seeing the same thing. But in the developing and third world, such is not the case.
Perhaps this is the natural progression of being affluent? (SP?)
In any case, even here at work, no one seems interested in learning anything: everyone just wants to know how big the bonus will be this year!
But I find that it all works to my advantage, anyway. I have not been unemployed since 1979 - the year I earned my First Class Commerical license. Employers are always looking for people willing to WORK, sure - but willingness to LEARN is important to. So, off I go to Windows/Computer/Networking school in January; at the boss's exspense.
73,
Mark
WR8y
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