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eHam Forums => Boat Anchors => Topic started by: LNXAUTHOR on February 10, 2023, 02:45:14 PM

Title: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: LNXAUTHOR on February 10, 2023, 02:45:14 PM
tried searching but no definitive answer here to the question:

What makes a boat anchor?

i have thinned the herd over the last several years of R75s, SGC SG-2020s, ICOM 703s, RS 394, Lowe 225, Europa, TS-570D, my Ten Tecs (Argo V, VI, Jupite)r, FT-857, 897 and so on...

i now use more modern rigs w/waterfalls, SDR, etc.

my personal criteria is that a rig is a boat anchor when 1) the manufacturer goes out of business 2) the rig is discontinued with no parts availability and 3) when LIDs try charging outrageous prices for used gear
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: KL7JT on February 10, 2023, 02:54:26 PM
Perhaps lift an E.F. Johnson Viking II Xmtr to gain further insight. 73
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: W7CXC on February 10, 2023, 02:58:42 PM
Or a HT32b   ;)
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: K7LZR on February 10, 2023, 03:06:46 PM
Or a Heath DX-100.....
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: K1VSK on February 10, 2023, 03:16:32 PM
Another clue is if there is a digital readout anywhere. Or no tubes.
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: KF6QEX on February 10, 2023, 03:34:17 PM
Quote
my personal criteria is that a rig is a boat anchor when 1) the manufacturer goes out of business 2) the rig is discontinued with no parts availability and 3) when LIDs try charging outrageous prices for used gear

None of the above :)

You'll know what it is when you try to lift one.
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: WW5F on February 10, 2023, 04:38:17 PM
To me, if it doesn't have a USB "B female" interface on the back of it, it's a boat anchor.
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: W6SDW on February 10, 2023, 05:15:51 PM

 My "baseline"... anything heavier than a Central Electronics 100V...

Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: KE0ZU on February 10, 2023, 06:40:32 PM
I don't think you'll find a "definitive answer anywhere, but for me it must have tubes, a Big cabinet, cannot be a "rice burner" and generally have been built during the 70's or earlier.
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: K6AER on February 10, 2023, 07:33:18 PM
Anything you can't sell on QTH.com.

Any thing that requires warm up.

Anything thing you can repair yourself.
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: N8NK on February 10, 2023, 10:26:45 PM
If the damn thing consumes 125 watts to generate my one-watt QRP CW signal (my SB-101) it MUST be a boat anchor.
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: N8NK on February 10, 2023, 10:33:09 PM
Dear Sir:
Peer inside in a dark room...
Is she all light up with little red dots that kinda looks like a starry sky at night? Uh huh...
and does she smell like hot dust when your nose ventures near the back or the top openings?
I see.
When you do that- smell inside- does it snap you back to your teenage (or younger) years with mom and dad's TV?
If so, I do believe you have a boat anchor there, son. Be careful- she's a beaut. A real looker.. and she's worth more than gold to old buzzards like myself  :)
Chuck, N8NK (sometimes called Blowzo the Humble Ham on the YouTubes)
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: WA2CWA on February 10, 2023, 11:57:21 PM
Good quality steel makes a great boat anchor:

(https://sc04.alicdn.com/kf/Hccbf953dbe494bd9b59bac6320530186R.jpg)

In the world of radio, there is the term
"boatanchor" which is obviously different then a "boat anchor".

Pete, wa2cwa
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: G3RZP on February 11, 2023, 01:33:56 AM
Surely something as big as a Collins KW1 is a "ship'sanchor"? Even an RCA ET4336 counts as that...
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: W3SLK on February 11, 2023, 06:54:49 AM
I have an assortment of the previous 'boatanchors' mentioned. I don't have a KW1 but I do have an ET4336F(that right now requires a modulation transformer). My definition of a boatanchor is that if you imagine a tornado strikes your house and the radio that hasn't moved from its location could probably be a good candidate! ;)
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: AI5BC on February 11, 2023, 07:07:36 AM
Something old and antiquated, no one in their right mind would want. Wait a minute, are we talking about old equipment or your wife?
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: W1RKW on February 11, 2023, 08:07:19 AM
Something old and antiquated, no one in their right mind would want. Wait a minute, are we talking about old equipment or your wife?

more like ball and chain for some.
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: SWMAN on February 11, 2023, 08:44:51 AM
A boat anchor for me is any radio that when I pick it up and carry it makes my back hurt more than it already does.
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor? Have some suggestions......
Post by: K8HU on February 11, 2023, 09:52:00 AM
Weight and vacuum tube operation come to mind as precursors.  I restored R390A's for over 20 years and they definitely qualify tipping the scales at 72 lbs w/out cabinet.  Second boatanchor is the Collins 32V-x AM transmitter.  Heaviest rig for its physical size I've even known.  3rd, In my experience is the Collins 20V-2 1KW commercial broadcast transmitter I moved to 160M.  That tipped the scales at around 1500 lbs with all the transformers, chokes and reactors installed.

Chuck, K8HU ex WA4HHG

tried searching but no definitive answer here to the question:

What makes a boat anchor?
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: W6MK on February 11, 2023, 02:43:57 PM
What makes a boat anchor? A heavy chunk of metal.

What makes a boatanchor? Ditto.
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: K0UA on February 11, 2023, 07:15:42 PM
Or a Heath DX-100.....

I used to have one of those when I was a very young ham. I am pretty sure I could not pick one up off of the floor now. Pretty darn sure. AND I would not try to pick it up for it.
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: K1KIM on February 12, 2023, 08:55:55 AM
I consider my Kenwood 520s, 820s, Yaesu FR-101 boat anchors

But not my Kenwood TS-430s and certainly not my SDR's such as the 991A and 7300.
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: AD4DQ on February 14, 2023, 07:13:04 AM
Has to have tubes..... and heavy, Heathkit Apache, Johnson Viking etc.... but now if it has tubes
it is considered a boat anchor....
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: K0RS on February 14, 2023, 07:44:37 AM
Any rig that you can't make a logical justification for owning.
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: KD6VXI on February 24, 2023, 10:35:31 AM
What is a boat anchor is akin to watching The Hangover movies.....


"BUT DID YOU DIE"...?

If you didn't die lifting it, it's not a boat anchor.

Yeasu need not apply.

Plate modulated = boat anchor
AM the primary mode = boat anchor
Something KM1H knows about = Boat Anchor
Work of Art = Boat Anchor
Uses 3 digit tubes = AWESOME Boat Anchor



Needs a UHaul to move?  = Great Boat Anchor.

--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: W9WQA on February 24, 2023, 11:54:11 AM
worked with r390 made at stewart warner,1963.
new, it was a boat anchor...
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: W1RKW on February 24, 2023, 01:03:31 PM
Hernia
Title: Re: what makes a boat anchor?
Post by: W3SLK on February 25, 2023, 04:57:22 AM
KD6VXI said:
Quote
Something KM1H knows about = Boat Anchor
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
I'm working with one of the HOF Boatanchor Receivers: Collins R-388
I've come to really appreciate how this mechanical thing of beauty still is precise over 70 years!