| N4VNV |
Rating:   |
2007-02-23 | |
| An Ex-Subscriber |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Wayne Green kept me angry about the morse code and how EASY it is to learn. I quit smoking easier than I learned morse code. I DID learn it but it was VERY difficult for me. Also Wayne came across like he thought he was the smartest guy in the world...actually I AM! The magazine got worse each year with more ads and less content. And the articles became too repetitive in the latter years of "73's". |
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| FORMER_KJ5KX_TR |
Rating:     |
2007-02-14 | |
| Liked it when it was still "73"... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
...before the name change to "Amateur Radio Today". Or, thereabouts. It was a great resource when I was first learning about Amateur radio, and it made the hobby seem wildly fun (which it is, of course). "73" really motivated me to go for that first ticket.
I met Wayne Green at Dayton on several occasions, and I always enjoyed his forum there. However, as someone else mentioned, he was not the most personable fellow I've ever met - but I didn't dislike him. I admired him for his accomplishments, not the least of which was the longevity of "73 Magazine".
As you might imagine, I was sorry to see the downward spiral the magazine took in later years, that mirrored, I suppose, Wayne's changing mental state (for lack of a better term). "73" became solely a platform for his latest epiphany. The snake oil pitches, paranoia, and conspiracy theories were painful to endure. Maybe he was suffering from the onset of senility, but the degradation in the magazine was patently obvious -- and permanent.
So long "73". SK
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| K6TPL |
Rating:     |
2006-12-23 | |
| Liked It Very Much |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Over the close to 50 years that I have been a ham, it was my favorite Magazine. Wayne Green really made me think with his editorials. Not that I often agreed with him. I had a chance to meet him at the National ARRL convention when it was in Portland. He was not at all friendly so I dropped my subscription!!!! But missed it. So after a number of years without it I subscribed again! Then Puff after my third issue, no more! Blast It! Not only was Wayne rude, he rips me off!!But I still miss 73 Magazine. And Waynes Editorials.
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| SWL377 |
Rating:    |
2006-12-23 | |
| used to be good, then... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| It is now defunct but in the old times it was a great ham mag, full of interesting articles. I like surplus radio and he continued publishing articles on the subject long after CQ stopped. Unfortunately, in its last few years, 73 was more a chronicle Of Wayne Greene's deteriorating cerebral logic than it was a ham radio magazine. Wayne loved bizzare non mainstream stuff, believed every conspiracy theory and promoted absolutely crackpot alternative medicine stuff, like the use of silver (which admittedly does have some antimicrobial properties)to cure or prevent virtually every malady. Too bad he wasn't still publishing on 9-11. I am sure he would have had some way out theory on the World Trade Center crashes... perhaps 767s piloted by space aliens dressed as middle eastern terrorists or remotely controlled from CIA HQ at Langley VA. To his credit he was pioneer, a visionary, seeing VHF FM and HF SSB's potential long before his peers did. He was also a PC pioneer and started BYTE magazine. Despite his crackpot tendencies, I actually miss the guy's editorials. He now runs a website www.waynegreene.com and its chock full of the bizarre, so I can still get my fix. Who knows, if his medical stuff really works he may be around for another century. |
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| WB5MHA |
Rating:     |
2005-11-19 | |
| 73 collection |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have a collection of 73's from the 1960's. I used to wait for each new quirky issue to come out. It was truly "outside the box" thinking before the term had been coined.
Over time Wayne, who I corresponded with frequently, got more and more off course........so to speak.
Whatever, it was different and fun in it's prime. A 1963 issue is on my desk right now. I'll read it for the fun of Wayne's wry wit and 60's controversy. Ah, for a more simple time. |
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| OLDFART13 |
Rating:      |
2003-12-12 | |
| It was great. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| It was a great magazine that we no longer have. Instead we are stuck with magazines like CQ who will sell out what is best for ham radio for the almighty dollar that they worship. I wish we had 73 magazine back. |
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| W0FM |
Rating:    |
2003-11-05 | |
| Long, slow death |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I began reading 73 in the mid 60's and was a long time subscriber. Recently, however, the writing was on the wall. As Wayne's editorials moved farther from amateur radio (albeit some of them interesting) the mag got smaller and smaller.
Hearing now that some of the contributing authors had not been paid for a long time, I suppose it's futile to inquire about a refund on my recently-renewed subscription.
73 to 73.
Terry, WØFM |
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| AA3VD |
Rating:  |
2003-11-04 | |
| 73, R.I.P. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Sad to lose some ham history, but it's far better off dead before the mag's (and Wayne Green's) reputation was TOTALLY ruined. I agree with an earlier post that it gave an awful picture of hams/hamming. Anyone picking up the mag would think that hams are a bunch of kooky crackpots. The running tirade about the "moon land hoax" was bad enough, but the promotion of quack, DANGEROUS "medical" advice was near-criminal. His contributions to the hobby were great, but he should of stuck to what he knew!
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Earlier 0-star review posted by AA3VD on 2002-04-01
I gave up on 73 years ago, but take a look when I see one. I find the "content" worthless. I have my share of solder burns going back to the 1960s, but just don't see any thing in 73 that makes me want to plug in the iron now. Wayne's editorials have all the earmarks of a charlatan. He is free to bash the ARRL all he wants--it IS a free country. But he should not be giving out quack, DANGEROUS, medical advice. Ingesting silver solution is not an approved treatment for anything, and can, at the least, permanently dye your skin blue/grey. Advocating cabbage soup as a treatment for cancer is nothing short of criminal. As for the moon landing "hoax," my hobby is ham radio, not comic books.
AA3VD |
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| N0JYC |
Rating:      |
2003-11-04 | |
| Dead...But Not Out! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
This magazine was very entertaining for me over the years. Yes, it's gotten thinner...Yes, the advertisers have disappeared...Yes, there are less ham related articles. But....you could still smell the glory days of ham radio in it...Wayne was a great pioneer/promoter of SSB and FM and educating more into the hobby. I, for one, will miss this mag, and the long, interesting editorials of "El Supremo." Certainly, there is not a reason to celebrate one of our publications going out of business. After all, you only subscribe if you want it. Dead, but not out because Wayne's pioneering and promoting of this great hobby will always stay with me.
Rick
N0JYC |
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| WB8NUT |
Rating:  |
2003-10-10 | |
| It was a ham magazine |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Glad to hear Wayne finally put 73 out of its mizery. It stopped being a ham magazine a long time ago. The scary thing about it still being published is that if a ham wannabe picked up this rag, they would have gotten a misrepresentation or a bad impression about the hobby. I used to love the magazine 20 years ago, but it kept getting thinner and thinner and more and more of the remaining precious little space, had nothing to do with ham radio. |
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