[AMRadio] Getting on the Air - May 2008 QST

[D. Chester]

> From: Joseph Bento <n6dgy at kirtland.com>

>
> The "Getting On The Air" column by W1ZR.  Vacuum tube based equipment
> is far too dangerous to consider for a first rig,  and building your
> own equipment apparently isn't even a consideration any longer.

My sentiments exactly.

>
> Modern electronics is too complicated, tubes are too dangerous - it's
> no wonder that electronics isn't even taught any longer throughout
> most of the school system.

Plus, they would probably classify the soldering guns in the lab as 
prohibited weapons under the "zero-tolerance" policy.


> I'm really beginning to question why I continue to support the ARRL.
> At first when I saw the cover of this issue, I had thought there would
> be all these neat projects from the Homebrewer's Challenge.  Needless
> to say, I was disappointed.  I used to treasure QST.  While I still
> save all my issues, I'm beginning to wonder why.  It certainly isn't
> the technical journal it once was.

Good, in-depth technical articles were taken out of QST years ago and put 
into separate publication called QEX, that even full members must pay extra 
for.  In QST, real technical articles have been replaced with a lot of 
"getting started in radio" stuff that was once assumed one would already 
know by the time one obtained an entry-level licence, plus all the 
nauseating "human interest" drivel.

Don k4kyv