[AMRadio] Ham Radio in decline?

[Larry Szendrei]

On 4/30/17 2:48 PM, donroden at hiwaay.net wrote:
>
> Quoting Donald Chester <k4kyv at charter.net>:
>> Take another issue that's
>> making big headlines in the news these  days; the decline of the coal
>> industry.  There's no "war on coal" per se; coal is being over-run by 
>> other
>> markets and other energy sources.
>
> We still see several long ( 50-75 car ) coal trains pass through 
> Huntsville every day.   Where they come from and where they are going  ??
> TVA ceased coal fired electric plants several years ago ( or so I was 
> told ).
> Maybe they have started back up.

I still burn coal for heat (in a 100% manually-operated coal stove); 
it's the only way I can keep this drafty old Maine farmhouse reasonably 
warm at an affordable price during the coldest months. I burn about 
2-1/2 ton a season, and supplement it with wood and a bit of heating oil.

-soapbox mode on-

Politicians shouldn't be using policy to encourage or discourage any 
form of energy, be it coal, electric, oil, wind, solar, or whatever. The 
free market is each person making their vote with his own checkbook, and 
that's the most honest vote there is. As Don said, the demand for coal 
will probably dwindle on its own, but we can't really know for sure 
until the government gets out of the energy business, and I'm not 
holding my breath for that.

-soapbox mode off-

Back on topic, I'm still building, repairing, experimenting, operating, 
and generally having fun with ham radio. I can only control what I do 
myself. Last major project was a homebrew mid-1930s- style HF superhet 
receiver that works so well I use it for most of my QSOs these days; 
completed that in early December. Right now I'm fixing up a DX-100 
that's been off the air for several years for a guy who has gotten into 
operating AM but wants to use something other than his "ricebox."

73,
-Larry/NE1S