[Milsurplus] Re: [ARC5] SCR-274N Makes It on ARRL.ORG

[WF2U]

The common belief that the military equipment is unfit "for ham consumption"
without hacking it up is totally baseless.

Such equipment if properly tuned up according to the manual, is not worse
than any ham or homebrew equipment. The problem is that hams used to try to
get more RF power out than the equipment was designed for. It usually
started with homebrew power supplies which produced high voltage way above
the original supply (another myth is that it's difficult to find or build or
use - take your pick -  high current 12 or 24 VDC power supplies to power up
the original power supplies).

Those of us who use unmodified military equipment on the air - properly
aligned, maintained and tuned,   - can claim interference-free operation,
and no more TVI than from stock commercial ham equipment.

When conditions are tough on the air, the only non-stock item I use with
military equipment is an external audio DSP box or an active audio filter.
Oh, the station antenna tuner is non-military....

I use completely unmodified, original WW2 military radios almost daily on
the ham bands and regularly work DX.

The "Surplus Conversion Manual" books I have are helpful in restoring hacked
up equipment to original, as a lot of massacred WW2 surplus equipment I find
at hamfests is hacked up according the suggestions in those books.

As to sporterizing military rifles - although they're more plentiful than
radios, I don't believe in sporterizing - if you want a "sporting" rifle,
get one which is manufactured and intended to be such. I collect and shoot
only unmodified, original condition military rifles...

73, Meir WF2U / NNN0AAF
Landrum, SC

> -----Original Message-----
> From: arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of MillerKE6F at aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 12:44 AM
> To: jfor at quik.com; ezeran at ezeran.cnc.net
> Cc: arc5 at ix.netcom.com; ARC5 at mailman.qth.net; milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Re: [ARC5] SCR-274N Makes It on ARRL.ORG
>
>
> The use and abuse (as some would cite) is a topic that comes to
> the fore at
> least once a year.  While those who want to keep ARC-5s and other
> command
> sets in their original state, others want to actually use this
> stuff on the  air.
>  The only middle ground on this topic is that it's ok to modify
> stuff  that's
> already seen some dream merchant's activities.
>
>     To those of us who used command sets to get on the  air in the early
> years of our hobby, the need to give these units, "Hair Cuts",
> as my mentor W6BWV
> (SK)called converting command set, was done more out of  necessity than
> desire.  Now some 45 years later those wanting to keep these
> things as they came
> of the assembly line in 1943  charge that these  modifications,
> chop jobs, and
> other less than kind descriptions.  To that I  say, BS.  Like it
> or not these
> old war horses were not fit to be put on the  air in their avionics
> configuration and for the most part even using the rear
> connector without additional
> bypassing was an invitation for TVI.
>
>     So before there is another tirade and condemnation  of those
> folks who
> did what they had to make these old rascals work as ham  gear, an
> effort should
> be made to show some appreciation for those  folks who beat these
> old swords
> into plowshares and in that process preserved  more  WWII than any other
> interest group.
>
> Bob, KE6F
>