[ARC5] Another Crying Shame....

[D C *Mac* Macdonald]

Posted with permission of David Stinson.

My response to the origianal post is included
along with David's response to that message.

Mac - K2GKK



----Original Message Follows----

Actually my first hourly job after paper routes
(that netted me under $5 per week) was at
$ .55/hour.  After three or four weeks, I was
treated to an 18% raise to  $ .65/hour.  I
hadn't really anticipated it.  I was just glad
to have the 25 or so hour/week job at the
Dairy Queen down the state highway from
my house about a quarter of a mile.

I do admit to buying an APS-13 for about
$5, probably from Fair, to start a junkbox.
I had no use for it, but I very carefully took
almost all of the components out (R, C,
tube sockets, small wire bits, etc.) to start
my "junk box."  The price was equivalent
to a full week of delivering papers around
the neighborhood.

I couldn't afford the "ARC5" stuff on what
I made as a paperboy.  Over three months,
I saved enough at $5/week plus Christmas
gifts to purchase the Walter Ashe "Complete
Novice Station" for just under $50 plus
shipping.  It took me four months after I
received my Novice ticket to finally get the
station on the air and make my first contact.

73 - Mac, K2GKK


----Original Message Follows----
From: "David Stinson" <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>
Reply-To: "David Stinson" <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>
To: "D C *Mac* Macdonald" <k2gkk at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [ARC5] Another Crying Shame....
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 09:22:17 -0600

You're right, of course, Mac.
I didn't start my first "paycheck a week" job at 65 cents,
but I did at $1.35, IIRC.  Dollar-low-something, anyway.
My first "dit" on the air was a BC-459 I whacked myself.
I mean that it's a "shame" in the sense that someone
who's been searching for a TN-6 for years must keep searching.
And it's a good example of how "improving" surplus
gear usually means tossing it in the junk box after
one gets frustrated with the result.

----- Original Message -----
From: "D C *Mac* Macdonald" <k2gkk at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [ARC5] Another Crying Shame....

 > Y'all need to lighten up.  All of this stuff was on
 > the market at next-to-nothing prices and folks
 > who maybe made 65 cents per hour as I did
 > back then took advantage of means to an end.
 > There was no practical alternative other than to
 > make use of what was available at an affordable
 > price.