[ARC5] [Milsurplus] responsibility to our posterity

[Kludge]

-----Original Message-----
From: milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
mstangelo at comcast.net
> Stock car racing was an outgrowth of the prohibition era when bootleggers
souped up 
> "stock" cars to use them for the unintended purposes such as outrunning
the revenue agents 
> and eventually for racing.

More than just Prohibition Era.  Don't forget that moonshine etc was also
transported in such vehicles at least through the 50s and may still be.
I've not been keeping up on the status of stills of somewhat questionable
legality.

> This is like the Ham radio experimenters in the '40's and '50's who souped
up the surplus 
> radios to use them for a different purpose.

This echoes what I said about repurposing equipment.  Hams were looking for
an economical way to get on the air and surplus - command sets specifically
- provided it.  After a whole lot of sometimes screwball attempts to "tame"
the transmitters, someone finally figured out that the best way to operate
them was as designed.  Well, unless some really different purpose was
desired like SSB or DSB.  Even there, the simplest and most direct way
proved to work best.  

The receivers were still broad (and I've been thinking of ways to alter the
IF cans to "fix" this) but how narrow were the receivers the typical
Depression Era ham could afford or afford to build?  I remember one of the
gentlemen who mentored me saying how much like heaven it was to have a
superhet he could actually afford.  Combined with a range filter for CW, he
was "set for life".  Other bands came later but he was quite happy on 160,
80 & 40m.  

> Modifying surplus radios is a part of the mil surplus radio history and
should also be 
> preserved.

Both sanctioned (i.e., official) and unsanctioned modifications, whether by
the military or other services/agencies, count as well.  Aside from a few
well known ones like the Admiralty's Lorenz conversions, they seem to be
hiding.  

Best regards,
 
Michael, WH7HG BL01xh
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/NTH/index.aspx 
http://wh7hg.blogspot.com/ 
http://kludges-other-blog.blogspot.com 
Hiki Nô!