[ARC5] On Hacking

Mon Oct 15 13:26:11 EDT 2012

With all due respect to Gordon, the days of massive surplus mods were long 
past by the time that article was written. I was even running SSB on VHF/UHF 
by then.

CQ Magazine from 1945 to the 50's had numerous conversion articles. Some 
excellent, some good, and some very poor.

Central Electronics sold a modified BC-458 to go with the 10A, 10B, and 20A 
and also included conversion info. I modified 3 of them; the 10A/B's drove 
VHF transmit mixers and the 20A was used on HF to drive various amps.

I also seriously modified a BC-457 as per the classic W2EWL article in the 
March 1956 QST and ran 75/20M mobile SSB for several years. Wish I still had 
it.

All worked as planned and I make absolutely no apologies for doing them.  If 
I had those early CE rigs today I would modify a BC-458 again, just not a 
museum quality one.

There are also 3 suitably modified BC-453's in use here as Q5'ers for 
various vintage commercial receivers that get a lot of CW use along with 
vintage transmitters.

The ATC here has a modified audio section for improved fidelity, has an 
outboard HB AC supply and is often used with a BC-312 that has been 
converted to SS. Those are often in use and dont expect any apologies. 
Preservationist fanatics had ample opportunity to obtain them.

OTOH, I do have many of the ARC-5/274N receivers and transmitters in new or 
almost new condition including the discussed rare ones. Meshnas and other 
Boston area shops were a regular lunch time or Saturday trip and I always 
figured some of that obsolete surplus "junk" would become valuable some day.

The next surplus project will be an externally decrepit BC-1004 that will be 
brought into the 21st century performance wise and I just might write an 
article for ER Magazine. I do need a good S meter and crystal filter 
assembly. A near mint one owner SP-110 with matching PS and speaker will be 
preserved as built and displayed only.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Stinson" <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>
To: "ARC-5 List" <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 5:18 AM
Subject: [ARC5] On Hacking

> Oh No Here He Goes Again warning:
> IMHO and YMMV.
> This is just how I see it.
> I do not demand anyone agree with me,
> nor am I mad at anyone who has a different opinion.
> I don't sign your paycheck and you don't sign mine
> so God bless ya and go your own way.
> I won't "restore" your stuff if you don't drill mine ;-).
> Anyone who wants to fight about it, please
> hit your "delete" key or forever hold your peace.
> Amen.
>
> It is true that a few inventive and laudable
> things were created out of WWII surplus gear
> and we should admire them.
> And it's true that little of the gear would have been saved
> for us had not the ham community taken to it.
> But the fortunate fact that hams did so is a
> seperate issue from the results of that interest.
>
> If more knowledgeable people had taken the time to
> actually understand and write about the equipment,
> rather than simply "parrot" what some guy
> with a chainsaw wrote in haste,
> I think even more of it would have been saved.
> Thank God Almighty for Gordon White.
> Without him, I think every Command Set
> would be beer cans now.
>
> We need to stop kidding and congratulating ourselves
> about just how much of this was "learning" and "invention"
> and how much was "hackery" and "quackery."
> Because of the nature of our group
> there are many exceptions here
> and many of us built some neat things.
> But amongst the general 1940s-1970s ham population,
> I think the "wonderful ham innovations
> with surplus military gear" are more myth than fact.
>
> Barring things like some AC-ed BC-348s, hacked gear
> that became something of enduring usefulness is rare.
> Thousands of SCR-274N transmitters were hammered
> and drilled with the intent of becoming Novice transmitters
> for broke kids. I was one of those kids.
> In fact, my first "dit" on the air was a BC-459.
> However, the vast majority "died-a-borning"
> and never had the then-required crystal oscillator installed,
> or the power supply never got built,
> or some poor kid bought-into the parroted "TVI" baloney
> (which still lives on today!)
> and he gave-up in the face of the extensive
> and expensive mechanical mods,
> or a dozen other reasons why they were never finished.
> And if the majority of hams doing this "learned" much,
> other than how to tear things up, I sure couldn't tell it.
> Even when a few were finished,
> they were run improperly and got the kids
> pink tickets from the Feds or cards from busy-body OOs.
> I confess: the only reason I made contacts with my
> BC-459 was that I was using the internal MO.
> Call the FBI. I'll go quietly ;-).
>
> Lawns got mowed and papers got flung and something
> from Globe or Heath or Hally etc. came along
> for the kids (mine was a Globe Scout 680),
> and most of the once historically-significant gear
> went straight to the junk-pile.
>
> I've been working with this gear off-and-on for 40 years.
> I've seen thousands of hacked military radio items.
> The ones that could reasonably engender pride
> I can count on my fingers- and have some left over.
> I certainly wouldn't want anything I hacked
> when I was 14 years old to be pictured
> in anyone's history book.
> Most hacks- if they ever worked at all-
> were quicky discarded in favor of commercial gear.
> A large precentage never did another lick of useful work-
> not so much as a "dit."
>
> Again- one person's opinion,
> worth every penny you paid for it.
>
> 73 DE Dave AB5S
>
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