[ARC5] On Hacking

[Bill Fuqua]

    I'd like to make some comments about the subject of the role surplus 
played in amateur radio and
other fields. I don't know how long they expected WWII to last but they did 
build many more radios
than needed. The surplus supply of ARC5 radios did not run out until the 
1980's. Most of what you see
now are recycled surplus, that is to say, radios purchased by an OM and 
sold back to Fair Radio and
maybe other vendors.
   An odd thing happened after our first war with Iraq. Afterwards the 
government replaced lots of their
old equipment and munitions with new. In the process they emptied out some 
warehouses and loads
of Collins KWM-2 transceivers hit the market. At the same time tons of 4D32 
tubes as well. I suspect
the 4D32 tubes were spares for all the Viking I transmitters that were used 
for Civil Defence stations.
These must have set in a very dusty corner of a warehouse somewhere since 
the 50's.
   My father, a mechanic, used a great deal of surplus in the late 40's and 
50's to build tow trucks and
odds and ends around his shop. One common thing just about all mechanics 
used were the light weight
O2 tanks as portable compressed air cylinders. One very odd item was the 
exploding rivets. These were
made for quick repair of holes in aircraft. You could cut an aluminum drill 
some holes, insert the rivets and
apply heat from a torch and they would go BANG and expand on the blind side 
of the hole. Much stronger
than pop rivets. I use to play with them as a kid. Heat them up with a 
match and watch them shoot across
the floor.
   The important role surplus played was a means for young people to tinker 
and learn from modifying and
using the equipment. Many homebrew transmitters, receivers and amplifiers 
were built from surplus radio
parts. Still done today.
    The importance of this tinkering is that it led to an engineering of 
scientific career for many
  later on. Many of the best engineers in the 60s and 70s were hams that 
tinkered as kids. They knew what they
enjoyed and wanted to do before going to collage. They had developed an 
intuitive understanding of
RF and electronics before taking the mathematically intensive engineering 
classes.
     Today, most students have never tinkered with stuff  or have any idea 
of how things work, other than
cute science programs on TV for kids. They go to college and make a 
decision based on how much effort,
how long to get a degree, how much the cost and the what they will earn 
once they have the degree. Few
actually have a passion for a field when they enter college.
73
Bill wa4lav