[ARC5] On Hacking

[J. Forster]

First, in a war, any prudent supply chain will have plenty, often to
excess, in the supply line. Replicators, a la Star Trek, do not exist. If
you need something now, be it a radio, a bullet, or a gallon of fuel,
getting it in a few months will not suffice. Battles are won and lost on
logistics.

Second, I don't deny that radios were sources of cheap, quality parts.

I do dispute that hams made any significant improvements over the original
designs by hacking or 'converting' them.

-John

===========



>     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
>
>
>
>
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