[ARC5] On Hacking

[Geoff]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Todd, KA1KAQ
To: Geoff
Cc: jfor at quikus.com ; ARC-5 Mail List
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 12:01 PM
Subject: Re: [ARC5] On Hacking


On Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 11:40 AM, Geoff <geoffrey at jeremy.mv.com> wrote:




On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 12:39 PM, J. Forster <jfor at quikus.com> wrote:


All right, you proponents of 'ham improvements' to ARC-5 gear



I don't recall anyone ever making that argument.


The claim has been made, repeatedly. And, IMO, is basically nonsense.

-John




But by nobody credible that Im aware of.



I've never seen it either, beyond reading the ham articles that claim 
'improved performance' related to whatever the modification addressed in 
amateur useability as Wayne mentioned.

You could paint one in camouflage to use in your tree stand during hunting 
season and say that you improved its performance as a result. Technically 
you'd be right, for your given circumstance.

The only improvement I ever took away from any of the mods/hacks was making 
it more user-friendly for amateur use. Whether for AC operation, Q5er, VFO, 
or anything else, nothing improved these sets over their original design for 
their intended use. That goes without saying. Neither does collecting them 
without a period-correct aircraft to install and operate them in - not that 
this stops people from collecting them.


** If the ham did the mods right after WW2 it was mostly for convenience 
since documentation was slim to none and Al Gore hadnt invented the Internet 
yet. CQ articles were plentiful and as Ive said earlier some were pretty 
good but naysayers wont admit that or arent capable of understanding them.

As time and technology moved on there were many improvements possible to the 
receivers. AGC, product detector, noise blanker, variable selectivity, for 
starters that would of been of use to the WW2 pilots. I saw ARC-5 gear in 
USN/USMC trainers and small 2 engine puddle jumper passenger types as late 
as 1962 so they likey were around even longer. Some improvements could have 
been used earlier in Korea such as repackaging with smaller tubes and other 
components, adding features and wind up with the same size box.

Hams can add bandspread with a few parts and a switch and do away with the 
crank tuning.

Let the evangelical preservationists have their dreams and toys and simply 
ignore their blather about what others are doing and actually using. There 
is enough gear and room for everybody. The antique car vs streetrodders 
realized that in the 80's, this group just has a minority of dinosaur 
holdovers that cant adjust.