[ARC5] Merry Christmas

Mike Everette radiocompass at yahoo.com
Fri Dec 27 11:36:46 EST 2013 

My hallmark Christmas was when I was ten years old and received a Remco crystal radio kit, the one with the single headphone and slide tuner.  My dad and I built it that afternoon.  It would only get one station, but worked okay, sounded fine.  I listened to that little radio every night for a long, long time until I got my first pile of radio junque, which included a GE AM-FM acey-deucey 7-tube radio that worked, sort of, when I plugged it in but hummed like a squadron of B-17s.  Dad told me the filter cap was shot; he showed me where it was and told me how to wire in a new one, bought with lawn mowing money.  Somehow I managed to repair that deathtrap without 'lectra-shootin' myself.  

My next hallmark Christmas was 2 years after the remco, when I received a subscription to the American Basic Science Club kit series... eight kits that took you, a month at a time, through basic electrcity, simple electronics, optics, astronomy, and experiments with nuclear material (a dot of radium as a 'source").  This was a miraculous gift and I learned far more from it than I ever would have in school science classes; but it would NEVER be allowed today because of politically correct, safety-obsessed, lawyer-driven idiocy in the education system  (Omigawd, it has a HOT SOLDERiNG IRON in it!  And HIGH VOLTAGE!  and... and... RADIUM!!!! EEEEEEEEK!)... in fact I saw on a web site that the ABSC was branded one of the top ten "MOST DANGEROUS TOYS" of all time!!!  Well, it didn't kill me.  And I seriously doubt that it ever killed or injured anyone else!

Oh yes, I had an Erector Set too; got that a couple of Christmases before the Remco.  I still have hardware from it in my junque box.  Just like an ARC-5, you can't do a proper home brew project without it... Command Set parts and Erector Set bolts-n-nuts guarantee success.  And once in a while I even use my good old ABSC soldering iron just for good measure.

73

Mike
WA4DLF



On Friday, December 27, 2013 10:56 AM, D. Platt <jeepp at comcast.net> wrote:
 
My two hallmark Christmases were, first in 1957, when I got a Gilbert 
(erector set folks) "Erectronic Set".  This is arguably my entree into 
radio and electronics.    A neighbor and engineer at Johns Hopkins APL 
took notice and became my Elmer.  During his family's holiday visit, he 
took the "BC band code transmitter" configuration and put the headphone 
in the cathode of the 1T4 tube and made an AM transmitter out of it. The 
second, in 1960, when I got an E F Johnson Challenger transmitter kit.  
That kicked the ball down the field a long way for me.  BTW, when my 
Elmer inspected my kit-building expertise (sic), we disassembled it and 
he had me build it all over again, under his supervision and with a 
handful or more of replacement parts from him.

Jeep - K3HVG


On 12/26/2013 11:13 AM, Fuqua, Bill L wrote:
>     My most memorable Christmas was when I was only about 9 years old and got a S-38E under the tree.
> I knew it was coming and could not wait. Got everyone up in the early morning so I could open the package
> and went running off to my room to set it up. It was my first shortwave receiver.
>     I never had a train or BB gun ("you'll put your eye out kid"). My father was a mechanic and when I was
> very young he had his own shop and put up a tall tower so he could have 2-way communication to his wreckers.
> That and seeing him fix our first TV set got me interested in radio.
> 73
> Bill wa4lav
>  
> ________________________________________
> From: arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net [arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net] on behalf of Jay Coward [jcoward5452 at aol.com]
> Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2013 9:32 AM
> To: k2gkk at hotmail.com; joeconnor53 at yahoo.com; mark.k3msb at gmail.com; arc5 at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [ARC5] Merry Christmas
>
> It was 1956 when I got my American Flyer set, a 4-6-2  loco with tender, a coal carrier, flat car. Gulf tanker and caboose. Two switches and a de-coupler. Still have it and I got a bottle of "smoke" fluid too. Still love that smell as much as old mil radio smell!
> Jay
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D C _Mac_ Macdonald <k2gkk at hotmail.com>
> To: Joe Connor <joeconnor53 at yahoo.com>; K3MSB Mark Bell <mark.k3msb at gmail.com>; ARC-5 Mail List <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wed, Dec 25, 2013 5:54 pm
> Subject: Re: [ARC5] Merry Christmas
>
>
> It was Christmas '49 or '50 at Grandma and Grandpa house when I came downstairs
> and Dad had set up the new Lionel Santa Fe double A unit freight train set under
> the tree.  Had the coal hopper car, searchlight car, gondola car, operating box
> car and caboose and the KW transformer.  My best Christmas ever!  Still have it!
>
>
> * * * * * * * * * * *
> * 73 - Mac, K2GKK/5 *
> * (Since 30 Nov 53) *
> * Oklahoma City, OK *
> * USAF, Ret (61-81) *
> * * * * * * * * * * *
>
>
>> Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2013 12:54:35 -0800
>> From: joeconnor53 at yahoo.com
>> To: mark.k3msb at gmail.com; arc5 at mailman.qth.net
>> Subject: Re: [ARC5] Merry Christmas
>>
>> Very nice, Mark. Was there anything ever better than waking up on Christmas
> morning and finding a Lionel Santa Fe diesel engine under the tree?
>>                                                     Joe Connor
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wednesday, December 25, 2013 2:50 PM, Mark K3MSB <mark.k3msb at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> I shot this early this morning before anyone got up.
>>> http://www.k3msb.com/temp/train1.mp4
>>>
>>> It just wouldn't be Christmas without the old Lionel around the tree!
>>>
>>> God Bless & Merry Christmas to all of you!
>>>
>>> 73 Mark K3MSB
>
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