[ARC5] Big/Heavy is Over

[mkdorney at aol.com]

"Big and Heavy" is making a comeback in the military vehicle community.  Forget hamfests and trying to appeal to the Ham Radio Community.  They are only interested in the latest "wiz-bang" stuff.  They see the vintage mil-radio part of the Ham Radio hobby as a curiosity that is simply to be dismissed.  Go to the vintage Military Vehicle rallies and you will see the interest and enthusiasm you are looking for.  You will also see a market for your radios should you decide to sell them.  I won't even do the annual field day with the local ham radio clubs anymore.  It's a waste of time.  Better the mil-radio folks get together on their own on field days.
Mark D.
In a message dated 9/17/2018 8:44:46 AM Eastern Standard Time, arc5 at ix.netcom.com writes:

(Warm-up your "I'm Offended!"; you're about to need it.)
One of the reasons I stopped doing displays of mil-radio equipment at major hamfests is lack of any meaningful interest.  It's a lot of work getting a display together to go the whole 'fest with two or three questions, if you're lucky, and no one spending more then 30 seconds looking.  That, more than anything else, tells me "the bells are tolling."  I now work on my "goodies" for my own enjoyment and accept that "all good things..."  I also shelved a book which would have been titled: "The Voice of Eagles."  Creating a book is a massive effort and hardly worth it when maybe 10 people are going to read it.
 
I feel confident that estimate is correct, because over the years, in several things I have written (and been told were useful; thank you kindly to those who said so), I've included an occasional "easter egg:" an obvious error included just to see if anyone is actually paying attention.  One of them is so in-your-face, I included it just to make the point.  Twenty years ago, a dozen people would have noted the error.  To this day, not ONE of these "easter eggs" has been commented upon; not even once.  That tells me all I need to know about the actual level of interest in the general community.
 
Lots of people talk about what they're going to do "when they get around to it."  Few ever do anything significant at all.  And if those of us who claim a passion for these historic items won't take the time to heat a soldering iron, isn't it arrogant to assume we can convince a young person to do so?
Think I will still write about the work- writers are a bit egoist and compulsive about their vice ;-).
 But our community is deep in its twilight.  "Gather ye rose buds while ye may."
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