[ARC5] Big/Heavy is Over

Mon Sep 17 10:35:08 EDT 2018

I don't claim to be the guy that can fix your gear, but I can point you to the people who can.  Part of the problem with the "Wiz Bang Gang" is they are for the most part unwilling to pay to have their gear repaired.  The old stuff they simply don't care for - to them it isn't sexy enough, and with the new stuff it's often cheaper to buy new than it is to repair, if it can even be repaired.  Want to see a sign of this?  Take a look at the national Ham Community publications, like ARRL's "QST" magazine.  How often can you find anything about even the use of, never mind the repair of, vintage gear, never mind vintage military gear.  The whole focus of organizations like the ARRL seems to be to cater to the manufacturers and dealers of the latest and greatest gear.  They seem to have totally forgotten about the hobby's roots.  Their headquarters has a museum filled with the vintage gear they will only display.  The ARRL headquarters staff is amazed that those in the vintage radio side of the Ham radio hobby not only have most of what is in their museum's static collection, but that this radio gear still works and is still in use.

Mark D.
"Real Radios Glow on the Inside"
In a message dated 9/17/2018 9:41:56 AM Eastern Standard Time, jeepp at comcast.net writes:

Concur with the last few posts, at least from the hamfest standpoint.  I have found that the new breed, no relation often to age, are simply technically unable or unwilling to handle the job.  That's not a criticism, just self stated fact.  I can't tell you the number of folks who have approached me, and others, to get their gear going.  I have down sized a bit and no longer look to accumulate gear.  Well.... maybe a little bit?  You can't take it with you... I'm told.  The only thing I still look for is another T-3, as I really miss the one I let go.  But.... but, I'm sure I will endure.

Jeep K3HVG

On 9/17/2018 9:08 AM, mkdorney--- via ARC5 wrote:"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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