[Boatanchors] We do live in a solid state world

[manualman at juno.com]

Steve Ford is the Editor of QST.

Actually, if you read on from the line you quoted, in the next paragraph
is says, "Modern transceivers don't require manual tuning but dummy loads
are still valuable tools for testing and adjustment...."
And, since QST is the official journal (not some technical magazine) for
all ARRL members, it has to provide information for all grades of
technical expertise, i.e. from the beginner to the hard-core electron
massager.

Pete, wa2cwa

On Sat, 18 Sep 2010 22:04:08 -0500 Rob Atkinson <ranchorobbo at gmail.com>
writes:
> I got one for you that is at least as outrageous:  In the August 
> QST,
> a guy named Steve Ford, WB8IMY published a one page article on the
> need to own and use a dummy load for any ham operating an active
> station transmitter.  Forgetting for the moment that it is pretty 
> sad
> when there has to be an article in QST telling hams they need a 
> dummy
> load, the second to last paragraph starts with this sentence:  
> "Back
> in the days when hams had to manually tune their transmitters 
> before
> operating, dummy loads were common fixtures in most stations."
> 
> I had this Twilight Zone feeling--hams used to manually tune their
> transmitters?.....No one does now?  What planet is Steve Ford on?   
> Or
> am I in some parallel universe?  Dummy loads now uncommon?....I had
> this crazy idea that not owning one was a dead giveaway for a lid.
> Reeling with the room spinning around me I had to look in an AES
> catalog to see if the rigs for sale had click stop channel switches
> and if the mics for sale had echo preamps in them.
> 
> Rob
> K5UJ