[DX] Re: [amsat-bb] Saturday Night at the Movies

Wed, 12 Mar 2003 15:59:42 -0500

Let's not forget the "Die Hard" movies.  The "terrorists" in the first movie
are using Kenwood 440 MHz HT's (don't recall now if they were TH41 or TH42,
there is one scene where you get a good look at the make & model number).
The exact same radios show up in Die Hard 2, both in the hands of the "bad
guys" who take over the airport, and then the military "special forces" unit
that show up later.  And in Die Hard with a Vengeance, the "marine" radio
that is used to call Bridgeport Coast Guard appears to be a Hallicrafters
transceiver, although I haven't gotten a good look at it lately.

There was a short lived TV series about a factory worker who got promote to
management... I want to say the name of it was "Arnie" and I think it
starred Herschel Bernardi.  I remember one episode where his best friend was
being forced into retirement, and as part of the retirement party, he gave a
tour of his home which included his ham shack (walls full of gear and QSL
cards), with that character saying something on the lines of now he'd have
more time for radio operating.

There have been several cop shows over the years which have had an episode
about some kid, usually stuck at home in a wheelchair with a disability of
some sort, where the kid is caught jamming police frequencies or aircraft
frequencies with fake SOS's or otherwise transmitting in clear violation of
Part 97.  Of course, he gets off with a slap-on-the-wrist from the FCC
because of his disability (obviously this was long before Riley's time!
<g>).  And in the course the episode, said kid would eventually pick up
something and either relay it to his police friends and/or patch them in &
save the day, further Part 97 R&R violations not withstanding.

And speaking of Frequency... that's not an SB series transceiver, but it is
a Heath & it is an SB series radio.  There are several scenes showing close
ups of the back and interior of the rig, and one brief shot of the front
panel.  It's an SB-301.  Yes, that's right, according to the movie makers,
not only does "the mother of all sun storms" permit RF communication across
time, but it turns a receiver into a transceiver.  (And if I remember
correctly, this was pointed out to them during the film making, but the
producers didn't think anyone except us hams would notice the difference.)

73, ron wn3vaw

"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood... won't you be my neighbor?"
Fred Rodgers, "Mister Rogers Neighborhood," SK, 27 February 2003

----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>;
<[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 3:07 PM
Subject: Re: [DX] Re: [amsat-bb] Saturday Night at the Movies

In a message dated 3/12/2003 2:59:27 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:

> I believe that the radio was a Heathkit SB102.  Here
> is another good exercise.  See how many movies/TV
> shows you can think of that make reference to ham
> radio.

The movie "Frequency" did use a Heath SB series transceiver, could have been
an SB-101 or SB-102.

I don't recall Herman Munster singing, but I do have a WAV file saved of him
calling "CQ"

If you really want to have fun spotting amateur radio gear, watch reruns of
the of "ALF" series and look at all the amateur gear that is shown every
time
the run out to the garage for some solice and quiet times.  VHF operators
will be especially interested in all the 50 MHz Clegg gear on the show.
Someone on the staff obviously had a nice supply of their gear back to the
Clegg'99er days, but many others appear.

============================================================
     Bob Reed, W2CE
============================================================
 [email protected]       [email protected]     [email protected]
============================================================

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