[Elecraft] Cans

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Uh, Oh... the closest thing to "flames" I've seen around here was a year
ago over the definition of "LID". 

When I was a "LID" it meant an inexperienced, inept and generally
unskilled new operator likely to cause more commotion than
communication. 

OT's put up with them in the (sometimes forlorn) hopes that they'd turn
into operators one day.

Some newer Hams seem to think that it's a compliment. 

If you're going back THAT far... how about:

Growler.

Loose Coupler

Maggie (not the kind that makes microwaves)

Basketweave coil

Cage Antenna

Aether (or "ether")

Heaviside Layer

That's enough... The only thing this has to do with Elecraft rigs is in
relationship to the Heaviside layer under certain conditions. Oh? You
want answers? See below.

Ron AC7AC
K2 # 1289

Growler - originally a pail with a lid used as a lunch box by many
workers in the 1920's and 30's. A very popular transmitter monitor was
built into one that consisted of a regenerative detector. The pail
provided enough shielding to get a clear idea of what one's signal
sounded like on the air. Hence, for some time, careful ops had a
"growler" to check signal quality with. (Some operators today could use
one). 

Loose Coupler - two coils with variable coupling (one usually slid into
the other). Very popular before variable capacitors to make a tuned
circuit become common.

Maggie - the most popular detector following the coherer (oops, maybe I
should have included the coherer - the original detector used by
Marconi). A maggie used an iron strip that wrapped around two small
wheels. It looked a lot like a small 1950's reel-to-reel tape recorder.
A spring motor turned the wheels moving the iron band. The band passed
by a horseshoe magnet that magnetized it, then the band passed through a
couple of coils that were connected to the antenna, ground and
headphones. R-F in the coils would be affected by the magnetic band in
such a way as to make a noise in the phones. It was better than the
coherer at sea, but it required the operator to remember to wind it up.
C.F. Rockey (of regenerative receiver fame) wrote that at least one ship
in easy hearing distance of the Titanic never heard the distress calls
because the operator had fallen asleep at his desk and the "maggie" had
run down. Believe me the K1 or K2 is a HECK of a LOT more sensitive,
even with a bad antenna. 

Basketweave Coil - A special way of winding solenodal coils to minimize
inter-turn capacitance and dielectric losses. The end result looked a
bit like a basket. Cheap, simple, and worked good, I can tell you! 

Cage Antenna - large diameter antenna created by using a number of
parallel wires held apart by separators and coming together only at the
ends. 

Aether (or ether) - theoretical fluid that penetrated all space and
matter to carry light and similar energy (including radio waves). Based
on the Newtonian concept that there can be "no action at a distance" and
therefore light (and radio waves) must travel "in" something. It was
diligently searched for by physicists until Einstein's theories, which
showed that Newton was wrong and there is no theoretical "need" for an
ether, began to gain wide acceptance in the 1920's and 30's.

Heaviside Layer - A theoretical series of  layers high above the earth
postulated by Heaviside that would responsible for the reflection of
radio signals to account for over-the-horizon communications at HF
(shortwave frequencies). It was the subject of much controversy for
years about whether such a thing actually existed. It became accepted
and known following WWII as the "Ionosphere".