[Elecraft] Appliances vs. kits [was: RE: Can Elecraft take over...]

[Mike Markowski]

Hi Bill & all,

Bill Coleman wrote:
> 
> Today, things are different. Appliance operators rule, and the kit-
> built rig is an exception.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  I agree with the
thrust of your statement, Bill, in the sense that people seem to be less
concerned with the how & why, and more interested in appearance,
compactness, features, etc.  But then maybe things haven't changed much
after all!  Why?  You might remember a note I posted last week asking
for help finding a kit my 11 year old son could have fun building.  A
local friend responded by sending me a copy of an article about how to
build a cake pan tube transmitter.  It's from Electronics Illustrated,
Sept. 1964, "The Scrounger" by Herb Friedman W2ZLF, and starts with this:

"Real challenge used to be ham radio's keynote.  No one in the early
days ever thought of flipping through a catalog, ordering gear galore
and then going on the air the same day the stuff arrived.  Most everyone
rolled his own in those days.  Today, this kind of fun is pretty much
gone with the wind."

Now where have I heard that before?  :-)

73,
Mike  AB3AP
Avondale, PA