[Elecraft] The Old Days

[Sandy]

It always "pains me to no end" when some of the "older things" are compared 
unfavorably to some of the newer technology.  A lot of "older" things served 
us VERY WELL giving us what then were "wonders" when we had nothing else 
better!

Spark telegraphy WAS a mess and crude!  But it worked and saved a lot of 
lives at sea that would have been lost.
It was replaced by "CW" or continuous wave Morse transmitters and 
regenerative receivers which were invented by the efforts of Lee deForest 
and Edwin Armstrong.  Armstrong later invented the superheterodyne receiver 
which is still the "standard" receiver design!  Radiotelephone started with 
"AM" or Amplitude Modulation which everyone used until SSSC (single sideband 
suppressed carrier) popularly known as just "SSB" replaced it very slowly 
after World War 2.  Armstrong AGAIN invented wideband FM which didn't really 
"take off" until much after WW2 in broadcasting.  It became a staple for 
VHF/UHF radio communication for business band, police and industrial use for 
"two way" communication.  There are digitally enhanced forms of VHF/UHF 
radio now widely used such as "cell phones" and other types of devices only 
dreamed of not more than 2-3 decades ago!

"Ancient AM" is still used today, but basically only for two purposes.  One 
is AM broadcasting from about 550-1700 Khz.  A holdover from "ancient times" 
dying but "still alive and kicking"  Second it is used for aircraft 
communication from about 108-135 Mhz or so.  An ESSENTIAL to safe airborne 
communications and safety.  The military still uses it in the 225-400 Mhz 
band in mostly jet aircraft.  WHY not SSB or FM?  well because it "does the 
job" and it is reliable and the circuitry is much simpler!  Yes we do have 
satellite communication...BUT..this requires very complex infrastructure 
which is much more subject to possible failure due the very complexity of 
the systems.  Also very expensive in the first place.

Lastly older "Morse" telegraphy commonly called "CW" by the last users: the 
Amateur Radio Service.  You MUST learn to send and receive Morse code.  It 
requires the simplest of transmitters  and receivers and only the ability to 
use one's "brain" and ears!  No complex "interpreters" in the form of other 
equipment is required (like digital computers) to send and receive messages. 
Messages can be sent in an encrypted form or a foreign language without the 
operator knowing what the message might contain!  YES, maybe some people 
have declared it obsolete, but it is STILL useful and still practiced by 
hundreds of thousands of "ham" operators all over the globe.

There is still a "place" for the "old stuff" along with all the newer, 
unusual, "Gee Whiz" technology coming out and being conceived YET by 
inventors and engineers worldwide.  A lot of it is "old" but still is 
"useful"!  Don't knock it too badly!

73,

Sandy W5TVW

-----Original Message----- 
From: David Gilbert
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 3:04 AM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] The Old Days


That seems like an odd and unnecessary disclaimer, but in reply I'll
offer the opinion that the ratio of vinyl to CD's is roughly the same
order of magnitude as the ratio of AM to SSB in ham radio*... and I'm
pretty sure that most people would say that CDs replaced vinyl long
ago.  That doesn't mean that AM is an invalid mode, at least not as long
as the FCC still allows it, but I think it's pretty certain that the
bands would be a horrible mess if everyone was still using AM.

73,
Dave   AB7E

*  Before anyone takes issue with my comparison, keep in mind that the
ratio of vinyl to CDs is skewed to the high side because CDs themselves
are declining in favor of direct downloads.



On 1/29/2013 1:26 AM, tnnyswy at yahoo.com wrote:
> Jim Sir. Was AM replaced by SSB? Or, was SSB an alternate mode to AM? I'm 
> sure this debate can and has been going on since the devil was a boy. Lets 
> remind ourselves that this a Hobby and we are classified as AMATEUR. PS: 
> Let us respect Eric's request, and irrespective of our opinion, agree to 
> disagree. (((73))) Milverton.
>> __

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