[Elecraft] Bad Assumptions

[mike]

The fun thing about ham radio is all of the different activities you can
participate in. For me chasing DX has always been my main focus. I also work
the occasional contest and in both of these activities the modern computer
assisted operating station (Elecraft K-line, SDR-IQ, Dell I7 computer) is
the way I choose to go. It is a challenge to integrate the
software/firmware/hardware, and after retiring from 45 years working (Bank
of America Computer Systems) and teaching (local Community Collage) computer
technology, it keeps my very old brain working hard. (These daze I can't
remember if I brushed my teeth this morning.) I am not big on digital, yet,
but who knows when i will get a itch to expand that operating mode.

On the other hand, for me at least, I don't get as much kick out of using
this setup for ragchewing or participating in nets. That's where the
operating position on the other side the shack comes in...Drake Paradise
(well at least for me.) I pined after these Drake rigs when I could not
afford them in the 70's and now they provide me with dials and meters and
knobs, and opportunities to rebuild and upgrade them, pulling their cases
off and soldering and wiring like I never really did before. And that makes
me smile. The Drake Yahoo Group is just as accommodating as the Elecraft
reflector, with wisdom and camaraderie. There is no computer on the Drake
side of the shack, so operating and logging is totally old school, paper and
pen. Of course the schematics and manuals are available on the Dell computer
across the room, but a three-ring binder holds all the paper manuals and
pertinent data for the rigs I have.

I count myself as very lucky to be enjoying old and new ham radio in my
retirement years. Modern radios will continue to improve and computers will
continue to find their way into a modern shack. That is not stoppable. But
any ham can draw his/her line anywhere when it comes to technology. Or if
they are lucky enough they can have both ham worlds to operate in.

PS. I don't even own a smart phone...I keep my flip phone on me in case I
need to call 911 in a hurry! And it has a good enough camera to capture
images of my dis-assembling a Drake rig so I can put it back together again.
That's one of the lines I have drawn!  73  ..mike  AI6II




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