[GreenKeys] CV-483

[William J. Neill]

Well, uh, lemme say this about that:

I use my iBook G4 primarily for exciting activities in graduate  
school, eBay, reading news on a global basis, and communicating with  
friends and unindicted co-conspirators.

When it comes to radio traffic, I wanna hear real radio with some  
QRM, I wanna see vacuum tubes glowing, I wanna see real cables  
running from and to the various ancillary equipment, I wanna hear the  
Teletype machines ka-chunking and have the floor vibrating at 60-,  
75-, and 100wpm oscillations, and listen to the electrical wiring in  
the walls humming at 60Hz.

Anything less might as well be the onset of an untimely death.  I  
don't like change.  I watched the railroad business go all to hell  
when the MBAs showed up and started managing operations with  
flowcharts and spreadsheets.  All things considered, I suppose I'm a  
21st Century Luddite.

Of course, I really don't have the faintest idea about how  
computerized nonsense works other than if it doesn't work, turn it  
off and turn it on.  If it doesn't fire up again, I thrash it with a  
spud wrench.  If it breaks, it needed replacement anyway.

Bill Neill
Conroe, People's Democratic Republic of Texas

On May 31, 2008, at 8:33 AM, Lee Mushel wrote:

> You guys,
>
> I really do wish I knew how to change people's minds where this  
> thing we
> call a computer is concerned.  There is no way I would part with  
> any of the
> components of my 1958 Novice station and that includes my very first
> Heathkit, the AT-1.  And I've told you that when I look around my  
> integrated
> shack and see those old machines, fully functional, sitting there,  
> my blood
> pressure lowers by twenty points.  And while my original straight  
> key (maybe
> 1955---it took me a while to get my ticket) is close by on the  
> bench and
> while I have never regretted for one second the money the Begali  
> key cost
> you have no idea how satisfying it was last night to sit with those  
> monitors
> in front of me and see two software programs controlling two pieces of
> software defined radios (the Flex5000A and the SDR IQ) both  
> displaying (but
> not identically since they were connected to different antennas) the
> spectrum in the neighborhood of 600 meters for the Lofer project!
>
> I don't feel I've suffered in any way from making the transition  
> from tuning
> by rocking a knob to snapping to a signal I can see clearly with  
> the click
> of a mouse.  And when I note the powerful tools I now have at my  
> disposal to
> optimize signal quality I am certain that, at least for some of us,  
> ham
> radio is just as entertaining, exciting and valuable as ever.   
> Right now I
> am in the process of making the transition from a principally AUDIO  
> based
> shack to one that is based on VISION.   Given the fact that none of  
> us like
> change, that may be a problem for a lot of people.  But my goal is  
> to be
> able to sit in my old contour chair, swivel out the two tables to  
> bring the
> mouse, keyboard and key into convenient position and then pivot the  
> three
> video displays down from the ceiling.   A really nice 32 inch and  
> two 22
> inch displays will enable me to do all my hamming, watch broadcast and
> satellite TV, access the internet and sleep and never move---well  
> other than
> let the motor in that chair rotate me a few degrees!   My biggest  
> problem is
> getting the XYL to give me enough time to get this stuff done!    
> And I will
> admit to disappointment that there is no room for a pug dog to sit  
> on my
> stomach.
>
> 73
>
> Lee   K9WRU
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Roy Morgan" <k1lky at earthlink.net>
> To: "William J. Neill" <wjneill at consolidated.net>
> Cc: <greenKeys at mailman.qth.net>; <Telegrapher at att.net>
> Sent: Friday, May 30, 2008 9:05 PM
> Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] CV-483
>
>
>>
>> On May 30, 2008, at 9:00 PM, William J. Neill wrote
>> :... I fear I may be stuck in some kind of time warp.  Does that mean
>> my telegraph sounders, Model 15s, and R-390s are obsolete?  Should I
>> chuck them for whatever newfangled stuff is being used?
>>
>> Yes, indeed. And to make the transition less difficult, I'll trade  
>> you
>> a nice nearly 20 year old solly state transceiver for all them ole'
>> R-390's and the other junk.
>>
>> HAH!
>>
>> Roy
>>
>> Roy Morgan
>> k1lky at earthlink.net
>> Lovettsville, VA 20180
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
>