[GreenKeys] The answers you get over a simple request! !

Tue Oct 11 13:56:55 EDT 2011

Here is my own thoughts...

I do not trust solid state anything. Be they lamp dimmers to space shuttle computers. Silicon is simply too fragile and vulnerable to EMP and ionizing radiation. 

I love the old TTY machines, because I love mechanical things. I love old switchboards, because it represents (to me) a time when there was an actual human being who could respond to you if you needed something. That human being in a small town would often know you personally, and if you were in need of assistance, she (or rarely he) would move heaven and earth to get that help to you. Of course, the flip side, is that you never made a call after her bedtime unless it was an emergency.

That said, I am someone who worries a lot more than I should about the survivability of our society. We have built not a house but a skyscraper of cards on non-hardened, packet switched non-sense and I-pods. One medium solar flare directed our way and crash goes the comms. Then the power grid (controlled by the silicon comms). Then the water. Then the transport systems. Then there is disease because the sanitary sewer systems no longer work. There is famine, because the average person has two days worth of food, and the grocery stores have three days worth. Then the winter comes, and people freeze to death because there is no heat, and very few people know how to survive in the cold. Horses will suddenly become quite valuable (for those who know how to care and use them), as will a wood lot.

Now if we as a society did not give in to the computer geeks of the seventies and eighties, (Yeah, the now departed and overly lionized Steve Jobs; as well as Steve Wozniac, Larry Ellison and Bill Gates) and demanded that our comes remained direct switched, tube based and direct wired (or microwave linked via hardened longlines stations), we would not be in this situation. 

I can now hear the screams of protest already. 'How will I download the next episode of Sex in the City' with that old crappy stuff? Well, my answer is that 'Sex in the City' is not a vital commodity for the survival of society. Being able to call the EMS is. Being able to turn on the lights is. If you want 'Sex in the City' via digital packet distribution, fine, build an internet. Just do it on a seperate system, don't connect our missle defense network to it, (or anything else of import for that matter) and all will be fine. Oh, and by the way, let those who use the packet switched system pay for it... don't subsidize it.

I can make a reasonable bet that if our world is blasted by the sun or (God forbid) a direct hit from a nearby gamma ray burst, that my old hollow state radios, TUs, TTYs, 1A2 systems, and "BELL SYSTEM NOT FOR SALE" telephones will still work. I will also bet my next month's salary that your supper dupper I-phone 4S that cost 500.00 USD will be nothing more than a desk paper weight.

And that nasty computer printer tech with is rude comments about that "crappy old stuff"? He will be too busy looking for his next meal to even think about what he said.

Just my two yen worth.

Joe Herdler

--- On Mon, 10/10/11, Lee Mushel <herbert3 at centurytel.net> wrote:

From: Lee Mushel <herbert3 at centurytel.net>
Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] The answers you get over a simple request! !
To: airrelic at juno.com, greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
Date: Monday, October 10, 2011, 9:45 PM

Gentlemen,

I guess I haven't been paying close enough attention to this thread.   But I 
assume it is in response to the report that a visitor had made an 
observation referring to those machines we all love as "old junk."  And I 
think I've commented in the past that it would be wise if all of us would 
make a greater effort to expose young people to our interest.   I certainly 
have experienced the "negative comment" personally.   And I do think that 
I've concluded that my own interest is due to exposure to "how things work" 
by my mother and grandmother.   I remember comments made by my sons when 
they reached the age where they would independently visit the homes of 
others and conclude  that "other people's houses are empty."   And when my 
wife asked one of my prospective daughter's in law what she thought of our 
house the girl replied that is reminded her of a "sort of junky museum." 
But I also recognize that as part of my ham radio interest there are many 
who reject the leading edge technology and stubbornly maintain that 
computers have no place in the hobby.  So I'm forced to conclude that the 
problem we see is not related to "old vs. new."

I'll just continue to do the best I can and make sure that visitors can sit 
down and type---with the machine cover removed or "up" as appropriate.

Regards,

Lee   K9WRU
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <airrelic at juno.com>
To: <greenkeys at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 9:12 PM
Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] The answers you get over a simple request! !

> That is really frustrating. I'm with Keelan. The less people know what 
> they really are, more the available they become for the hobby. The biggest 
> limitation for me is the distance to go get the stuff. I don't understand 
> why others embrace computers but not these old machines. I love to watch 
> the analyzer on my 922 flash the 5 code sequences and spell the words as 
> it 'foxes' just from the pattern of leds. How many people can print out 
> messages directly from streaming audio like we can? Take that, HP tech! 
> KevinKD8QGX
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