[Hallicrafters] Nobody wants to be a "technician" anymore

[W4AWM at aol.com]

It goes back much further than that.

Back in the middle 50s, I lived in Asheville as a young General, and there 
was an older ham who lived across town who called me one day and said he was 
having transmitter trouble and did I know anything about transmitters. I told him 
I had built several and knew a little about them and he asked if I would come 
over and take a look at his.

I arrived and was escorted into his shack.  There, in a 6 foot rack, was the 
most beautiful transmitter I had ever seen. It was all home brew with 6 four 
inch illuminated meters. It looked even better that a KW-1!  As I recall, it 
was a pair of 4-400s with band switching, I can't remember what the modulators 
were but they may have been 4-250s or 400s. Windows allowed viewing the 
bottles. Frequency control was a Meissner Signal Shifter. He told me his brother had 
built it for him.

I asked him what the problem was and he told be that his brother had 
installed it and tuned it up for him on 75. Whenever he tried to change bands, he 
could never get it to tune up right.  Same olde problem, the DUH factor!!!  I 
tried to educate him on the fine? art or tuning up, but to the day I left for the 
Air Force, he called me every time he changed bands and I went over and tuned 
it up again. Had it not been for the fact that his XYL always rewarded my 
efforts with a huch piece of freshly home brewed apple pie and a double scoop of 
vanilla ice cream, I am afraid I might have tolf hime to find another tuner, or 
at least charged him for my time and 36 cents a gallon gas!

73,

John,  W4AWM


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