[HCARC] RF Grounding Counterpoise

[Kerry Sandstrom]

Gary,

You did the correct thing.  Someone suggested you look at something, you 
looked at it , and you asked what others thought.  You can't do more than 
that.

I think I've said before that I find the old stuff more reliable.  I use QST 
and Handbooks prior to 1975 or so, actually until QST switched to the large 
fromat.  Its been downhill ever since.  Old Ham Radio magazines, the 
Proceedings of the IRE, especially before 1950 and the  Bell System 
Technical Journal.  On the internet I pretty much stick to Boat Anchor 
Manual Archive (BAMA) for old instruction manuals, a few US government 
technical sites (NTIA, SWPC, FCC, and so forth), and a few manufacturers 
site such as HP (now Agilent), WJ (I don't recall their current name), 
Tektronix, etc.

Unfortunately having a ham license now does not carry the same meaning it 
used to.  When I first started working as an EE, hams were everywhere and 
they were the ones who did the real technical and practical work.  Most of 
the big radio related companies were started and run by hams and many if not 
most of their employees were hams.  There are still a few older hams working 
who are respected and sought out for the difficult problems, but by and 
large, the old days are gone.  Too many newer hams are appliance button 
pushers, I wouldn't even call them operators.  Many of them can't even 
figure out where to ship their rig off for repair much less repair it 
themselves.  90% of the new extras are no better.  The current licensing 
system permits a person to get an extra with no experience and no real 
knowledge and the way many operate on the bands it allows them to continue 
as 'hams' never learning anything.  The FCC and the ARRL decided quantity 
counted and quality didn't matter.  That is why we have so many newer hams 
who can't seem to do anything.

The problem is universal.  The early airlines were run by people who loved 
to fly, the early automobile manufacturers were run by people who loved to 
work on cars.  Now everything is run by people who just want to run 
something big and make a lot of money.  That is the problem with most 
airlines and many auto manufacturers.

No, I'm not anti-new hams.  I can have fun no matter what.  Some newer hams 
'get it'.  They are worth working and helping.  With my choices of when, 
where and how to operate, I don't run into most of the others!

Kerry