[Icom] Re: ic 2at

[Ray, W2EC]

> Well, SOMEBODY's got to say this, so it might as well be me!
> Why would you WANT to put PL in a 2AT, here in 2002?

The above comment is reminiscent of when SSB was really coming into its
own, and AM transmitters and receivers without SSB capability were
literally being junked because nobody wanted them. Now some of these
same "junk" boatanchors are fetching huge sums compared to their actual
value in terms of the technological advances of today's gear.

Not everyone wants to be an appliance operator, some still want to go
back to the true (original) roots of ham radio, where we were all
experimenters, designers and builders. Not everyone wants to buy the
latest technogadget available, plug it in and start talking. Some like
to buy a piece of gear and keep using it, not discard it because it is
obsolete compared to the latest "gee whiz" box available. 

I put a PL in my old 2AT and used it for quite a while. Not because I
was cheap, but because it was fun doing and it worked! That 2AT has been
recycled, for free, into the hands of a very young ham who was not even
in high school yet, who could not afford to buy his own radio. Without
the PL he'd be limited to the repeaters he can use since most are toned
now.

There are very good reasons why people want to recycle old gear, and if
it means adding a PL, so what? Many don't have the disposable income to
just run out and get the newest gear, no matter how cheap it appears to
be. Cheap is relative, depending on whether you have a well paying job
and a $99 dollar radio is pocket change for you, or if, in this young
boys case, your father had just been laid off from his job and the boy
figured he might as well drop out of the radio class because even if he
got the license, he'd not be able to afford a radio. The offer of the
radio if he completed the course and got his license was the incentive
to keep going. Bribe? Yes. Worth it? Yes..... he's now out of high
school and going on to college. And he's still a ham and still has the
2AT!

So if you have the money, you spend it and keep the manufacturers happy.
But don't knock those that want to keep the ham spirit alive by
recycling and using good old technology.

73, Ray  W2EC