[Icom] Re: ic 2at

[Dave Jeffries]

Well Said, Ray -------and in a polite, gentlemanly fashion too.
My compliments.  IMHO we need a little more polite discourse at times.
(grin)

Dave J    N0GMP
sd0044@enetis.net
===============================

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ray, W2EC" <w2ec@attglobal.net>
To: <icom@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 06:33
Subject: Re: [Icom] Re: ic 2at


> > 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
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