Fwd: Re[2]: [Milsurplus] (no subject)

[Bruce Lane]

Should have gone to the list instead of just Barry... oops...

*********** BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE  ***********

On 09-Apr-06 at 23:27 Bruce Lane <kyrrin at bluefeathertech.com> wrote:

From: Bruce Lane <kyrrin at bluefeathertech.com>
To: "Barry Hauser" <barry at hausernet.com>
Date: Sun, 09 Apr 2006 23:11:32 -0700 
Subject: Re[2]: [Milsurplus] (no subject)



>Hi, gang,
>
>*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>
>On 09-Apr-06 at 23:27 Barry Hauser wrote:
>
>>George wrote:
>>
>>>A while back, Dave bemoaned the decline of Ham Radio and lack of future 
>>>thereof.
>>
>>Well, part of it's because everybody and his kid brother (and sister) 
>>carries a two-way radio and uses repeaters with nationwide and worldwide 
>>reach - yup, cell phones.  And for that, they brought back the term 
>>"wireless".  Works better than CB.  In other words, the average young
>>person has all that, so no novelty/attraction to roll one's own station
>-- or
>>more generally inundated with high-tech gizmos, computers, internet, etc.
>from 
>>the get-go.  Well, that's one theory.  And with some of the cell plans --
> 
>>not to mention VOIP -- voice over internet -- they can rag chew 
>>indefinitely.  Not like a toll call anymore.
>
>	Ahh, but what happens when the cell networks go down - hard! - as nearly
>all the ones in the Puget Sound region did during the Nisqually Earthquake?
>
>	Guess what stayed up and fully functional?
>
>	Yep. Amateur VHF and UHF repeaters. And, of course, HF is always
>available. All of a sudden, the hamateur groups up here were awfully busy
>providing very-much-needed backup comms for a number of agencies who
>suddenly found that they had nothing functional to talk on. There were
>others in my building who were quite jealous that I still had functional
>communications, in the form of my mobile radio, while their precious
>cellphone would give nothing more than a 'No Service' indication (not that
>I'm small enough to gloat on that -- I helped out, comm-wise, wherever I
>could).
>
>>>Well, I can amplify that a bit.  I just spent some time looking at some
>>of the offerings on that awful auction place, and apparently most hams are
>>not planning ahead, and when they pass on, letting their estates fall into
>>the hands of idiots, morons and fools.
>
>	I will say that I have no intention of letting my estate fall to such a
>fate. I fully intend to leave my entire electronics collection to a few
>very close friends who are every bit as able to appreciate it, and
>effectively use it, as I am. If said friends don't happen to be alive when
>it comes my time to return Home, I will see to it that the entire
>collection is left either to a local ham club or the ARRL. I've not
>decided yet.
>
>>Well, we've seen some that are crafty enough to apply "selective 
>>intelligence".  However, overall, the auction place and the internet in 
>>general has served to save a lot of gear that would go to the scrapyard
>or 
>>landfill.
>
>	Very true. I may bash them, I may complain, but I will freely admit I've
>gotten some amazing deals from Greed-bay (and sold a fair amount of stuff
>as well). As I'm fond of saying on my site, Greed-bay should be only one
>small part of any effective scrounging strategy.
>
>	Keep the peace(es).
>
>
>
>

*********** END FORWARDED MESSAGE  ***********
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner & Head Hardware Heavy,
Blue Feather Technologies -- http://www.bluefeathertech.com
kyrrin (at) bluefeathertech do/t c=o=m
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped with surreal ports?"