[Milsurplus] Electric Radio - February 2006

[David Stinson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Morrow" <kk5f at earthlink.net>
>...  For years I kept a receiver tuned to 500 kc at my bedside to listen to
at night.  >That, and the HF maritime Morse bands, were far more
entertaining than anything >found on the ham bands.  It's sad that there's
no one listening to 500 kc anymore as >the minute hand of the radio room
clock sweeps the 15 to 18 and 45 to 48 silent >periods.

Sigh... amen, brother.   I miss radio listening as it was in, say, 1968.
  What will prove to be misplaced faith in sats destroyed maritime listening
(and is destroying aviation listening), and the coming of Mr. H.
destroyed the last of the utterly harmless personality on the ham bands.
I stopped listening to 75 meters in the morning because
I hadn't heard anything new in, oh, about five years.

Save for Skywarn, 2-meters is a vast, grey wasteland that
reminds me of "Night of the Living Dead," where resurrected CBers,
stripped of the colorful personalities they had on Channel 19,
wander zombie-like and continually croak about J-pole antennas.
Like the zombies in the movie- if you mention anything technical
or new, they attack and try to eat your brains.

The CW bands are dead, save contests or DX-peditions,
which are about as interesting as stale bread.
Unless you're into chinese propaganda or "Jesus radio,"
it's pretty slim pickin's these days.....

D.S.