[Milsurplus] Mods and hacking of NOS gear

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On 6/23/06, w8au at sssnet.com <w8au at sssnet.com> wrote:
<snip>
> Maybe this is getting more philosophical than expected.  Just how
> comprehensive is "true preservation" when it comes to RF emissions?
> (considering that this gear is not operated on a daily basis, anyway)

Perry -

I actually enjoy the odd sounds emitted from the old gear. The AWA has
a couple of events in the fall/winter that feature old CW gear and
it's always a blast to listen in. From raspy signals to whooping, I
love it.

The only issue to address in my view is potential interference from
key clicks and such. 'Smoothing out' the signal beyond that takes away
the character or voice of the transmitter, IMHO. It seems like you can
at least cut down the bad products that may cause problems from an
enforcement standpoint, but preserve the overall character beyond
that. I don't mind the old AM transmitters with carbon mics, for that
matter. But when it becomes a case of the signal being more
unintelligible than
'listenable' and swapping the mic makes a big difference, I'm okay
with swapping the mic. CW isn't quite as critical.

'True preservation' to me means preserving a piece of gear for future
generations to thoroughly examine down to the component and
documentation level, assuming of course there will be an interest. But
even looking at the military itself in WWII and after, mods were made
on the spot at times, to better utilize or tailor use to a specific
need, or to address a shortcoming. The many discussions about 'what
equipment was used in the standard XYZ configuration' come to mind. I
don't take it to broadly mean do whatever to make it do whatever, but
if a simple, reversible change can be made that lets the gear be used
and demonstrated, by all means do so. Maybe we need a new designation:
living, or functioning preservation that allows the gear to be shared
over the air, with minimal impact to its original configuration. Yeah,
like we need another fuzzy term. (o:

Some users have their stock ART-13 hooked up to a "non-standard" power
supply, others use the original dynamotor from a 28v source. Some use
a dynamic mic, others use carbon. In the end, it's all a matter of
degrees, and we get to decide for ourselves what we're comfortable
with.