[Milsurplus] Abuse of radio "relics"

[Bill Cromwell]

Hi,

I haven't been a party to this particular thread and I am not a *real*
mil surplus collector. I *have* read the messages. I haven't seen
anyplace (not very many) where one person really attacked or belittled
somebody else. Not intentionally anyway. Sometimes a better choice of
words might have been desirable but we all make some questionable
choices. When a poor choice of words meets a thin skin... take a couple
of deep breaths... go get some coffee... sleep overnight... and "maybe"
respond the next day. The original message will still be there. If
you're still upset the next day, send a private message to the original
poster and ask about it. Come on now.... it's a hobby. Keep it fun.

I have only had casual contact with military surplus radio equipment.
Because I actually used some of it instead of stripping for parts I
became interested in this list. I have a Q5'er that has been modified
with the "faux front panel" controls. It needs recapping now and that is
on my agenda. I also had a tube based mil surplus frequency counter...
only good to about one MC. Without having seen this list I would have
stripped that unit for parts when I acquired more suitable equipment and
methods. By that time I knew there are people who actually want gear
like that. I have finally found a new home for it. The Q5er and the
BC221 will live with me as long as I can keep them. The old VHF IFF
transmitter was completely dissed on here and that one has been salvaged
for usable parts and the rest scrapped. But.. I did offer it here. Just
knowing how other people view the gear has modified how I deal with the
radios when I do find them. 

I was surprised to find there are people who archive info like how the
'T's were crossed on the tags of certain equipment that was used in the
third B-17 from the left on June 7, 1944 by the left-handed radio
operator on that crew. I think it's great that people have that level of
interest and I'll continue to present any finds (they're rare) here in
case somebody wants one of them. I think its great that people actually
want to use the gear 'on the air', too. Obviously some of it has to be
modified to one extent or other to do that. In those cases the gear
would end up in the landfill or stripped if mods were not done. I lost
interest in acquiring command sets for use on 80 and 40 meters because
the original specs would require too much rework for my purposes AND
somebody else might want one that is closer to original than I want. I
might be interested in hacked units that could serve as a basis for
making a working radio but for that much rework I could just as well
scratch build gear that will meet my needs (hopefully) 'as designed'. I
do like the form factor, though. All the units I see on the Bay are
"mint, rare, collector" items and not hacked junk <wink>.

73,

Bill  KU8H