[Milsurplus] Strong Stomach Needed.

[Michael Tauson]

Okay, I've watched the offending video and saw someone who doesn't
have a collector's heart create something he could use.  Yes, we can
hope he didn't start with an intact set but if not, it's not the end
of the world.  The planet will not quit turning on its axis nor will
it fall into the sun.  Or so the odds favor.

I love the purists.  I really do.  Pretty much like I love a rabid pit
bull.  If it isn't NOS, NIB or an exceptionally close approximation,
it's just not worth having - or so they say.  But then, I had the same
warm fuzzy feeling about prototypers in HO model railroading - the
folks who would actually count rivets and complain if the count was
off.  I was a freelancer and made it my duty to drive them up walls.
In building steam engines (the kind that actually run from steam that
required machining and all sorts of other really cool talents, a
separate interest), I did the same thing which seems to establish a
trend here.

At the same time, I do what I can to preserve what I can but in fully
functional form.  That sometimes means going in and *gasp* actually
having to do soldering et al.  Real work kind of stuff.  Sometimes
that means restoring sets that have been converted which means *double
gasp* filling holes and replacing wires and finding pieces, oh my.
But even the original condition equipment has headaches that have to
be repaired, A.R.C.'s potted capacitors being an excellent example as
are the infamous black beauties.

There are several pieces here that are past restoration that I picked
up for parts.  One BC-696 has a more or less complete VFO section
which means the semiconductor conversion will be done on it with
adequate isolation to drive a multiband low power tube CW rig - maybe
a brace of 5763s in the PA.  On the other hand, there are a couple of
converted units I plan not to unconvert so I can put together a
typical 50s-60s conversion rig (he says as if any such thing existed -
the "typical" part, that is) and I hope to find a few more to create
other monsterpieces that came out of that era.  Will I lose any sleep
over my failure to restore them?  Not in the slightest.

So, purists, go be pure and enjoy it but leave those who aren't alone.
 It's a hobby and there are many aspects to it.  If you can't handle
that then it's no longer a hobby but an obsession, and that's
unhealthy.

Best regards,

Michael, WH7HG
-- 
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/NTH/index.aspx
http://wh7hg.blogspot.com/
http://kludges-other-blog.blogspot.com
Hiki Nô!