[Milsurplus] audiophiles and the like

[Michael]

-----Original Message-----
From: Todd, KA1KAQ [mailto:ka1kaq at gmail.com] 
> On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 5:48 PM, Michael <wh7hg.hi at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Anyway, you're right in one regard; we're all phools to some degree.
The
> > difference comes in where the restorers like you and others and me
actually
> > understand the technology behind what we're doing and the assorted gurus
> > aren't snake oil sales beings.
> And that's true across the board. If you don't believe it, just look at
some of the nonsense 
> behind Collins collecting, the Hallicrafters SX-88 and numerous others.
It's not the gear that 
> comes into question, more the antics of those who see an opportunity to
somehow elevate
> themselves above others, imaginary or otherwise. Some kind of elitist
thing I guess.

Aside from A.R.C. products (and that's more book related than anything else
although they are fun - and fun to make fun of now and then), I'm pretty
much "spread spectrum" as far as equipment goes, military and civilian.
>From what I've seen here and on other lists, that describes the majority of
folks.  I can sort of understand collecting (Anyone have any straight keys
they don't want? :-) ) given folks like stamp and coin collectors but I
cannot understand having a zillion Collins stations all alike where folks
like me would love to have one of the three dozen KWM-2As (or is it four
dozen?) in that collection to use on the air.  Same thing with Heathkit,
Hallicrafters and so on.  

On the other hand, I knew a gentleman on the mainland who had a number of
1960 Fords (Galaxys?  The big ones anyway.) simply because he liked the
looks of them.  He only drove one; the rest sat in a garage he built for
them and kept adding on to as he got more.  

A girl I knew fell in love with airplane instruments as a young teenager and
started collecting them, restoring the ones that didn't work as best as
possible.  She never was in an airplane prior to my meeting her but saw
pictures of them in one of the aviation magazines.  When I met her, she had
over 100 of them, all working pretty much as they should although a number
would never pass certification.  As an A&P mechanic, that impressed me a lot
and I found a few to add to her collection.  (She also got her first ever
airplane ride so she could see them in action as they were supposed to be
used.)  

> I'm thankful to those in other electronics interests who truly appreciate
tube audio, the 
> technology, and the history involved. As mentioned before, if not for
them, many parts we 
> still take for granted would be difficult to find, from coupling caps to
tubes, transformers, 
> and more.

Unfortunately, they also make some parts, notably tubes, very difficult to
find.  I wish I had stocked up on and put into storage VT-4-Cs and VT-25s
way back when even though I had no immediate use for them.  Same thing with
1625s, 1626s and a large number of other hollow state devices.

> There's plenty of entertaining nonsense in the radio ranks. And there will
always be a lot of 
> folks who just scratch their heads when someone mentions one of us, some
guy who plays 
> with old radios. To them, it's like keeping a 25 year old microwave or
toaster oven around
> for something to do.

Or folks like me who hit the driving range in hopes of someday actually
making contact with that little white ball.  :-)

Best regards,
 
Michael, WH7HG BL01xh
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/NTH/index.aspx 
http://wh7hg.blogspot.com/ 
http://kludges-other-blog.blogspot.com 
Hiki Nô!