[Milsurplus] ARB

[WA5CAB at cs.com]

I disagree with most of your "point".  The radio equipment used during 
WW-II was for the most part NOT junk.  The actions of most hams and others after 
the War mostly turned it into junk.  A few learned something from the 
experience but most did not.  Most "conversions" were sloppy workmanship 
resulting in poorer performanance than before modifications.  

The item on eBay that started this thread is probably an exception.  
However, the one thing it did not do was to improve desktop utilization.  It takes 
up more space than the original.  I.e., the original form factor is more 
efficient.  Desktop depth is very seldom an issue in how much gear you can get 
on one bench or shelf.  Width always is.  The original ARB used most of the 
front panel space.  The repackaged one uses very little.

I can't, however, disagree with you rat packing comment.  Much of the 
unmodified stuff that has turned up since the 70's was bought by someone who 
probably had grandiose intentions of turning it into something else but never 
did.



In a message dated 08/28/2011 17:28:47 PM Central Daylight Time, 
MillerKE6F at aol.com writes: 
> Once again, the point of my commentary is lost on the folks who see  
> adapting or converting or making something easier to use or more useful to 
> one's  
> needs as a "perversion." 
> 
> >From my view of the ARB, having owned a few over the past 50+years of  
> hamming,  were and remain  a hodgepodge design with little to  recommend 
> them 
> either to the military or to the ham.  That the ham who  transplanted to 
> parts 
> into a usable package says much about the tenacity of the  person who took 
> 
> on the task.  And in the decade following the war the  essence of ham 
> radio 
> on a budget was to make the best of a decades old design  that had and 
> still 
> has little appeal to the end user unless that person is  restoring an old 
> war bird and wanted original equipment.
> 
>     The ARB is not a very usable package from a ham  standpoint. The tiny 
> and almost unreadable dial and lack of band  spread alone was a distinct 
> disadvantage form a ham radio viewpoint.  The  radio's stability was less 
> than 
> enchanting as was its selectivity.  The  motor drive was cute, but non 
> essential from a ham radio standpoint.  And  like most radio junk that 
> came out of 
> WWII, the form factor was another problem  for a lot of folks who 
> preferred 
> more desk top functionality.  
> 
>     As I've said a few times before, the real history  of much of this 
> junk 
> is how hams and experimenters made use of  war  materiel and if not for 
> the 
> hams and experiments rat packing this stuff into  attics and garages, 
> there 
> would be little if any of this stuff around to argue  about.  
> 

Robert & Susan Downs - Houston
wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
MVPA 9480