[Milsurplus] Let's appreciate crystals

[Ken Kinderman]

Just watched "Crystals Go to War" on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHenisSTUQY

Never again will I take the humble FT-243, DC-10 and their cousins for
granted. I suppose if we thought about it, we would appreciate the labor-
and skill-intensive process, but this film drives it home.

These guys and gals were heroes...

- hand selecting and hand grading the quartz

- dipping the raw stone into oil to identify the axes, hours at a time:
bare hands, no gloves

- further grading with the casual use of X-rays: I notice only one young
lady with a bare minimum protective apron

- crystal dust

- bare hands in hot soapy water all day

- fingers inches away from razor thin, diamond edged, spinning saw blades

- skillfully evaluating the quartz slices for imperfections and maximum
yield

- acid fumes

- constant exposure to watery abrasive slurry

- only once did I see protective gloves: a young lady removing blanks from
the "acid bath"

- coaxing the blanks, one by one, onto frequency.

- putting little metal labels on with tiny screws, no doubt "girls work"

I will think twice the next time I abandon an oddball frequency crystal as
unusable. Each one is a gem.



73,

Ken

W2EWL
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