[MRCA] RE: Field Operatons Debrief

[B. Smith]

"Crystal-controlled, weak, and on AM is no way to go through life"

    I would like to respond to this comment by Mr. Flory and I will try to 
be
brief with my debrief.  And I must point  out that I am well aware that this 
comment is directed towards me. and I will respond with this brief email.
    I have studied and digested  Mr. Flory's comments on our "Field 
Exercise" to the mountain.
First of all I would like to point out that there is still a lot of crystal
controlled transmitter activity in Amateur Radio and in the Military Radio
collecting segment of our hobby.  And I might point out that I personally
have operated crystal controlled
transmitters all over the world in official and unofficial  capacities , in
the air and on the ground and from different DX islands  and often  in
somewhat of a harsh and unfriendly environment and have experienced  a
multitude of  operational difficulties.



     However---- none of these
operational difficulties could possibly compare to operating 3885 Kcs* in
the middle of  the afternoon here on the East Coast and banging it out and
competing  with the 15 minute continuous monologue transmissions by the
frequency hogs. I mean bringing back AM with carrier is great but do we have
to bring back the continuous 15-20 transmissions which usually consists of
mindless babble. I mean someone send some of these troops and egg timer from
Wally World and include the instructions.



    Often my past operations of "Crystal controlled, weak, and on AM"
operations involved the exchange of valuable information and traffic.

However operating on  3885 Kcs*  on an Amateur  Radio frequency  with   a
"Crystal-controlled, weak, AM" transmitter  in this case in the middle of
the afternoon during this particular Field Exercise  was really
not an enjoyable experience. Particularly when a certain operator( and I
dare not mention his  name)  hauls 300 pounds of TCS equipment to the top of
Mt. Pocono in the back of his Station Wagon, and powers these rigs  off of
his vehicle battery.  This certain individual just stops his imported
station wagon and
pops the rear lid and sets up his lawn chair and calls this his  portable
field operations.  Give me a break!  While conducting these pseudo
operations he must have a fear or photopia that he will need a jump start
when the descent from the summit is started and have to come crawling with
his tail between his legs begging for assistance… I might point out to this
certain operator that originally the trips to the mountain involved actual
"Field Operations" set up using portable field gear. But I guess this 
original idea
has some how been lost and now we have evolved to our status quo of this
last operation. It is all most in the category of Appliance Operating, and a
complete lack of romance of the airwaves.  However I must point out that
operating "Crystal-controlled, weak, and on AM" does require immense skill
and a large amount of operator experience, ingenuity and patience. Crystal
control actually in my humble opinion is the grass roots Amateur Radio and
most of us started out using crystal control and used to send  out many CQ's
and actually tuned  off of our frequency  with our receiver
sometimes 20-25 Kcs* searching  for any responses  to our calls.  This was
because we only owned two rocks. This tuning up and down from the the
transmitting frequency to listen for callers was an art and a skill that has
fallen alone the way side of standard Amateur Radio practice.



* Kcs.  are not recognized by this station
** Mcs               ditto

Sure --- during the Field Exercise I was "Crystal-controlled and weak, and
on AM*** .

*** AM with carrier vs. SSB which is also AM but with suppressed carrier.

But life does go on. I am proud of my endeavors and at least we are out
there trying, trying to fight the frequency hogs, trying to squeeze every
millwatt out of our portable "field" rigs, trying to couple properly to  a
real  "field antenna" and not just a stick on a ball mount,  trying to
obtain maximum feed line current and trying to maximize field strength,
trying to observe proper operating procedures and trying to promote the
decency in our communications in order to avoid the Rettysnitch. Trying to
listen for a break in the continuous 15 to 20 minutes of the babble
transmission so that we could get in our 5 to 10 second call back to Base
HQ.  But there were no breaks, just the constant continuous crazy copious
babble. And yes this was my second try with this particular military set, my
second failure to communicate with Base HQ. My second failure. After our
descent from the mountain while Mr. TCS was celebrating his so called
communications accomplishments I had to retire to my tent and wait till the
revelry had subsided.

Now as long as we are talking about "Field Operations", I might point out
that while I was  participating  in the MRCA 2006 Field Exercise,  I  really
was making a supreme  sacrifice, above and beyond the call of duty by
missing a lot of the flea market bargains, like that  mint ARB, many
numerous canvas covers, the PRC-6 test set,  so while we were participating
in the  "Field Exercise"  and I was being "Crystal-controlled, weak, and on
AM"***    I was  missing out on one heck of a lot of flea market activity,
who knows maybe I missed the BC-221 canvas cover or the much sought after
GRR-5 canvas cover that was needed for my GRR-5 that I picked up on Thursday
for a mere pittance.

But as I mentioned before life goes on, and obtaining those canvas items and
other goodies probably was not as important as the time spent participating
in the Field Exercise with my "Crystal controlled, weak, AM" set battling
the babble.

    Well enough of this folderol. I will get off of my soap box and just
remind everyone that "I Shall Return", to the mountain,

I shall return with my crystal controlled set, "I Shall Return" with my weak
signal, "I Shall Return with AM (with carrier), "I shall Return" with my
single 3885 Kcs crystal,  "I Shall Return" with determination, dedication,
dreams,   but on second thought . . . I think maybe next year I am going to
just haul ass  my Collins 18S-4 aircraft AM radio with the 813
 up in the back of my War Wagon (86 Suburban) and feed it with my an
external VFO.   Then I too can have a QSO with Al Klase at his home base in
Flemington, and Joe Cro in Washington's Crossing!  It will take an extra 12
volt battery in series with the car battery but what the heck. Life goes on.
Besides I can park the War Wagon on a slight grade facing down hill and
coast down hill for a start.    :-)

 73 breck k4che


* Kcs.  are not recognized by this station
** Mcs               ditto
*** AM with carrier vs. SSB which is also AM but with suppressed carrier.