[NJARC] Fwd: MY ARTICLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE "NEW JERSEY ANTIQUE RADIO CLUB"

[ROBERT FORTE]

MARV,  THIS IS THE ARTICLE I PROMISED  YOU. FINISHED THIS, BUT SENT FOR APPROVAL TO FRANK. READ FROM THE BOTTOM UP. I AM IN FLORIDA NOW; WHEN I GET HOME IN 2 WEEKS, I WILL SEND YOU THE DISC WITH THE PICTURES. YOU CAN PRINT ANY OR ALL OF THIS, OR CARRY OVER TO ANOTHER  SUBSEQUENT  NEWSLETTER. CONTACT NUMBER: 518-796-5700. ROBERT

> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Frank Zavada <frazava7 at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: MY ARTICLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE "NEW JERSEY ANTIQUE RADIO CLUB"
> Date: February 24, 2017 at 9:43:21 AM EST
> To: rvforte at gmail.com
> 
> OK Pete:  again what ever yo want to do. 
>  
> The ITAR's have to do with shipping military gear outside of the US, however now within the last 2 years, military surplus houses that sell to the US customers have to get a disclosure form filled out from the buyer before he can take possession of the modern military gear(this is a new regulation).  All the surplus dealers will not ship outside the US anymore.  I sell on ebay (the global shipping service) and have had for instance BC312s every once in a while get pulled and declared they can not leave the country ( this is due to the ITAR's and an overly jealous person who does not understand the regulations).   Last what really killed the surplus aircraft gear market was the change in the rules that prohibited a US citizen from bidding on surplus military aircraft.  Ever since WW2 we could bid on surplus aircraft, and what we did with them was up to us.  We could take them apart or we could bring them up to spec and as long as they met FAA regulations we could fly them.  Not anymore though.  Now this should not be confused with buying a military war bird from a aircraft dealer as you can still own a military aircraft but you just cannot buy it from the government to begin with, you have to buy it thru a broker.
>  
> your editor can call me and ask me questions if he likes, as this is a complicated story that needs to be told.  520-982-7073 Frank
>  
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ROBERT FORTE <rvforte at gmail.com>
> To: Frank Zavada <frazava7 at aol.com>
> Sent: Fri, Feb 24, 2017 6:30 am
> Subject: Re: MY ARTICLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE "NEW JERSEY ANTIQUE RADIO CLUB"
> 
> FRANK, I WILL SUBMIT EVERYTHING YOU SENT TO OUR EDITOR; I THINK HE IS GOING TO CHOP SOME OF OUR WORDS OUT, AS THE THIS ARTICLE MAY BE GETTING TOO  LONG. I WILL NOT CHANGE A WORD.  YOUR LAST REPLY IS EXCELLENT, AND ONE I TOTALLY AGREE WITH. 
> On Feb 24, 2017, at 8:14 AM, Frank Zavada <frazava7 at aol.com <mailto:frazava7 at aol.com>> wrote:
> 
> Pete: this your article, and you can write it how you feel you want to.  If yo want to luse my comments go ahead, I am just trying to make sure the information presented is good.  There is a theme here and it is " if your into military radios and you see one that you would like to have in your collection, given the fact many of them are going to the land fill and the rest being ground up for there precious metals, you better go after it no mater what the cost, because you may never see another one".
>  send me back the copy again so I can make sure one last time.  Frank
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ROBERT FORTE <rvforte at gmail.com <mailto:rvforte at gmail.com>>
> To: Frank Zavada <frazava7 at aol.com <mailto:frazava7 at aol.com>>
> Sent: Thu, Feb 23, 2017 7:44 pm
> Subject: Re: MY ARTICLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE "NEW JERSEY ANTIQUE RADIO CLUB"
> 
> FRANK, CAN I JUST ADD YOUR COMMENTS TO MY ARTICLE COMPLETELY?
> On Feb 23, 2017, at 7:05 PM, Frank Zavada <frazava7 at aol.com <mailto:frazava7 at aol.com>> wrote:
> 
> Hello Rob:
>  
> I read thru this and gave you some suggested changes where I though you where going off track.  Please see what you can do and copy me when done.  Questions call me 520-982-7073
>  
> Aircraft where stripped for there engines and hydraulic components generators and the precious metals aluminum.  The military surplus houses back (the surplus houses in NY all over) then where buying new radios that where never installed.  The military warehouses where full of new radios,  They where full of everything.  They wanted to get rid of them so they almost gave them away.  they sold them by the box car load, reason why so many surplus houses back them where located near a railroad siding.  No one wanted the radios they where removing from the aircraft, the scrappers where holding on to them with the hopes someday some would want them.  After a time they just gave up as the pile of radios became just to big to deal with.  for instance around 2008 thru 2010 I think, I saw at least 6 wood large wooden pallets of ART 13 transmitters at least 7 to 8 high sitting out in the sun un protected for years, just sitting there. 
>  
> The ITAR's came shortly after 911 I think,  the buying up of the aircraft surplus scrappers came about 4-5 years ago, and was driven by homeland security.  In Tucson there is one company that shred's the aircraft and then smelts down the  remains, it is all done at one facility.  Prior to 911 the country was on a kick to de mil radios and in the beginning it was remove a module or take out a meter something easy and random, however if you bought enough you where able to get enough parts to make a good portion of the pile good again.  Then they started doing more serious stuff and now they sometimes take a torch to the como gear and cut a good size hole in it to make sure no one can make it good again.
>  
> A military unit that wanted to get rid of como gear, was common to declare it in usable and dump it into the scrap metal bin, as the paper work to get it off there inventory was easier.  This is how much green more current manpac radios and components got out.  People working in the scrappers yard would see the green radios and call a surplus house send them a picture of what they saw and if it was anything good the surplus house would buy the scrap from the scrapper.   DOD caught on to this practice and now send a noncom along with any green radios scrap to see they are shredded.  Truth is now most green radios (for example PRC 150's) have encryption built into the mother boards so you could not use them on the ham bands even if you could get them.  These should not be confused from some PRC 150s that where built for commercial service not military and do not have the encryption built into them.
>  
> aircraft scrappers/aircraft recyclers (used aircraft components) bought the aircraft from the DMRS military boneyards. 
>  
> Abut 5 years ago they changed the rules to not allow US citizen's to bid on aircraft for scrap, but only registered companies,  and the only registered companies they would registered, seemed to have to have a shredding machine and a smelter.  By controlling who they registered they controlled who could bid on the aircraft.  The mom and pop aircraft scrappers where left holding the bag so to speak, that where dotted all over Tucson at one time, are all but gone now.  they can not bid or get the aircraft to scrap for parts, because they can not get registered. they do not qualify
>  
> I think you are doing a good job of it.
>  
>  Frank
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ROBERT FORTE <rvforte at gmail.com <mailto:rvforte at gmail.com>>
> To: Frank Zavada <frazava7 at aol.com <mailto:frazava7 at aol.com>>
> Sent: Thu, Feb 23, 2017 2:28 pm
> Subject: MY ARTICLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE "NEW JERSEY ANTIQUE RADIO CLUB"
> 
> FRANK, FOR YOUR REVIEW; PASS ON YOUR THOUGHTS TO ME, ROBERT	
> “READ THIS AND WEEP”
> LAST NOVEMBER I SPENT ABOUT 10 DAYS IN TUCSON, ARIZONA, THE PLACE FOR SUN, CACTUS, GREAT MEXICAN FOOD, AND A FEW OF MY RELATIVES. BOUGHT A MOBILE HOME THERE AND USED THE PLACE FOR SEVEN YEARS AS A WINTER RETREAT FROM THE COLD WINTER CLIMATE IN THE UPSTATE NEW YORK ADIRONDACKS. 
> WHILE THERE, ONE PERSON I WANTED TO SEE WAS FRANK, WHO I SAW ON A MRCA BLURB, WITH A PICTURE OF ABOUT 150 BC455’S AND ARC-5 RADIOS, PILED UP ON ONE ANOTHER. PERHAPS I COULD SNATCH AN ARC-5/R-24, A BC BAND SET. AS HE IS LOCATED JUST NORTH OF TUCSON, AND HE WAS RECEPTIVE TO ME, A MEETING WAS ARRANGED. NOW FRANK, WHILE VERY CONGENIAL, IS A PRIVATE KIND OF GUY; HIS BACKGROUND IS OFF LIMITS TO DISCUSSION, EXCEPT TO SAY HE HAS LED A VARIED AND INTERESTING LIFE. HE HAS AN E.E. DEGREE, WAS MADE A PILOT IN THE MILITARY, AND HAD HIS OWN MANUFACTURING BUSINESS. NOW RETIRED, HE  REPAIRS OLD MILITARY GEAR, and  VISITS THE AIRCRAFT “BONEYARDS”, THE LAST RESTING PLACE FOR MILITARY AIRCRAFT, SCOURING FOR BOAT ANCHORS AND OTHER PARTS. 
> HIS WORKSHOP, TO ME, IS NOT VERY EXTENSIVE, BUT ONE PIECE OF EQUIPMENT THAT CAUGHT MY EYE IS A SERVICE MONITOR, WHICH HAS A SCOPE, SIGNAL GENERATOR, AUDIO GENERATOR, SPECTRUM ANALYZER, AND AN IONIZED RHODIUM GAS OSCILLATOR, WHICH CAN GENERATE A SIGNAL WITHIN ONE CYCLE/SECOND UP TO 15 MHZ. RHODIUM, LIKE CESIUM, ITS COUSIN, WILL DECAY PREDICTABLY AND ACCURATELY, AND AS YOU KNOW, CESIUM IS USED IN THE ATOMIC CLOCK IN FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, BECAUSE OF THIS PROPERTY. THIS H-P RHOBIDIUM STANDARD POWERS UP IN 3 SECONDS, AND IS USED TO ACCURATELY ALIGN MARS, NATIONAL BRANDS, HAM, AND MARINE EQUIPMENT. 
> NOW FOR THE CRUX OF THIS STORY. MANY YEARS AGO, POST WW2, MILITARY RADIOS FROM AIRCRAFT WERE ACTUALLY (LITERALLY) TOSSED TO THE GROUND FROM THE AIRPLANE, , DISCARDED AS JUNK. BUYERS WERE ONLY INTERESTED IN THE CONNECTING CABLES, FOR THE COPPER THEREIN. RADIOS HAD LITTLE SALVAGEABLE COPPER, SO WERE TOSSED! THE MILITARY’S PROCESS TO DISPOSE OF EXCESS aircraft , AT THE TIME, WAS AS FOLLOWS:ONCE A MONTH A FLYER WOULD GO OUT TO BID ON (AND BUY) SURPLUS AIRPLANES. AIRCRAFT “scrappers re cyclers” WOULD BUY THESE PLANES AND TOW THEM TO THEIR SITES, USUALLY AROUND TUCSON. FROM THERE, THESE AIRPLANES WOULD EITHER be refurbished if in the cago type capacity or refurbished into a cago plane.  A bomber or fighter can not be sold but needs to be converted into a cargo plane.   MOst of the aircraft that I remember being sold where the amphibian type and the C130 type aircraft but only after they where completely gone thru and re fitted.(SOLD) TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES (LIKE THE C-130), OR WOULD BE CHOPPED UP AND SOLD FOR SCRAP, OR GO FOR SALVAGE AND SOLD AS SUCH (RADIOS, OTHER PARTS). THERE WAS LITTLE INTEREST, IN THE PAST, FOR THESE RADIOS.
> AFTER 9/11, EVERYTHING CHANGED DRASTICALLY. NO MORE BIDDING. THE NEW “ITAR” REGS CAME INTO EFFECT. INTERNATIONAL TRADE ARMS REGULATIONS. A BLANKET COVERAGE FOR MILITARY SURPLUS, WHICH NOW INCLUDED RADIOS. THEY WERE LUMPED IN WITH CRUISE MISSILES! ALL SURPLUS GEAR IS NOW SOLD TO A SHREDDING COMPANY, WHICH SHREDS THE METAL AND SELLS IT TO Aan ot be sold SMELTER. THIS INCLUDES RADIOS. AN NCO (NON COMMISSIONED OFFICER) ACTUALLY STANDS BY OBSERVING THE SHREDDING, TO CERTIFY IT IS DONE. ONLY THE RADIOS ALREADY IN THE BONEYARDS WERE AVAILABLE FOR SURPLUS SALES, NOTHING AFTER 9/11. HENCE THEY ARE SCARCE AND GETTING SCARCER.
> TODAY THERE ARE 4 BONEYARDS IN TUCSON, 2 IN PHOENIX, AND 7 IN THE REST OF ARIZONA THAT FRANK GOES TO. ALL ARE HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES (LEAKING FLUIDS FROM THE PLANES) SO THE LAND IS NOT VALUABLE, AND ACTUALLY A LIABILITY. THESE BONEYARDS ARE A DYING BREED, AND ARE CLOSING DOWN.
> THANKS TO FRANK, I SPENT A MORNING GOING THRU AN AIRCRAFT BONEYARD IN TUCSON, NEAR DAVIS-MONTHAN AFB. CLIMBING THRU OLD PLANES, GOING THRU A WAREHOUSE (SEE PICTURES). BETWEEN THE SCORPIONS AND RATTLESNAKES, THE SITE IS LITERALLY A JUNKYARD. AND THO THE LAND IS VALUABLE, LOCATED WHERE IT IS, IN REALITY IT IS TOXIC DUMP. 
> SO HOW DO WE GET RATHER NEW MILITARY RADIOS I SEE OUT THERE? RECENT STUFF? FRANK EXPLAINED THAT IF A MILITARY CONTRACTOR GETS AN ORDER FOR SAY, 1000 RADIOS, HE WILL ACTUALLY MAKE 1100. IF, DURING THE CHECKOUT PROCESS, SOME ARE NOT UP TO SPEC, THE COMPANY WILL DRAW FROM THE EXTRA 100 MADE, RATHER THAN SPEND TIME TRYING TO TROUBLE SHOOT AND REPAIR . THESE LEFTOVERS ARE THEN SOLD TO THE military surplus houses.  This is how Toronto Surplus gets all its Harris radios and parts.  A PROFIT AND TO NOT HAVE THE INVENTORY AT THE END OF THE YEAR ( FOR TAX PURPOSES).
> AND AS FOR THE 150 OR SO ARC-5’S I CAME TO SEE, THEY WERE ALL SOLD AS ONE UNIT. GONE TO ONE BUYER. I AM WEEPING TOO. ROB FORTE
> 
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