[R-390] Flying with boatanchors

[Gregory W. Moore]

Hi, Bob, and the R390 List,

While we are on the subject of flying with boatanchors, let us not 
forget the dastardly OA2 and its equally sinister cousins which are 
filled (gasp, get the moon suits and evacuate 18 square miles) 
Radioactive Material (shudder, abject fear, call the swat team, the 
anti-terrorist squad, arrest that man,)  And, at the same time,. lets 
not ever forget the indicia, the switch markings and the meter dials 
which contain (holy contaminants, Batman, that's Radium!!), Security 
staff:  Yo Bubba, we got ourselves a GEN -YOU-WINE  TERRORIST HERE,  
THIS STUFF HAS RADIUM, DON'T THEY USE THAT TO MAKE NOOK-LEAR BOMBS, 
BUBBA??????  WE BETTER STRIP SEARCH AND INTERROGATE THIS GUY, AND WE 
GOTTA EVACUATE A 25 MILE RADIUS, LOCK DOWN ALLA SCHOOLS, AND BRING IN A 
SWAT TEAM AND THE MIB TO "INTERROGATE THIS OBVIOUS MISCREANT.: (Leers as 
they anticipate hours of sadistic torture, which is the only activity 
they have had in 32 weeks:.... BUBBA WE GOT THE PATRIOT ACT ON OUR SIDE, 
BETTER PUT MORE CHAINS ON THIS DUDE AND GET THE GUYS IN MOON SUITS IN.....

Well, maybe things aren't that bad yet, but they could be, with the 
drones they have working security at airports today, and the relatively 
random and illogical method of what becomes "confiscated contraband" and 
what doesn';t.....  When I fly nowadays, I make darn sure I have nothing 
on my whatsoever that looks liike anything that could possilbly scare 
anyone, including my commemorative :NRA Silver Bullet", wich, as any 
doofus can see is a solid object and has a hole and keychain thru 
it...that stays at home, I carry no electronics in my briefcase, for I 
don';t feel like being given the "lights and rubber hoses" for hours 
convincing someone that an RF Amp or a digital controller is a humble 
piece of electronics... I carry no test equipment in my carry on for the 
same reason...the idjits on the scanners get spooked very easily, and 
once picked out, your whole day is ruined.

It doesn;t matter that I am actually a part ( a small one, admittedly, 
of Homeland Security)  the drones are monkey see-monjkey do, and to 
their credit, they do err on the side of airline safety, which, in the 
post 9.11 mindset at least makes the passengers happy.

It's a really far cry from my halcyon days of the 1960;s when I 
occasionally acted as courier for various bits and pieces of HIGHLY 
SENSITVE data and bits of equipment, and was treated like a king, 
allowed to be armed (actually a requirement, along with the briefcase 
which was connected to a figure 8 harness, so someone would have had to 
dismember me to remove same,,,,,,a scenario I tried never to think 
about... got VIP boarding priveleges, and was treated like James Bond by 
all the flight attendants (very enjoyable) I never paid for a 
drink......Oh for those Navy days again, but that was a far more 
innocent age...

Today, I kind of think the pendulum has swung too far the other way, 
because although we have all the bells and whistles in place, we don;t 
really have the trained scanners, and of course (gasp) we can't profile 
potential terrorists...  this could be done without, IMHO violating 
anyone's civil rights, just that more surveillance would be given and 
movements would be tracked discreetly....There is, in existance, a 
master list of suspicious and personas suspected of nefarious activity, 
and they should be carefully watched... ut unfourtunately in todays PC 
wourld we can't do it......We confiscate a woman's knitting needles, but 
guys with shoe bombs get aboad aircraft... This tells one something...

But flying with boatanchors,  I wonder if it would be cheaper to buy the 
boatanchor a seat, instead of shipping as cargo, it jjst might be 
cheaper.... Freight rates have gotten unbelievable, and it simply is not 
worth shipping euipment cross country, and that is too bad, because 
there is always that one Teletype, or Reciever, or Tranmitter, or any 
Milspec stuff that is always on the other side of the country from where 
you happen to live, and the price is right but the shipping, well, you 
may as well get in line for a second morgage...--hi--. the last R392 I 
was shipped simply floored me with what was charged for the shipping, 
and a teletupe machine gave me sticker shock LOL... but if you want it 
bad enough, you keep your complaints to your self and pay the piper, I 
guess, but it is good to vent once in a while....

I feel sorry about the whole thing, because, unfortunately, I feel a lot 
of BA equipment is going to wind up in landfills because of just this 
very thing, the shipping dilemma... This is my opinion only, your 
comments are invited and welcomed.

73 de Greg WA3IVX/NNN0BVN.



Bob Camp wrote:

> Hi
>
> It's not just the airlines. I went down to UPS today with a "few" 
> boxes to ship. This is the way it went:
>
> Haul up the 400 pounds of boxes to the counter, print out the stick on 
> labels. Begin the interrogation process from the counter person:
>
> Question: Anything electrical in the boxes?
>
> Answer: (stupid me, they are not electrical, they are electronic) ... 
> yes, radios.
>
> Question: Radios?
>
> (several inane questions and answers back and forth - communication 
> obviously is not taking place)
>
> problem is bucked up to higher authority.
>
> Supervisor: Radios?
>
> Answer: Tube type military radios
>
> Supervisor: What kind?
>
> Answer: SP-600's and R-390's
>
> (Heavens open up, bright light begins to shine, trumpets sound in the 
> distance ...)
>
> Supervisor: PRC-77's were what I used to work on, R390's were pretty 
> much gone by my time. You pack them good?
>
> Answer: Yup, pink construction foam on all sides ...
>
> Supervisor: If they survived the military for 30 years that should 
> work fine....
>
> Ok, so how many UPS sites are run by ex-military radio technicians? It 
> might be a good idea to phone ahead and check before you go down to 
> ship anything in the future. The only alternative if he had not shown 
> up probably would have been to haul the 400 pounds of boxes back to 
> the car and drive down the street to Fed Ex.
>
>     Enjoy!
>
>         Bob Camp
>         KB8TQ
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Apr 11, 2005, at 6:28 PM, Barry Hauser wrote:
>
>> I don't recommend flying with a boatanchor as checked (or unchecked) 
>> baggage.  The airlines are tightening restrictions -- or more firmly 
>> applying existing ones -- regarding number and weight of bags -- 
>> individual and overall.
>>
< snip for brevity >

-- 

Happily turning electricity into RF energy for almost 40 years,
on land, sea and air, professional and amateur,
around the clock and around the world. KEEP CW ALIVE! 
Become an Elmer today!!! http://www.fists.org/
FISTS #9404

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
                                                   --Edmund Burke
Greg Moore NNN0BVN PA
U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS)
Official Pennsylvania Area Website:
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E-Mail (MARS) nnn0bvn at navymars.org
E-Mail (ARRL) wa3ivx at arrl.net
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