[SignalOne] Just musing, SO/781 series..

[Mac McCullough]

Glacier        All:     After getting my SO/781 repaired and finally having 
it back here in my shack, and working like diesel truck.. I have began to 
wonder, and please lets dont lets this get off on how really much or bad we 
were jacked and in some cases cheated out of either money or radios..little 
doubt we all have a SO horror story..

A close friend and I were discussing the actual models and variants of the 
last series of SO's he made , the derivative of the base unit being the 
ICOM -781 transceiver..  in March of 97'  I ordered what I though was going 
to be a milspec SO-1030CI ,  I received a milspec 1030C,  it really never 
caught my attention , till way later...  and as it worked I never gave it 
much thought..  till recently..my friend has the thought that at the time 
what was actually being produced was indeed the 1030CI  using the 781 
platform. the ad's that were prominently placed around in QST and such, 
featured the 1030CI  and all it glory..  that the what now turns out to be 
the poor USMC had contracted these is COPIOUS quantities.. and as a result , 
we the general public could also buy one, outright or turn in a 781 and 
receive back the SO- 1030CI  version..
the thought is that for Govt. delivery and inspection and such, that what 
was being offered was declared on it face panel as a 1030C,  as if it were 
the same item number as what was being offered from the mid to late 80's and 
early 90' to the USMC and whom ever,  but was not using the 781 platform.. 
now switching back to the 97' era, and what was being offered to the Amateur 
market was the 1030CI, and touted as the new hot rig using the 781 
platform..

Likewise the same 781 platform was being shipped to the few Govt agency's 
with the following. printed on the front panel..milspec 1030C    .. no 
mention of the CI .   that this was done to keep the contract he had in 
place and to be appearing as what was ordered , " well that's what we got 
boss "  a 1030C   and it would in theory meet the contract documents 
nomenclature..

I hope I have not put us to sleep, or taken a circuitous route to explain 
this theory..

The next thing I wonder about is the real PRODUCTION amount of these 1030C 
or CI's that were from the 781 platform..  he at one time in a conversation 
, espoused that hundreds of these had been delivered,  I seriously doubt 
it..   they have never shown up in any quantity's from any reported Govt. 
disposal effort..  so we are of the opinion that the quantity actually 
shipped was very few..  we well know the software was a broad failure, that 
the interface  ability was dismal.. and just in general never completed and 
fully integrated to the satisfaction of the user's ..  I think the real 
delivered quantity to the govt. agencies was in the 20-30 quantity , if that 
high..

Then would come us as customers, again I dont think we are that many, 20-30 
tops again.. and I doubt it was that high..but I would enjoy trying to 
determine the real or close number actually delivered into the Amateur 
community..my interest in gathering the gory details, is to just sort of 
debunk a lot of the numbers and myth..  and lets really try and see what we 
have in real numbers, as well I'd be keen to know how many of us were losers 
on this effort,  just never saw anything for our sets turned in or dough 
sent along..

I think  I must add, that obviously the GUY in one sense, was a genius ahead 
of his time, this goes back to the mid 70's with the very early sets CX7's 
and later units..  But for sure the business model gasped for air ..

This is not a brag, it's just how I did in fact receive a real working set, 
that I still have.. when I saw the ad in QST for the 1030CI, I wanted one, 
and at the time was comfortable in affording the price, but I had great 
trepidation in dealing directly with DR.. I had not forgotten my friends in 
the 70's who were screwed around, and was really impressed that he had 
apparently cleaned things up and was on the success path..  but I was still 
not sure enough to trust that much cash out front..  At the time I was a DOD 
Contractor building several needed commodities, and it hit me to buy one 
thru an active DOD contract I had in place and was performing to..So I want 
to my favorite contracting officer, and requested this item be furnished as 
a needed tool in performance of the contract, and that I would pay for it 
directly, but just wanted the power of the Govt. entity behind me for the 
order, make it very clear, my company did pay for this set.. no slight of 
hand , or need to try and prove anything different, so sure enough, Don came 
forward all excited at the possibility of expanding his govt. sales efforts, 
so I was promised a unit from the " NEXT PRODUCTION RUN "   ,   that would 
be out in May of 97' sort of as expected, he called , and things were 
running behind, and could we live with a 2 week delay, I said yes, and sure 
enuff, along came my set..via FedEx delivery..  and damn impressive looking 
it was.. and it operated in the stand alone mode for all these years, till 
last spring when the internal power supply's puked up,  after getting these 
rebuilt and a few other things and the very good support and big help  of 2 
close friends , it has come home and continues to work , well...  ..

I really like the ergonomics of the set, the easy to read color contrasting 
light tan and black paint, and my gosh the machine work and detail that was 
put forth, to integrate this all into this very nice HP cabinet.. .. it was 
just about all I could think about this past weekend as we were trying to 
find the original CI V serial output wiring.. and finally did, ended up 
running it on Ham Radio Deluxe, it was free and pretty easy to try out with 
the set operating in a 781 configuration..

So to try and wrap this into something useful, and I will share all the 
details or bits of information I find ..  best guess as to production 
amounts for the Govt. community and as well the Amateur community.. the 
variants, and the best, to try and make fact from lore or execration of 
claims..

Thank you all for the read, I will share all the news here and let you know, 
if in your writings to me if you specifically want to remain anonymous, just 
let me know.. again, thank you all for the long read..

mac/mc  w5mc


Located 46 miles due North of the Alamo, and 121 miles due South of the 
Western White House.   see my website at  www.collinsandharrisradios.com