On Fri, 2 Jul 2004 17:44:23 UTC, "jakdedert"
wrote:


"Mike Andrews" wrote in message
...
jakdedert wrote:

"JJ" wrote in message
...
No Spam wrote:


Unfortunately, I dropped out of Ham radio to work on S/360 OS/MVT
and then MVS systems so I didn't have the first hand experience of
seeing the dieoff.

Same hear, running around fixing 360 main frames and related I/O kept
me
too busy to ham much.

Both of you (as well as myself) *WERE* the die off....

And, I suppose, I: my Novice lapsed while I was off at school, then
I started working in the space program (read "6 or 7 12-hour shifts
most weeks"), then went in the military (read "no time while in tech
school, then no time while out of country") and then got into ...
working on MFT-II, MVT, and MVS systems, like No Spam.

Personally, I got intensely involved in the music scene and became a sound
engineer. Traveling around the world with various musical groups gave me
little time/place/incentive to raise an antenna farm....

jak


Then I started acquiring boatanchors, after my late wife died. Some of
them actually have been known to work.

But I'm gonna get my General ticket Real Soon Now!

Probably too late for me. However in stories like these, there might be
some hint of an idea where ham radio failed us--and we--it. The common
threads seem to have to do with time, money, interest, space...perhaps
relevance to the lifestyles we chose.

It's not too late. I got interested again when a hand surgery went
bad and my doc said to work my fingers or he'd send me to physical
therapy (PT = Physical Torture).

I bought a beater SB-303 off eBay and began cleaning it up.

Fortunately it had been owned by a smoker and smelled of tobacco.

I had to wipe down the components individually, wipe the wires,
clean the boards between the components. I spent a couple days
learning the ins and outs of the Heathkit SB drive. I replaced the
main cap, fixed a few other problems.

When I was done, I had a terrific SB-303, a better receiver than my
old SX-101A. 1 kHz analog readout, 2.1, 3.75, and .5 crystal
filters, better than 200 Hz/week stability from a stone cold start.

Re-invigorated, I downloaded the question pool, glanced over it for,
oh, 1 or 2 hours and made the final upgrade.

I've dragged out my VVF accu-keyer from the 1970's and my Brown
Bros. dual lever paddle. In spite of arthrytis and incipiant
geezing I'm slowly rebuilding my code speed. I dropped out
operating at about 15-20 WPM.

Probably like the rest of you, my health is an up and down thing. I
clocked BP 250/100 on a thallium treadmill but passed the
cardio-scan and logged a resting BP 110/78 a month later.

I don't think I let Ham Radio down. I did my turn as a rep to the
Foundation for Amateur Radio. Even when I wasn't very active, I
bought occasional parts and radios. My Wilson WE-800 has 10-20
hours of use. I built a Heathkit HO-10, AA-14, HW-2021, etc.

Between the early 1970's and today, other than 2 meters, I logged
maaaaay-be 20 QSO's but in that time, I spent about $4,000, half in
the early 1980's for an ICOM IC-720A and accessories. In
retrospect, perhaps I should have gone for a Triton IV digital a few
years earlier, the QSK.

I think the new HF entry license will help. I sure hope so. I've
been listening to HF and it is not what it was in 1965. Too many
round tables, too few stations calling CQ. Not enough fun.

It was fun working stations on 40 and 15 CW as a novice.

de ah6gi/4