Kenwoods, Yaesus, Icoms, Sonys...sheesh!
Don't you guys with your modern rice boxes have plenty of other forums to
fill up? I know you'd like to think your stuff is "classic" but it isn't
and doesn't belong here.

Yes, my 35 year old Yaesu 570 with nothing but tubes is most certainly
classic but indeed it is not a BoatAnchor by our unwritten definition.

At least for now.

But as the elmers pass on and the next generation of tube heads come up,
they will make up their own definitions.

Just human nature.








"Cal" wrote in message
...
Kenwoods, Yaesus, Icoms, Sonys...sheesh!
Don't you guys with your modern rice boxes have plenty of other forums to
fill up? I know you'd like to think your stuff is "classic" but it isn't
and doesn't belong here.

On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:55:22 -0600, "Cal"
wrote:

Kenwoods, Yaesus, Icoms, Sonys...sheesh!
Don't you guys with your modern rice boxes have plenty of other forums to
fill up? I know you'd like to think your stuff is "classic" but it isn't
and doesn't belong here.


Okay, what is a boat anchor?

bob
k5qwg

From the mists of history and country legend:
ORIGINS OF BOATANCHOR

THREE VERSIONS -- Opinions From The Internet.

Version I -- During World War II, Military Radio Techs used the term
BoatAnchor as they struggled with the huge, heavy, electronic equipments of
the day -- full of transformers, tubes etc. Also the US Navy frequently
marked electronic gear with an anchor. After the war -- tons of the
equipment appeared on the surplus market and was dubbed BoatAnchors due to
the reasons above - one or both.

Version II -- After WWII a national magazine editor answered a query "As
what to do with an outdated heavy, large, surplus electronic instrument?"
and answered "Tie a line to it and use it as a BoatAnchor"

Version III To all those who expressed interest in the CQ magazine reference
to boatanchors, I found it after only an hour or two of skimming. And I
also found that some of my recollections were a bit hazy after all those
years. The original letter to the editor (not to the "Surplus Editor" as I
incorrectly recalled) appeared on page 16 of the October 1956 issue of CQ
and was as follows: Gentlemen: I recently acquired a "Signal Corps Wireless
Set. No. 19 MK II Transceiver." Are there schematics or conversion data for
this rig? Any info will be appreciated. David J. Wilke W3LSG Pottstown,
Pennsylvania The editor replied: The only conversion we seem to have on the
files here at CQ calls for 100 feet of 1" Manila line, one end of which is
to be tied securely around the MK II Transceiver.

This then converts the unit into a fine anchor for a small boat. If any
readers have better conversions we will be glad to hear about them. Ed. This
letter apparently generated a lot of interest and in the February 1957 issue
of CQ there was a follow-up from CQ's editor, another letter from W3LSG and
several pictures. If I find the time I will scan them and post links to
them here.

The expression "boatanchor" may have originated earlier than 1956, as Doug
Hensley pointed out. I found no earlier references in amateur radio than
these CQ's, but there may be some. However, there was no reason to call
amateur gear of that era "boatanchors" since almost all of it fit that
description. It wasn't till later when smaller, lighter gear became popular
that there was reason to categorize some gear as boatanchors. And it is also
interesting to me that a word originally used to denote something of little
value, useful only to anchor a small boat, has taken on a more affectionate
meaning. We love our "boatanchors". Roger K6XQ


--
CL -- I doubt, therefore I might be !






"Bob Miller" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:55:22 -0600, "Cal"
wrote:

Kenwoods, Yaesus, Icoms, Sonys...sheesh!
Don't you guys with your modern rice boxes have plenty of other forums to
fill up? I know you'd like to think your stuff is "classic" but it isn't
and doesn't belong here.


Okay, what is a boat anchor?

bob
k5qwg

Roger,
Thanks for posting this. I almost fell off of the couch I was
laughing so hard!

Personally, I think the definition of boatanchor will change
with time. These days, I consider anything that uses tubes
(but not CRT's) as boatanchors, including my Kenwood
rigs that use tube drivers and finals. 30 years from now,
any pre-Pentium PC will be considered a boatanchor, and
highly collectable.

Steve W6SSP

"Caveat Lector" wrote in message
news:9vKRf.12436$Uc2.7879@fed1read04...
From the mists of history and country legend:
ORIGINS OF BOATANCHOR

THREE VERSIONS -- Opinions From The Internet.

Version I -- During World War II, Military Radio Techs used the term
BoatAnchor as they struggled with the huge, heavy, electronic equipments
of the day -- full of transformers, tubes etc. Also the US Navy frequently
marked electronic gear with an anchor. After the war -- tons of the
equipment appeared on the surplus market and was dubbed BoatAnchors due to
the reasons above - one or both.

Version II -- After WWII a national magazine editor answered a query "As
what to do with an outdated heavy, large, surplus electronic instrument?"
and answered "Tie a line to it and use it as a BoatAnchor"

Version III To all those who expressed interest in the CQ magazine
reference to boatanchors, I found it after only an hour or two of
skimming. And I also found that some of my recollections were a bit hazy
after all those years. The original letter to the editor (not to the
"Surplus Editor" as I incorrectly recalled) appeared on page 16 of the
October 1956 issue of CQ and was as follows: Gentlemen: I recently
acquired a "Signal Corps Wireless Set. No. 19 MK II Transceiver." Are
there schematics or conversion data for this rig? Any info will be
appreciated. David J. Wilke W3LSG Pottstown, Pennsylvania The editor
replied: The only conversion we seem to have on the files here at CQ calls
for 100 feet of 1" Manila line, one end of which is to be tied securely
around the MK II Transceiver.

This then converts the unit into a fine anchor for a small boat. If any
readers have better conversions we will be glad to hear about them. Ed.
This letter apparently generated a lot of interest and in the February
1957 issue of CQ there was a follow-up from CQ's editor, another letter
from W3LSG and several pictures. If I find the time I will scan them and
post links to them here.

The expression "boatanchor" may have originated earlier than 1956, as Doug
Hensley pointed out. I found no earlier references in amateur radio than
these CQ's, but there may be some. However, there was no reason to call
amateur gear of that era "boatanchors" since almost all of it fit that
description. It wasn't till later when smaller, lighter gear became
popular that there was reason to categorize some gear as boatanchors. And
it is also interesting to me that a word originally used to denote
something of little value, useful only to anchor a small boat, has taken
on a more affectionate meaning. We love our "boatanchors". Roger K6XQ


--
CL -- I doubt, therefore I might be !






"Bob Miller" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:55:22 -0600, "Cal"
wrote:

Kenwoods, Yaesus, Icoms, Sonys...sheesh!
Don't you guys with your modern rice boxes have plenty of other forums to
fill up? I know you'd like to think your stuff is "classic" but it isn't
and doesn't belong here.


Okay, what is a boat anchor?

bob
k5qwg

Personally, I think the definition of boatanchor will change
with time. These days, I consider anything that uses tubes
(but not CRT's) as boatanchors, including my Kenwood
rigs that use tube drivers and finals. 30 years from now,
any pre-Pentium PC will be considered a boatanchor, and
highly collectable.

Hmmm, I guess I had better hang on to those two KayPro transportables in the
back room. I wonder if I have the CPM disks for the kayPro II.

Leanne

Greetins Steve and All! I am already regreting getting rid of my Tandy
TRS-80 with cassette tape memory. I just tossed it in the landfill. I
still have the tape recorder, but alas, the best is gone.
I consider my Tempo One a boat anchor, but on the young side.
Have a great week! Jon in South Carolina.

It's a tube rig made in America by Americans. I love my 78 Toyota pickup,
but it will never be the classic a pre-70's American made vehicle is, it is
worthless to anyone but me. Same for rice box radios, after the new is worn
off, they're worthless compared to vintage American made rigs, just look on
EBay. Yes, I owned rice boxes the first time around, thousands of dollars
worth of rice boxes, and now they're worth the same amount as my 78 Toy
pickup.
I'm really not trying to be nasty, just realistic.
"Caveat Lector" wrote in message
news:9vKRf.12436$Uc2.7879@fed1read04...
From the mists of history and country legend:
ORIGINS OF BOATANCHOR

THREE VERSIONS -- Opinions From The Internet.

Version I -- During World War II, Military Radio Techs used the term
BoatAnchor as they struggled with the huge, heavy, electronic equipments
of the day -- full of transformers, tubes etc. Also the US Navy frequently
marked electronic gear with an anchor. After the war -- tons of the
equipment appeared on the surplus market and was dubbed BoatAnchors due to
the reasons above - one or both.

Version II -- After WWII a national magazine editor answered a query "As
what to do with an outdated heavy, large, surplus electronic instrument?"
and answered "Tie a line to it and use it as a BoatAnchor"

Version III To all those who expressed interest in the CQ magazine
reference to boatanchors, I found it after only an hour or two of
skimming. And I also found that some of my recollections were a bit hazy
after all those years. The original letter to the editor (not to the
"Surplus Editor" as I incorrectly recalled) appeared on page 16 of the
October 1956 issue of CQ and was as follows: Gentlemen: I recently
acquired a "Signal Corps Wireless Set. No. 19 MK II Transceiver." Are
there schematics or conversion data for this rig? Any info will be
appreciated. David J. Wilke W3LSG Pottstown, Pennsylvania The editor
replied: The only conversion we seem to have on the files here at CQ calls
for 100 feet of 1" Manila line, one end of which is to be tied securely
around the MK II Transceiver.

This then converts the unit into a fine anchor for a small boat. If any
readers have better conversions we will be glad to hear about them. Ed.
This letter apparently generated a lot of interest and in the February
1957 issue of CQ there was a follow-up from CQ's editor, another letter
from W3LSG and several pictures. If I find the time I will scan them and
post links to them here.

The expression "boatanchor" may have originated earlier than 1956, as Doug
Hensley pointed out. I found no earlier references in amateur radio than
these CQ's, but there may be some. However, there was no reason to call
amateur gear of that era "boatanchors" since almost all of it fit that
description. It wasn't till later when smaller, lighter gear became
popular that there was reason to categorize some gear as boatanchors. And
it is also interesting to me that a word originally used to denote
something of little value, useful only to anchor a small boat, has taken
on a more affectionate meaning. We love our "boatanchors". Roger K6XQ


--
CL -- I doubt, therefore I might be !






"Bob Miller" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:55:22 -0600, "Cal"
wrote:

Kenwoods, Yaesus, Icoms, Sonys...sheesh!
Don't you guys with your modern rice boxes have plenty of other forums to
fill up? I know you'd like to think your stuff is "classic" but it isn't
and doesn't belong here.


Okay, what is a boat anchor?

bob
k5qwg

Ed wrote:
It's a tube rig made in America by Americans. I love my 78 Toyota pickup,
but it will never be the classic a pre-70's American made vehicle is, it is
worthless to anyone but me. Same for rice box radios, after the new is worn
off, they're worthless compared to vintage American made rigs, just look on
EBay. Yes, I owned rice boxes the first time around, thousands of dollars
worth of rice boxes, and now they're worth the same amount as my 78 Toy
pickup.

No, not at all. I have used German boatanchors and Soviet boatanchors.
Never used any of the prewar or wartime Japanese boatanchors, but I have
seen a few on display now and then.

If the input power in watts is less than the weight in pounds, it's a
boatanchor.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott Dorsey wrote:



If the input power in watts is less than the weight in pounds, it's a
boatanchor.
--scott


hehehe...thats a good measure. Do you have one for receivers? I'm
wondering how an S-38 "qualifies".

-Bill