RadioBanter - View Single Post

January 19th 04, 11:24 PM

In article ,
(Stebe, suffering yet another Powerful Marine Syndrome attack) writes:

(Len Over 21) wrote in message
...
In article , "Scott"
writes:

A heart felt thank you to all that replied.

I guess my opinion that "Amateur Radio Service is not an essential element
in our society" was incorrect. I appreciate all that took the time to show
me where I was wrong. I stand corrected.

Only in THIS venue, Scott.

In THIS venue, all the pro-code newsgroupies require all to think,
act, do, behave, and moralize as they do.

I'm coming up on my 51st anniversary of putting a 1 KW transmitter
on the air trans-Pacific.

It wasn't YOUR station, Lennie...It was a facility of the United
States Army.

Tsk, tsk, tsk...still sore and pished because I had the opportunity
while in my military service yet you did not?

ADA was operating in liason to the Far East Command Hq that
served all U.S. forces in the Far East of the time. Established in
1946 as the 71st Signal Service Battalion, my Army unit operated
(and was entirely responsible for) the primary communications of
the FEC. Yes, it was an ARMY station...the USMC was too small
to handle the task.

However, when the new Income Tax laws were passed to apply to
military service members, I became about as direct a taxpayer as
possible to "own" a part of that station. :-)

[Stebe is guaranteed to pick up on that paragraph and reply to it
with as much vitriol and spite that his few neurons can conjure up]

They could have just as easily made you a diesel
mechanic...Perhaps then you would have been harrassing the
professional truck drivers.

No, the Army could NOT "do that as easily." I was sent to the
Fort Monmouth Signal School for several months of microwave
radio relay training after Basic. Diesel mechanics were trained
in several other school locations.

ADA did have several "diesel mechanics" for the emergency
electrical power generation (old site) and continuous electrical
power generation (new site at Kashiwa). Normal for 24/7
operation.

Several of the ADA transmitter team were licensed to drive Army
vehicles, myself included...Jeep, 3/4 ton truck, 2 1/2 ton truck.
No problem since all those already were licensed to drive in the
various states and only required familiarization courses on the
military vehicles. The Battalion did emply "professional vehicle
drivers," all Japanese nationals, but none to my knowledge every
"harrassed them."

Army manuals and a Senior NCO told you what to do and how to do
it. They gave you an FM or TM (or the equivelent of the period) and
said "do this".

"FM" is still the common term for Field Manual which covers large
subjects. "TM" is still the common term for Technical Manual which
goes into specific detail on equipment.

ADA had only one complete copy of the TM on the (standard
pre-WW2 design) BC-339 and some reproduced schematics. That
was the basic "1 KW" transmitter in RTTY service. The 339 was a
sturdy machine and simple to operate, easy to maintain, even if
built on "battleship style" (heavy, about 7 feet tall) with many
designed-in safety features. Neither the BC-339 nor the BC-340
(10 KW amplifier and power supply for 339) nor the Press Wireless
PW-15 (15 KW RTTY) nor the Western Electric LD-T2 (4 KW PEP
SSB, commercial) were taught in Army Signal Schools. All of us
at ADA learned "on the job" since none of the equipment was taught
in any signal schools, any branch.

Yes, "senior NCOs taught us" and said "do this." This is normal in
a work environment were supervisors also teach and say "do that."
Somehow you find that deplorable?

Biggie wow. We are soooooooooo impressed that YOU were able to
follow instructions "putting a 1KW transmitter on the air
trans-Pacific".

Considering that none of us newbies at ADA had operated an HF
transmitter at 1 KW, there was only the on-the-job-training to do
and follow instructions. Took my particular newbie group about an
hour of M/Sgt Ouye's time in February, 1953, including questions
and answers, and review of procedures for the station.

The BC-339 was about as "complicated" as any amateur radio
transmitter got in 1953 (it have been designed before 1940) and
included an antenna tuner. Not a biggie, true, but none of us
needed any "license" to operate it nor did we have to know morse
code. :-) It is a personal biggie when it hasn't been done before.
Keeping everything operating 24/7, knowing procedures for QSYs
and confirming frequencies, upping and downing circuits,
confirming the TTY signal quality, setting the FSK exciters,
doing maintenance on equipment, keeping the radio relay (VHF,
UHF) equpment running, keeping the wireline/radio "carrier"
equipment running was all part of the job...learned on-site since
we could not "go to school" on it nor read about it in QST for an
"education." :-)

I learned all that was required (and more) on-the-job and later
became an "NCO" who said "do this (or that)." :-)

That was all before Stebe was born. It must make him very angry
and furious that anyone actually did those things before his life
experience began.

I've omitted any previous mention of Stebe's fury and indignance that
I should ever honor the men of my Battalion. He demanded that I
stop, saying it was all for personal glory in this newsgroup. Tsk, tsk.

I still honor the men and women of my Battalion, knowing the history
from first unit formation to changes through today. I am proud of
what I did, of my fellow signalmen for "getting the messages
through." We did it. It's on record, including two Presidential Unit
Citations. Callsign ADA still exists, now that of U.S. Army Pacific
Headquarters at Fort Shafter, Hawaii.

LHA / WMD