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what to do with an outdated heavy, large, surplus electronic instrument?"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