As *some* of you know, I build and sell the Carolina Cyclone line of
screwdriver antennas. Sometimes I run
into some "doosies". I don't (normally) do installs because
they are more trouble than they are worth. But.......I was
recently persuaded to install a "used" screwdriver in trade
for an Icom 735 transceiver. Hmmmm, I needed a base
rig, so..........................I reluctantly agreed. I spent the better of
a day drilling holes, chasing cables, and, finally,
checking everything to assure that it worked. We put up our tools and the
customer (ham) left and shortly checked into a net. I had a very nice IC735
for my trouble. Couple days later, his signal was almost non-existant, and
he was not too responsive to my efforts to troubleshoot
the problem from a distance (100 miles to his QTH). It seemed that he
blamed ME for his trouble (which often happens when non-experienced hams buy
antennas) and
wanted me to drive to ********, NC to fix his antenna.
Upon my arrival, to show him that the antenna was not at
fault, I put the screwdriver on my pickup and it resonated
FB. Put it on his, it received but the SWR was WAY off.
I performed several checks, including criticizing a PL 259
he had changed, nothing. As I inspected another thing,
he piped up, "Um, would this jack cause trouble?"

What? Jack? What jack.

"Uh, the one that I left loose; it fell over on the wall of the
van". It was touching against (barely) the inside of the ball
mount and creating an intermittent short. As the van hit bumps, the jack
would vibrate and alternately short, alternately not. Once we got it out of
the way, the antenna was fine. (I remember asking him in the beginning
to take it to the Chrysler place and remount the jack, but he hadn't got
round to it). This "fixed" it. He checked into a net loud and clear. One
hour's work, and 4 hours driving..all for lunch and gas money. Point? Now
you know why I don't do installs! If I did, I would be trouble-
shooting and working 12 hour days for hams that have no
idea what they are doing.

What does it have to do with no code? Not much, except to say that it seems
to me that we dread to do anything that we deem to be drudgery, only want to
yak yak on a radio. We memorize answers, learn formulas, then forget about
them once we get that little
paper in our hand; the books go onto the bookshelf never
to be seen again (until the next yard sale). The key is LEARNING at least
some of what we have studied (?)
whether it be code or the formula for a radiowave in
free space. It is a form of discipline. Maybe code isn't
necessary anymore, but I do wonder what will be next
to go. Will we one day take a pill to memorize the questions/answers because
we no long want to do ANY-
thing to learn what we are doing? Will learning become
obsolete?

We all have to start somewhere, and I am willing to help
in any way I can, but the ones that burn me up are the ones who expect
someone else to do it all and just refuse to learn anything. Then assume
that a problem is the fault of someone else.

Learning CW is not a matter of "I did it, so should you". It is somewhat
like licking a tart-tasting lollipop to get down to the more enticing
center--the meat of the thing. Doing
CW was, for me, a price I had to pay to get down to the
sweet center. Then, along the way, I found out that I
LIKED that sucker, and the outer candy was as sweet, or sweeter, than the
center!

So when I see people "diss" code, and then, in turn, have to go help someone
who "won't" try to help themselves,
it just makes me wonder................

73

Jerry
K4KWH