Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

I'm not sure whether I qualify to post notes on this newsgroups, since I
don't know what qualifies as a boat anchor radio. I'm interested in
general coverage receiving, but I'm not a Ham and haven't got into
transcievers or transmitting stations. - I have a Realistic DX-160,
bought recently from Ebay, and also a Radio Shack portable similar to
the Sangean ATS-909. Is this group directed only to HAM radio, or would
general DX receivers also qualify? I would guess that my small portable
wouldn't, but I'm not sure about the DX-160?

Can anyone tell me what whether general DX receiving would be within the
general subject matter of the ng?

Thanks,
Jim Cate

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

"JimC" wrote in message
et...
I'm not sure whether I qualify to post notes on this newsgroups, since I
don't know what qualifies as a boat anchor radio. I'm interested in
general coverage receiving, but I'm not a Ham and haven't got into
transcievers or transmitting stations. - I have a Realistic DX-160, bought
recently from Ebay, and also a Radio Shack portable similar to the Sangean
ATS-909. Is this group directed only to HAM radio, or would general DX
receivers also qualify? I would guess that my small portable wouldn't, but
I'm not sure about the DX-160?

Can anyone tell me what whether general DX receiving would be within the
general subject matter of the ng?

Thanks,
Jim Cate

Hi Jim - Boatanchors are usually very old heavy tube type radio/transmitters
etc.

Probably a better grpup for you is rec.radio.shortwave -- lots of info and
posts about Shortwave Listening and variuos radio madels.

Happy SWL Listening
CL -- Radio Shack DX-398

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

JimC wrote:
I'm not sure whether I qualify to post notes on this newsgroups, since I
don't know what qualifies as a boat anchor radio. I'm interested in
general coverage receiving, but I'm not a Ham and haven't got into
transcievers or transmitting stations. - I have a Realistic DX-160,
bought recently from Ebay, and also a Radio Shack portable similar to
the Sangean ATS-909. Is this group directed only to HAM radio, or would
general DX receivers also qualify? I would guess that my small portable
wouldn't, but I'm not sure about the DX-160?

Can anyone tell me what whether general DX receiving would be within the
general subject matter of the ng?

Thanks,
Jim Cate

Hi Jim,

Boat Anchor's are usually heavy radios with big power transformers, and lots
of vacuum tubes. The definition has loosened up somewhat to include some of
the slightly more modern ham radio gear that is partly solid state, and partly
tubes (hybrid).

The only requirement for joining this group is having an interest in things
of this sort.

Although there is some discussion of receiving, and such, it is mostly in
connection with describing the performance of a particular radio vs some other
radio. DX receiving is not in the general focus of this group. There are other
groups in the rec.radio hierarchy that do focus on SWL receiving.

-Chuck

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

The general category of boat anchors is met by something big and heavy
enough to literally be used as an anchor for a small boat.

The true determination is generally made by your spouse. If you can walk in
the front door with it, without your spouse asking "and what are you
planning to do with that?", it is not a boat anchor. Boat anchors are
brought in during the night or on long weekends.

My triumph in a lifetime of packratting was to bring home 14,000 tubes and
hide them in the basement and barn so that it was 3 weeks before my wife
realized there was more stuff there.

Acquiring boatanchors is an art form. Being on eBay helps. When you sell
something on eBay (preferably a small item that you do not need), let your
wife know that you have sold something. Say nothing when you acquire things
and at first you must sneak in the big stufft.

Remember, that you need to justify the existence of your giant ham shack and
storage. When the family tv goes out, this is an opportunity. Take it out
to the shop and tell your wife you are going to work on it. Then, early the
next morning, before she gets up, sneak out to the shop and get the tv and
put it in the trunk of your car. Later, take it to the tv shop to get
fixed. Make sure they have your cell phone to call you when it is ready.
Then pick it up and sneak it out to the shop. Later, in full view of your
wife, bring it into the house and proclaim that your knowledge and equipment
has fixed her tv.

The perfect boat anchor collector is Lamont Cranston (aka The Shadow), for
he can cloud the mind of spouses so that they cannot see all the piles and
piles of boatanchors. At times, I am convinced I have achieved that level,
but then my wife exclaims "how come more and more crap accumulates in all
the rooms?" But, by quickly changing the subject, the mind control works
again.

I cannot tell you all my secrets, but I can now get one or two boxes a week
without more than a mutter from my wife. It is based upon years of practice
and honing a fine art.

Colin K7FM

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

Chuck Harris wrote:

JimC wrote:

I'm not sure whether I qualify to post notes on this newsgroups, since
I don't know what qualifies as a boat anchor radio. I'm interested in
general coverage receiving, but I'm not a Ham and haven't got into
transcievers or transmitting stations. - I have a Realistic DX-160,
bought recently from Ebay, and also a Radio Shack portable similar to
the Sangean ATS-909. Is this group directed only to HAM radio, or
would general DX receivers also qualify? I would guess that my small
portable wouldn't, but I'm not sure about the DX-160?

Can anyone tell me what whether general DX receiving would be within
the general subject matter of the ng?

Thanks,
Jim Cate


Hi Jim,

Boat Anchor's are usually heavy radios with big power transformers, and
lots
of vacuum tubes. The definition has loosened up somewhat to include
some of
the slightly more modern ham radio gear that is partly solid state, and
partly
tubes (hybrid).

The only requirement for joining this group is having an interest in things
of this sort.

Although there is some discussion of receiving, and such, it is mostly in
connection with describing the performance of a particular radio vs some
other
radio. DX receiving is not in the general focus of this group. There
are other
groups in the rec.radio hierarchy that do focus on SWL receiving.

-Chuck

My DX-160 receiver is rather large, around 1 ft, 2 in. wide, and it is
about 30 years old. However, it's solid state, because I was more
interested in using it than in collecting or fixing it up. Years ago I
did use tube shortwave radios (a Zenith table model and a Hallicrafter
S-38, when they were popular and in general use.

How do these old tube models compare with current or recent SS models in
the same general price range?

Jim

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

The DX-160 is comparable to the Hallicraters S-85 - a $120 general coverage
receiver ala 1958.

The DX-160 is analog and single conversion. That means the dial calibration
is not great nor is the image rejection very good above about 12 MHz. Also,
the selectivity is average.

For listening to short wave broadcast stations below 12 MHz, the DX-160 is
adequate. Really not that bad. But, it lacks a noise blanker, any
rejection tuning and is generally just ok.

The modern true short wave radio will have digital tuning, double
conversion, excellent stability and image rejection and generally lack all
of the qualities that boatanchor lovers covet.

R-390A receivers are big and heavy, but they lack the instability, poor
calibration and poor image rejection of many of the true boat anchors. We
tolerate those owners in this group merely because the receivers are very
heavy and have sharp corners, which makes a great anchor. In addition, they
probably can be used for anchors for months before the electrical quality is
affected.

Colin K7FM

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

On Fri, 02 Feb 2007 02:40:49 +0000, COLIN LAMB wrote:

The true determination is generally made by your spouse. If you can walk in
the front door with it, without your spouse asking "and what are you
planning to do with that?", it is not a boat anchor. Boat anchors are
brought in during the night or on long weekends.

That is CLASSIC! :-)

Cheers,

Gregg

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

JimC wrote:
I'm not sure whether I qualify to post notes on this newsgroups, since I
don't know what qualifies as a boat anchor radio. I'm interested in
general coverage receiving, but I'm not a Ham and haven't got into
transcievers or transmitting stations. - I have a Realistic DX-160,
bought recently from Ebay, and also a Radio Shack portable similar to
the Sangean ATS-909. Is this group directed only to HAM radio, or would
general DX receivers also qualify? I would guess that my small portable
wouldn't, but I'm not sure about the DX-160?

You probably want rec.radio.shortwave.

Discussions of general coverage receivers is welcome here, if the receivers
are actually boatanchors. The DX-160 is on the borderline of the boatanchor
mark since they can comfortably be lifted in one hand.

In the case of transmitters, the "watts per pound" measure is helpful to
determine if a device is a boatanchor or not. In the case of receivers it
is somewhat more vague.

Can anyone tell me what whether general DX receiving would be within the
general subject matter of the ng?

No, but care and alignment of a DX-160 wouldn't be too far out.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

On Thu, 1 Feb 2007 16:03:10 -0800, Caveat Lector wrote in :

"JimC" wrote in message
et...
I'm not sure whether I qualify to post notes on this newsgroups, since I
don't know what qualifies as a boat anchor radio. I'm interested in
general coverage receiving, but I'm not a Ham and haven't got into
transcievers or transmitting stations. - I have a Realistic DX-160, bought
recently from Ebay, and also a Radio Shack portable similar to the Sangean
ATS-909. Is this group directed only to HAM radio, or would general DX
receivers also qualify? I would guess that my small portable wouldn't, but
I'm not sure about the DX-160?

Can anyone tell me what whether general DX receiving would be within the
general subject matter of the ng?

Hi Jim - Boatanchors are usually very old heavy tube type radio/transmitters
etc.

Probably a better grpup for you is rec.radio.shortwave -- lots of info and
posts about Shortwave Listening and variuos radio madels.

This group really is more about the radios than about their use, in
my experience. The boatanchors we discuss are indeed old, heavy, big
boxes, usually but not always all-vacuum-tube, and usually but not always
rack-mountable. Some examples can be found by Googling on `R-390 OR R-390A
OR FRR-59 OR R-1051 radio receiver', without the quotes; the string _is_
case sensitive: the "OR" must be in upper case to have Google do the
alternation correctly.

Or you can look at the following URLs on my website to see the R-390,
R-390A, R-1051B, and R-1051H:
http://mikea.ath.cx/R-390/
http://mikea.ath.cx/R-390A/
http://mikea.ath.cx/R-1051/

--
'Dianetics' and 'Battlefield Earth'. "Burning books is *wrong*. So we shot
them instead." Apparently they do quite well as targets; whatever he was
using had as much trouble getting all the way through BE as many a human
reader. -- David Gerard, posting as Brian Harradine, in the Monastery

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

COLIN LAMB wrote:
The DX-160 is comparable to the Hallicraters S-85 - a $120 general coverage
receiver ala 1958.

The DX-160 is analog and single conversion. That means the dial calibration
is not great nor is the image rejection very good above about 12 MHz. Also,
the selectivity is average.

For listening to short wave broadcast stations below 12 MHz, the DX-160 is
adequate. Really not that bad. But, it lacks a noise blanker, any
rejection tuning and is generally just ok.

The modern true short wave radio will have digital tuning, double
conversion, excellent stability and image rejection and generally lack all
of the qualities that boatanchor lovers covet.

R-390A receivers are big and heavy, but they lack the instability, poor
calibration and poor image rejection of many of the true boat anchors. We
tolerate those owners in this group merely because the receivers are very
heavy and have sharp corners, which makes a great anchor. In addition, they
probably can be used for anchors for months before the electrical quality is
affected.

Colin K7FM


Thanks. I also have a Radio Shack DX-398, which has double conversion,
digital tuning, and tuning memory provisions. - Obviously, it wouldn't
qualify as a boat anchor, but it's a good supplement to the DX-160. - I
wanted the DX-160 because it has analog tuning, and an easily read
display. I'm in the process of constructing an outdoor antenna.

Jim

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

90% of the listings on this NG are the EBAY pros advertising their listings.
I would hardly think your questions would be any more out of place.

Phil


"JimC" wrote in message
et...
I'm not sure whether I qualify to post notes on this newsgroups, since I
don't know what qualifies as a boat anchor radio. I'm interested in
general coverage receiving, but I'm not a Ham and haven't got into
transcievers or transmitting stations. - I have a Realistic DX-160,
bought recently from Ebay, and also a Radio Shack portable similar to
the Sangean ATS-909. Is this group directed only to HAM radio, or would
general DX receivers also qualify? I would guess that my small portable
wouldn't, but I'm not sure about the DX-160?

Can anyone tell me what whether general DX receiving would be within the
general subject matter of the ng?

Thanks,
Jim Cate

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

"PJ" ) writes:
90% of the listings on this NG are the EBAY pros advertising their listings.
I would hardly think your questions would be any more out of place.

Phil


To ask whether it fits isn't quite off-topic, but there is indeed
a distinct difference between this newsgroup and rec.radio.shortwave
where the actual questions would belong.

The fact that there is junk here is not an excuse to let more junk
in.

And of course, one could balance the junk with actual on-topic posts.

Michael VE2BVW

"JimC" wrote in message
et...
I'm not sure whether I qualify to post notes on this newsgroups, since I
don't know what qualifies as a boat anchor radio. I'm interested in
general coverage receiving, but I'm not a Ham and haven't got into
transcievers or transmitting stations. - I have a Realistic DX-160,
bought recently from Ebay, and also a Radio Shack portable similar to
the Sangean ATS-909. Is this group directed only to HAM radio, or would
general DX receivers also qualify? I would guess that my small portable
wouldn't, but I'm not sure about the DX-160?

Can anyone tell me what whether general DX receiving would be within the
general subject matter of the ng?

Thanks,
Jim Cate

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

How do you keep the spouse from not seeing the FedEx truck, that's my
problem..........

--
Regards,
Gary...WZ1M
"geek" wrote in message
ldomain...
On Fri, 02 Feb 2007 02:40:49 +0000, COLIN LAMB wrote:

The true determination is generally made by your spouse. If you can
walk in
the front door with it, without your spouse asking "and what are you
planning to do with that?", it is not a boat anchor. Boat anchors are
brought in during the night or on long weekends.

That is CLASSIC! :-)

Cheers,

Gregg

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

Look up the FedEx Delivery time. Give the Spouse a gift certifiacte to the
mall (a just because gift), you and I both know she will be gone for hours.
Get a buddy to help haul in the BA. Conceal the BA in the basement, attic,
or wherever. When she finds it and she will, state your keeping it for Joe,
Sam whoever. Works every time. (;-)
CL

"gkb" wrote in message
...
How do you keep the spouse from not seeing the FedEx truck, that's my
problem..........

--
Regards,
Gary...WZ1M
"geek" wrote in message
ldomain...
On Fri, 02 Feb 2007 02:40:49 +0000, COLIN LAMB wrote:

The true determination is generally made by your spouse. If you can
walk in
the front door with it, without your spouse asking "and what are you
planning to do with that?", it is not a boat anchor. Boat anchors are
brought in during the night or on long weekends.

That is CLASSIC! :-)

Cheers,

Gregg

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

"How do you keep the spouse from not seeing the FedEx truck, that's my
problem.........."

Well, if you work, you can have FedEX drop the package off at work (done
that). Then, hide the package in the covered pickup and bring it home and
wait until your spouse is asleep to cart it in.

At some point, after studying and perfecting The Shadows techniqe of mind
clouding, your spouse will not see the FedEx truck. In the end, my wife has
given up and simply makes comments on occasion to let me know that her mind
is not clouded.

The only problem I have is when my wife goes on a retreat for a weekend with
her girl friends. Her friends all tell her how they control their husband
and they do not tolerate anything lke she does. It is not intentional or
malicious that they do this, just they are using their husbands for their
personal welfare rather than mutual welfare. It sometimes takes 2 or 3
weeks before I have convinced my wife that indeed I am a better husband with
all of the junk than they are without. I have to convince her that the
other women indeed do not love their husband and indeed their husbands have
other faults which I do not have. Sometimes I sweat a bit for the first few
days as I have to come up with all of their faults and my qualities.

We have been married for 28 years and I do have a 150 foot tower with
numerous wire antennas going every which direction, so I have no complaints.

It does require constant vigil, though.

73, Colin K7FM

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

On Feb 1, 9:40 pm, "COLIN LAMB" wrote:

I cannot tell you all my secrets, but I can now get one or two boxes a week
without more than a mutter from my wife. It is based upon years of practice
and honing a fine art.

Some ideas I read about:

1) Bring purchase home in trunk of car. Under cover of darkness, move
purchase from car to basement window well. Open basement window and
bring purchase inside. (Only works with basement shacks near openable
windows)

2) Keep large trash can in basement. Make a big show of how much
useless stuff you are getting rid of each trash day. Bring purchase
home in trunk of car. Under cover of darkness, after trash day, while
retrieving empty can, put purchase into can and bring into basement.
(Only works with
basement shacks)

3) Mail parts and small purchases to yourself, with computer-made
official-looking labels from ham rig makers. Labels should say "FREE
SAMPLE" and "FOR EVALUATION BY (your call)". Helps to include official-
looking questionnaire and return envelope. (Only works with small
items in new condition)

4) Dismantle purchase at friend's house. Bring parts into house using
various methods listed above. Mix in with parts stock, which must be
big enough that additions are undetectable. Reassemble gradually so it
takes shape slowly and is not noticed. "And I built it myself from
parts I had on hand". (Works best with kits and homebrew that need
restoring anyway).

5) Sell 3 or 4 big things that you don't use and which are virtually
worthless, in order to buy one thing you really want. Helps to have
lots of useless big things around for such deals.

6) Deny, deny, deny. "That? I've always had that. Got it at the Podunk
Hollow hamfest in 1998. Cost over $700 new, I got a deal for less than
$50. You just never noticed it before."

7) Ham friend comes over, drops purchase off at your house. Says he's
moving, vacationing, having work done to his house, etc., and would
you hold onto the thing "for a while" so it won't get dirty, lost or
damaged? (Works best if ham friend does you, or better yet 'hon', a
bunch of non-ham-radio favors, so you owe him several favors back, and
can't refuse
him. Meanwhile you've done the same things for *him*, so he can do the
same deal.)

The following three can only be used once, so save them for that dream
purchase.

8) If you only have permission to buy one thing, but want two things,
have "radio store" (ham friend) send you both. Call "radio store" on
phone and complain about second item sent to you "by mistake". Spend a
lot of time on phone trying to convince them it's *their* mistake,
that you refuse to
pay for the item, it's not on your credit-card bill, etc. Finally have
"radio store" send you official-looking apology letter saying they're
sorry, they discovered the mistake, and you can just keep the second
item for free as a goodwill gesture from them. (Helps to practice one-
sided phone conversations by listening to old Bob Newhart routines).

9) Bring purchase into house when no one is home. Wrap up in
unlabeled, dusty, old, cardboard box. Hide in unusual place, away from
your ham gear - attic if shack is in basement, garage, etc. Bury it
under stuff that hasn't been disturbed in a long time, and won't be
normally moved.

After a suitable time has elapsed, get family to do "housecleaning".
Best if someone else discovers box. You act surprised, overjoyed,
cradle unit in your arms, tell family you thought it was lost years
ago and you thought it was gone forever, you'd never see it again,
etc. Long detailed
story of how you delivered papers for three years to save up for it
helps. (Only works with old items that you could have once owned).

10) Go to hamfest. Don't buy a thing (officially) - better yet, sell
a bunch of stuff. Leave early. That night, receive phone call from
excited ham friend telling you that you won the grand prize in the
doorprize/raffle. Pick up "grand prize" (your purchase) at his house -
which you dropped off there on the way home. (Only works with new
items. Mad scramble looking for raffle ticket stubs in car, clothing,
etc., with heroic rescue just before they go in the washing machine,
helps divert attention).

--

Not that I've actually *done* any of the above, mind you. Wouldn't
dream of it. Not me!

Just something I read somewhere - QST about 1970. Yeah, QST....that's
the ticket. Yup, QST.

73 de Jim, N2EY

No, really - there *was* such an article. I'm not making this up.
Honest. It was when QST was still in the small format. Had the raffle
ticket thing and all. You can look it up.

Would I lie?

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

Sorry to hear of all the trials and tribulations you guys have,
sometimes. Things are a bit different, here. If I dwell too long on an
item at a hamfest or show a genuine interest in some radio gem in QST,
the XYL will go back and buy it. Well, truth told, she generally asks
first, but not always. My stuff comes through the front door in broad
daylight, unless its just too heavy. If that's the case, she'll help and
unlock the basement door.......... I had to use her SUV to get my T-368
home. No foolin'!!
de K3HVG

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

Good work Jim. You exposed some of my secrets, but I got some new ones.

Colin K7FM

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

There is always someone who has it better - but we cannot dwell on that.

I thought I had it pretty good, but I go over to my neighbor's house one hot
summer day and he is in a lawn chair under a tree sipping on some lemonade.
His wife is at the bottom of a 5 foot hole at the end of a shovel, getting
it ready for pouring the concrete for his new tower. His son and his wife
had done all of the digging.

Another ham in England reported to me that his wife climbed a tall tree to
install the wire antenna and she does all the antenna work for him.

But, volunteering the SUV for a T-368 is pretty good, too - that is a ship
or fleet anchor.

73, Colin K7FM

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

In message k.net,
COLIN LAMB writes
Another ham in England reported to me that his wife climbed a tall tree to
install the wire antenna and she does all the antenna work for him.

Yes were are quite well looked after over here, my wife bought me a 60
foot tower as a birthday present and allows me two rooms and the attic
for the shack and store room!!!!!!!!!!
--
Bill
G8IAY

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

Yeah I really hate to read about all you guys having to sneak
new/old stuff in to the house.
My wife will just look at the new goody, ask what's that
and then just smile.
We're working on our 33rd year of marriage.
I have my display room that was a 2 car garage,
the next to the biggest of the 4 bedrooms for ham shack/office
and boat anchor display, the smallest bedroom for library,
display space for my early electric fans and my Apollo 11 collection,
and the detached 2 car garage for work shop and radio/parts
storage. And there are 6 radios scattered around the living
room, dining room, den and foyer.

I count myself pretty lucky.

Ron
http://radioheaven.homestead.com/

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

K3HVG wrote:
Sorry to hear of all the trials and tribulations you guys have,
sometimes. Things are a bit different, here. If I dwell too long on an
item at a hamfest or show a genuine interest in some radio gem in QST,
the XYL will go back and buy it. Well, truth told, she generally asks
first, but not always. My stuff comes through the front door in broad
daylight, unless its just too heavy. If that's the case, she'll help and
unlock the basement door.......... I had to use her SUV to get my T-368
home. No foolin'!!
de K3HVG


I didn't think that my DX-160, which was only $64 on Ebay, would be a
problem with respect to WAF. However, it came in a huge box, delivered
in a big FedEx truck. - My wife wanted to know: What are you going to do
with that thing, and, is there something in particular that you want to
listen to? - I'm not sure how to explain it. - "News from countries all
over the world" doesn't seem to impress her.

Jim

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

It's really quite simple. Don't make this harder than necessary.
Similar to training a dog, ok? When you train a dog, you do the same
thing over and over till they understand.
With an xyl, what you do is this:
You bring home a boatanchor borrowed from a friend. She will say,
"What is that?" You say, "Oh it's an old radio I am fixing for my buddy,
Joe."
Then, (and this is the extremely important part) you MAKE SURE SHE SEES
YOU TAKE THE BOATANCHOR BACK OUT OF THE BASEMENT A FEW DAYS LATER.
It might be most effective if you do it during dinner hour, right through the
kitchen.
Repeat the above a few times.
I guarantee, after 3 iterations, she won't ever ask again.

Rick K2XT

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

Rick wrote:
It's really quite simple. Don't make this harder than necessary.
Similar to training a dog, ok? When you train a dog, you do the same
thing over and over till they understand.
With an xyl, what you do is this:
You bring home a boatanchor borrowed from a friend. She will say,
"What is that?" You say, "Oh it's an old radio I am fixing for my buddy,
Joe."
Then, (and this is the extremely important part) you MAKE SURE SHE SEES
YOU TAKE THE BOATANCHOR BACK OUT OF THE BASEMENT A FEW DAYS LATER.
It might be most effective if you do it during dinner hour, right through the
kitchen.
Repeat the above a few times.
I guarantee, after 3 iterations, she won't ever ask again.



You're right!!! I'll get thrown out of the house for messing up the kitchen!

/s/ DD, W1MCE

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

"Oh it's an old radio I am fixing for my buddy, Joe."

What happens when she sees you do this three times and says "you are
spending a lot of time helping your friends but you do not have time to
paint the house, repair the front door lock or fix my vacuum cleaner", what
do you say?

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

COLIN LAMB wrote:
"Oh it's an old radio I am fixing for my buddy, Joe."

What happens when she sees you do this three times and says "you are
spending a lot of time helping your friends but you do not have time to
paint the house, repair the front door lock or fix my vacuum cleaner", what
do you say?

It's far better to foster a relationship of mutual respect, and trust.
I could never live with a woman that scrutinized my every move. Nor
would I ever think I had the right to scrutinize my wife's every move.

Respect and trust. It is the only way. Trickiness and deceit will only
result in a divorce.

-Chuck

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

"Respect and trust. It is the only way. Trickiness and deceit will only
result in a divorce."

So, when your wife asks you what you think of the new recipe she slaved 8
hours making, you have no problems telling her it tastes like crap?

Or, when she comes back with a new hairdo she is proud of, you tell her the
old one was a lot better.

When your wife just turns 50 and asks you how old she looks, you tell her
the truth?

Sometimes wives do not want to know the truth. My wife would cringe when
she saw the checks I wrote for helicopter rental. So, she asked me to
create a helicopter account and keep it from her. I did. Soon, it became
the expensive aircraft and radio account. She has been happy since.

Honesty is the quickest way to tick your spouse off and get a divorce.

K7FM

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

COLIN LAMB wrote:
"Respect and trust. It is the only way. Trickiness and deceit will only
result in a divorce."

So, when your wife asks you what you think of the new recipe she slaved 8
hours making, you have no problems telling her it tastes like crap?

No, I wouldn't tell her it: "it tastes like crap", I'd tell her something
didn't work out quite right, and then I'd tell her what. My wife is a great
cook. She knows when she gets good results, and when he has gotten a bad
result.

Or, when she comes back with a new hairdo she is proud of, you tell her the
old one was a lot better.

No, I can tell how she feels by the look in her eyes. If she is happy with
the result, then I am happy. It is called being aware of your spouse.

When your wife just turns 50 and asks you how old she looks, you tell her
the truth?

We are both over 50, and she looks great. Neither of us are buff 20 YO's anymore,
but I see her physical beauty, and her spiritual beauty... It works for me!

There is one other thing you need to know, a wife that constantly asks land mine
questions is trying to provoke a confrontation. You had better find out what
is wrong, and help make it right.

Sometimes wives do not want to know the truth. My wife would cringe when
she saw the checks I wrote for helicopter rental. So, she asked me to
create a helicopter account and keep it from her. I did. Soon, it became
the expensive aircraft and radio account. She has been happy since.

My wife is my best friend, and my partner. There is no way I would try and
shield her from my expense account. Nor would she me from hers.

Honesty is the quickest way to tick your spouse off and get a divorce.

The little lies you tell will build up to a crushing point, and one day you
will discover how wrong you were.

-Chuck

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

"The little lies you tell will build up to a crushing point, and one day you
will discover how wrong you were."

Well, actually, I have been happily married for almost 30 years. I am
faithful to her and she knows it. I am a collector and she is not. I fly
and she is frightened of flying is small aircraft. She golfs and I do not.
She tolerates my radio junk. She does not like it and thinks I have more
than I need, but she tolerates it because she loves me. She spends money on
some things she likes and I could care less and do not even know what it is
for. I have a separate building full of my junk and she has no problem
with that - she just does not like it when it starts accumulating in the
house.

So, the only problem is the things she knows about. One of the bedrooms is
my Search and Rescue room, where I have everything I need all over the
place, where I can quickly grab and go. She knows about it and does not
like it and considers it clutter. But, she tolerates it because she loves
me. She would much prefer that I move it somewhere else. Many of her
friend's husbands are neatniks - but they are also boring. In the end, she
prefers me to someone like them.

And, she does not want to know how much I spend on radio junk or flying.

Colin K7FM

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

COLIN LAMB wrote:
"The little lies you tell will build up to a crushing point, and one day you
will discover how wrong you were."

Well, actually, I have been happily married for almost 30 years. I am
faithful to her and she knows it. I am a collector and she is not. I fly
and she is frightened of flying is small aircraft. She golfs and I do not.
She tolerates my radio junk. She does not like it and thinks I have more
than I need, but she tolerates it because she loves me. She spends money on
some things she likes and I could care less and do not even know what it is
for. I have a separate building full of my junk and she has no problem
with that - she just does not like it when it starts accumulating in the
house.

So, the only problem is the things she knows about. One of the bedrooms is
my Search and Rescue room, where I have everything I need all over the
place, where I can quickly grab and go. She knows about it and does not
like it and considers it clutter. But, she tolerates it because she loves
me. She would much prefer that I move it somewhere else. Many of her
friend's husbands are neatniks - but they are also boring. In the end, she
prefers me to someone like them.

And, she does not want to know how much I spend on radio junk or flying.

Colin K7FM

Explained that way, your relation ship seems to be a good one.

It isn't dishonest to withold information from someone that wants
to be left out of the loop.

But, that isn't what I was clucking about. The stories that went prior
to yours about how to train your wife by lying to her about repairs
on friend's stuff, or sneaking it into the house, are the ones that
are trouble waiting to happen. We are mostly all adults here, we should
act like adults.

-Chuck

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

On Wed, 07 Feb 2007 21:54:57 -0500, Chuck Harris
wrote:

But, that isn't what I was clucking about. The stories that went prior
to yours about how to train your wife by lying to her about repairs
on friend's stuff, or sneaking it into the house, are the ones that
are trouble waiting to happen. We are mostly all adults here, we should
act like adults.

They were also mostly tongue-in-cheek, which you apparently missed, Mr. Poop.

-- Larry

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

On Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:07:05 -0500, Chuck Harris
wrote:

COLIN LAMB wrote:
"Respect and trust. It is the only way. Trickiness and deceit will only
result in a divorce."

So, when your wife asks you what you think of the new recipe she slaved 8
hours making, you have no problems telling her it tastes like crap?

No, I wouldn't tell her it: "it tastes like crap", I'd tell her something
didn't work out quite right, and then I'd tell her what. My wife is a great
cook. She knows when she gets good results, and when he has gotten a bad
result.

We are both retired and both busy. We eat a lot of TV dinners ...and
salads.

Or, when she comes back with a new hairdo she is proud of, you tell her the
old one was a lot better.

I usually forget to say anything.


No, I can tell how she feels by the look in her eyes. If she is happy with
the result, then I am happy. It is called being aware of your spouse.

If she's not, I don't say anything, or course I usually forget any
way.


When your wife just turns 50 and asks you how old she looks, you tell her
the truth?

We both turned 50 so long ago it's hard to remember. OTOH she's more
trim now than even back then. Turning 40, 50, and so on has never been
a traumatic occasion for us. Actually, I think I told here she looks
pretty good for such an old gal. OTOH I also told her that yesterday.


We are both over 50, and she looks great. Neither of us are buff 20 YO's anymore,
but I see her physical beauty, and her spiritual beauty... It works for me!

Both of us were probably in the best physical shape of our lives
through our 40's and into our 50's.

Now I'm the one who needs to lose the weight.
She bicycles several thousand miles a year and works out about 3 or 4
times a week.

I try to work out a half hour to 40 minutes a day on a Nordic Trac and
fly airplanes. Flying does give your legs quite a work out. My
profession was Computer Science and I keep our computers running and
up-to-date along with our own network. That results in far too much
"chair time" which is why I'm the one who needs to lose weight.


There is one other thing you need to know, a wife that constantly asks land mine
questions is trying to provoke a confrontation. You had better find out what
is wrong, and help make it right.

At our age, we both try to avoid asking things like that.:-)) Learned
that "long ago". We still have a sense of humor, know our own
weaknesses and each other's. We make light of our own and never make
fun of the other's.

Sometimes wives do not want to know the truth. My wife would cringe when
she saw the checks I wrote for helicopter rental. So, she asked me to
create a helicopter account and keep it from her. I did. Soon, it became
the expensive aircraft and radio account. She has been happy since.

That's fine as it's what she wanted.

It's not uncommon to hear her say, "It's such a nice day, why aren't
you out flying?" She knows what flying a high performance, complex,
retract costs.
My wife pays the bills. She knows where it all goes. I do the
investing. She says I also do the spending, but it pretty much evens
out.


My wife is my best friend, and my partner. There is no way I would try and
shield her from my expense account. Nor would she me from hers.

We each do our own thing such as biking and flying, but we do things
together as well.


Honesty is the quickest way to tick your spouse off and get a divorce.

There is brutal honesty and common sense honesty.
9 times out of 10 diplomacy works wonders with the truth but it may
take a careful approach. After this many years I also know when I
shouldn't say any thing (usually)


The little lies you tell will build up to a crushing point, and one day you
will discover how wrong you were.

A friend said she and her husband never had an argument. One day she
came home and he was gone. Some people might have to think about that
one for a while but the reasoning is quite evident.

-Chuck

No one is perfect. You know there is, or are going to be problems
when one or both of a couple think the other is perfect. If a couple
never has an argument it means one of them just gives in with out
saying anything.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

pltrgyst wrote:
On Wed, 07 Feb 2007 21:54:57 -0500, Chuck Harris
wrote:

But, that isn't what I was clucking about. The stories that went prior
to yours about how to train your wife by lying to her about repairs
on friend's stuff, or sneaking it into the house, are the ones that
are trouble waiting to happen. We are mostly all adults here, we should
act like adults.

They were also mostly tongue-in-cheek, which you apparently missed, Mr. Poop.

-- Larry

No, I don't think they were. I have known far to many guys
who did stuff like that. They spent their days thinking up
ways to sneak this in, or get out of that chore... before they
knew it, they were single.

Which, I suppose, is what they wanted all along.

-Chuck

Boat Anchor Qualifications?
 

On the other hand, there are a number of women that are very controlling and
that control unreasonably limits their husband's activities. I have ham
friends who do not allow their husband to have an antenna outisde "for fear
of neighbors objections". In that case, the neighbors are more important
then the husband. Seems like a questionable marriage from the start.

Part of the secret of a long marriage is to find the hot buttons of your
spouse and never push them. For me, being late for dinner, without calling,
even in an emergency, is not recommended. Another is having the slightest
piece of food in the sink when she returns from a long trip. Beyond that,
she is tolerant.

I did mention earlier that when she was gone on a long weekend, I did sneak
in 14,000 tubes and it was weeks before she noticed them. Is that criminal?
A friend was dying and wanted me to buy them from him - so I did. She would
not have wanted them at our place and it would have bothered her if, before
bringing them home I had said "honey, I am going to bring 14,000 tubes home,
what do you think?" When she found out, it was already accomplished. I hid
them fairly well, I thought. She found them and tolerated them. Not
pleased, but she understands that I have many good qualities. She never
once suggested that I was the only man she knew with 16,000 radio tubes.
She never said that none of her friends have to live with 16,000 radio
tubes.

She would rather spend $300 on a night out. I would rather spend the money
on a ratty old radio. My investment is a much better investment, and she
knows it. No different than a husband who came to my office one day. His
wife had passed away and he wondered if there was anything that needed to be
probated. I inquired. They were both immigrants from Russia and washed
dishes. I asked what assets they had. He said a car and a few thousand
dollars - everything they needed. I smiled and said there was nothing I
needed to do. Over the next few months, he brought in many stock
certificates found hidden around the house. In the end, he brought in over
$100,000 worth of stock certificates (this was decades ago when $100,000 was
real money). His wife had spent all their savings on stock certificates.
He knew nothing about it. He was happy. The marriage, by your standard,
was a total fraud, so they should have divorced, I suppose.

Good marriages are based upon many different things. What works for one
couple, may not work for another. I expect that most marriages have secrets
between the partners. I am sure my wife tells her friends things about me
that she does not talk to me about. I expect I would be disappointed if she
did not.

So, even though some of the comments were tongue in cheek and some were not,
you have to look at the total aspect. Suppose a husband buys a boatanchor
and sneaks it in the back door. It is really an investment and can
generally be sold later for at least what what was paid for it. Isn't that
better than a husband who, thinking he is not going to live forever and
being worried about money for his wife, buys Enron stock? Or perhaps you
are suggesting that before either spouse does anything they need to discuss
it with their spouse.

In the end, being judgmental about how someone else lives requires a certain
amount of ego. With some exceptions, I try not to judge how others live.
My main responsibility is to make sure the sink is clean when my wife gets
home after a long trip - and call before dinner if I am going to be late.

Life is good.

Colin K7FM