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July 7th 04, 05:58 PM
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Doug wrote in message . ..
On 1 Jul 2004 06:42:36 -0700, (N2EY) wrote: "No Spam " No wrote in message news:ifgU75G3LLdo-pn2-6dc5RepOHFeN@localhost... On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 16:31:34 UTC, (Michael Black) wrote: (big snip) Thanks Jim, Your response was well written. Thanks! Here's two more factors: Sometime in the very early 1960s, SSB became the dominant HF 'phone mode, replacing AM. The trend had started in the very late 1940s with ham SSB homebrewing became common and just kept going. One factor that really sparked the SSB boom was the introduction of the SSB transceiver, starting with the Collins KWM-1 and KWM-2, and the Cosmophone 35. These were "stations in a box" that needed only antenna, power supply, mike and speaker to go on the air. Their cost and size was less than a comparable transmitter-receiver pair, and the headache of zerobeating was eliminated - just tune in the other guy right, and you are automatically on his freq. HF SSB transceivers became popular very quickly, to the point that they rapidly replaced all "separates" except those that were matched-pair transceive capable, like the Drake 4 line and the S line. Before transceivers, there were several ham mfrs. who specialized in receivers or transmitters, or were best known for one or the other. E.F. Johnson made transmitters, National, Hammarlund and Hallicrafters primarily made receivers, etc. Those who made the transition to transceivers survived longer than those who didn't. Johnson, for example, developed the Avenger transceiver, which was way ahead of its time. Dual VFOs, all solid state except the finals and driver, compact, high performance - and it cost more to make than the list price of a KWM-2. A dozen or so prototypes were made, and a few survive. The main market for "separates" were Novices, who were limited to crystal control and 75W input until the mid 1970s. Some new mfrs. like Swan and SBE, started out making SSB transceivers from Day One. The shift to SSB and transceivers from AM and separates had a bunch of effects: - Homebrewing, steadily declining with increasing affluence and complexity of ham gear, took a big nosedive with the advent of the SSB transceiver. Few hams could homebrew the equivalent of an NCX-3 or SB-100 in their basements for less than the cost of those rigs, let alone the time. - The space and cost required for a ham shack shrank dramatically. This was particularly true if you wanted to operate high power 'phone. Look at the price and size of an SB-100/200 combo - for about $600 and the kitbuilding time you could have a 1200W PEP tabletop SSB/CW station. Compare that to, say, a Viking 500/NC-300 combo... - Old gear that could not do SSB transceive was sometimes kept, and other times rapidly unloaded as its resale value dropped. The value drop was driven by the limited market for such gear. - The number of new hams recruited from the SWL ranks dropped dramatically. In the AM days, folks with SW receivers would come across hams on AM. This would lead many SWLs to become hams. But most SWL receivers don't receive SSB well, if at all, and completely different tuning skills are needed. So most SWLs just tuned past the unintelligible ham SSB garble. This last was part of a much larger trend. From the reopening of US ham radio to about 1963, the number of US hams grew from about 60,000 on VJ day to about 250,000 in 1963 - quadrupling in just 17 years. Then the growth stalled and didn't pick up again until the early 1970s. This loss of growth happened fully 5 years before "incentive licensing", and it was only after the new rules were in place that the numbers picked up again, so IL can't be the cause. What *did* cause it we - changeover to SSB - competition from 27 MHz cb - drastic reduction of the places where a Conditional license could be issued - license and test fees - changes in society, particularly young people. Ham radio has always been kind of a "square" activity, and in the '60s such perceptions "turned off" a lot of young people. Wayne Green has gotten too much credit - mainly from his own self promotion. The rooster taking credit for the dawn. JA has had nocodetest ham licenses since 1952. They were on a rebuilding/industrial boom. They were investing in development and new tooling at a furious rate while US companies weren't. Favorable tax and exchange rates. Etc. Incentive licensing hardly killed off Amatuer radio or the manufactorers of the time. Agreed. Increased competition from the Japanese probably was the largest factor in the die off of the old American companies. Yep. I've got a Swan/Cubic Astro-150A. It's totally synthesized, solid state using military construction, with plug in pcb's, full QSK, built in CW filter, etc, etc. Its design date from around 1978. Yet, they were only able to sell less than 1000 of them. Why? It cost $999 at a time when the Yaesu FT101 listed at only $699. And a TS-520S was even less IIRC. In my opinion, the Astro-150 is a much better rig, but at the time Amateurs voted with their wallets. When the Drake TR7 was introduced, it was a $1400 rig that didn't include things like a speech processor or standard noise blanker when equivalent rigs from the Japanese makers were available for less than $1000. There's also the "line" aspect. Most US manufacturers of the time made just one "line" of ham gear - Drake had the 4 line, Collins had the S-line, Heath had the SB line, etc. Many did not offer VHF/UHF gear, or the offerings were limited. But very early on the Japanese produced multiple lines, such as the TS-520S and TS-820S, and a whole line of VHF/UHF stuff. A ham could have an "all-Kenwood" (or Yaesu, or Icom) station that covered 160 through 440. Few US manufacturers offered such variety. The story of ham radio makes is no different than the story of U.S. TV makers. There are no TV's being made in the USA by companies that are based in the USA. Likewise, no VCR's, no CD players etc, etc are being made by USA owned companies. Sadly true. At least in ham gear we have a choice: Ten Tec and Elecraft, to name just two. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
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