"rocky" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Noon-Air" wrote:

Whatever happenet to a simple to operate 100watt HF rig that transmits
and
recieves??... something in the way of an inexpensive, baseline, HAM band
*only* rig... maybe along the lines of the re-production of the TS-130S.

-n6ojn


too many want,,,,no demand they be able to hook up their computer. The
days of simple are far in the past.

I was thinking more along the lines of inexpensive, entry level equipment...
the ranks of licensed operators is rapidly dwindling as all of us old farts
are dying off. The only time that there seems to be any push to increase
ranks is after a disaster, when the infrastructure is wiped out and all that
is left are the HAM radio operators. I believe that a lot of prospective
HAMs are put off because of 2 things....
1) The expen$e of buying new equipment, antennas, towers, etc. Most
prospects don't know that you gan get a workable station on the air for just
a couple of hundred dollars. All they *see* are the tower systems, and high
dollar radios where the HAM has been licensed for 20+ years and has
built/accumulated a top drawer station over the years.
2) The equipment is getting to where you have to be an EE just to figure out
what everything does. Newbies need to have a simple to operate station so
they can learn the basics, then after they get a handle on it, they can
start building a station with some of the latest and greatest, state of the
art, toys.
I don't know about you, but my first station was nothing more than a used
TS-520S, and a wire antenna(40/15M dipole), a borrowed MFJ antenna tuner,
and a straight key(no voice privileges for novices then)...That was all I
could afford at the time, and that almost broke the bank. I was a little
overwhelmed with the 520 when I first got it and it took me a while to
really feel comfortable with the rig. Imagine the new HAM today with
something like a TS-2000.....if they can afford it. Even tho I have been an
active HAM since 1984, I have had my TS-480HX since July, and I *still*
don't know and haven't figured out all it will do...and thats running it
mobile!! No tellin what it would do in the shack. Would I recommend the 480
for a newbie?? not hardly... but for an experienced HAM, its a great rig
that will do everything you ever dreamed of.
There still needs to be an inexpensive, easy to operate, entry level, HF
rig, made available to the new Novice.

What kinds of rigs/stations did the rest of you *start* with??
What do you think that *most* young prospective HAMs would be able to handle
to get into the hobby??

-n6ojn

--

Steve @ Noon-Air Heating & A/C


Life is what happens while you were making other plans

Noon-Air wrote:

SNIPPED a lot

What kinds of rigs/stations did the rest of you *start* with??
What do you think that *most* young prospective HAMs would be able to handle
to get into the hobby??

-n6ojn


A Heathkit AT-1, 15 watts, crystal controlled on 80/40/20/10, used on 80
and 40 CW Novice band in the early 1950s. Receiver was a National SW-54.
Antenna was 120 feet of TV twin lead using a small home made tuner [made
by my Elmer]. [Total cost $65].

On my first weekend I earned the WATV award :-)

On my second weekend I earned the MLL Award :-)

On the third weekend I earned the OTA award.

On the fourth weekend my Elmer responded to my awards with corrective
action.

Praise the Lord for Elmer [Ralph Tedford, [W1GID ?] SK]

Subsequently, been on the air for 50+ years.

Noon-Air wrote:
What kinds of rigs/stations did the rest of you *start* with??
What do you think that *most* young prospective HAMs would be able to handle
to get into the hobby??

The problem is the competition. You can buy a NEW computer for $200,
hook it up to broadband and be able to talk around the world, download
video in almost real time, get the news, sports and things that you will
never see or hear on the radio. No tests, NO MORSE CODE, no controls.

The days of electronics experiemnters going to the "radio shop" and buying
some wire, tubes and spare parts and hearing people from around the world
are long gone. The mystery is gone, the parts stores are gone and it seems
that the desire to work to get an education is all lost in the rush.

Cheap rigs are simply not going to do it. There are so many used rigs on
the market these days that go for $300-$400 that even mainland China with
their factories that pay so little can compete. As for new rigs, everyone
wants a simple voice rig with a digital VFO, a gazillion memories and
an AUTOMATIC antenna tuner. You might as well not even include CW, most
prospective hams can't be bothered to learn it.

Education and outreach is the only thing that will. Apple computer started
the concept of "product evangelism", preaching how good the Macintosh was
to the "great uncomputered". Their head evangelist, Guy Kawasaki wrote several
books on the subject.

If ham radio is to continue, you need to "product evangelize" ham radio.
Go out and give demos to schools, scout troups, youth groups. If there are
any kids in your family or neighbors that are interested in computers,
take them to hamfests, they'll go for the computers, but the radios may
catch their interest.

It's also about time to change the license tests. Drop morse code. Add more
good operating practice.

Here in Israel I hear mostly European hams. They are polite and careful
operators. When the "skip rolls in" to use a term from another service, it
seems like CB. Gone are the polite carefull guys, the U.S. phone bands
sound like "lid city". And the CW is not much better, most of it is sent
by computer and the same old garbage you hear on SSB, sent by people
who can type and have a computer program to copy Morse.

Another pet peeve of mine is sstv. It was "neat" seeing it live from
the Mercury space capsules. Fourty years later it has no technological
relevance. Why do we have to give up 20-30kHz of the 20 meter band 24/7
for it?

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/