On Feb 29, 9:16�pm, Mike Coslo wrote:
On Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:40:11 -0500, N2EY wrote:
On Feb 29, 10:29 am, Michael Coslo wrote:

I'm a member of the function-determines-form
school of thought on this.
That sounder is an excellent example of that
school - its form is
exactly what it needs to be to do the job it was
intended to do. Yet it
is aesthetically pleasing without any added ornamentation.

You're just several pieces of brass and leather
away from steampunkin' it, Jim!

But I don't wanna be a steampunk!

The knobs and meters are already there. maybe brass up the
chassis (technical question: will the brass have an untoward
effect on inductors, ala diddle sticks?)

Not any more than aluminum.

The speaker (red cone is a plus) can be covered
with leather real
or faux. The shelves look a lot like the ones I made.

The table is homemade, too. The clock was assembled from the pieces of
several, each of which had a different problem. The result has been
functioning perfectly for at least 15 years.

Tubes glow, so they are already there......

Mercury vapor rectifiers and several different kinds of VR tubes.

But see above about "form follows function" and "aesthetically
pleasing without any added ornamentation". Would adding brass and
leather make any difference in rig performance? Or are they only for
looks?

IMHO, the form-follows-function aesthetic would brass- or nickle-plate
telegraph instruments to prevent corrosion. But it would not add brass
simply for a look. Same for leather - would the speaker sound better?

Perhaps we hams are missing out on something
by using words like
"shack", "shop", and "hobby". People who do
art for its own sake,
without pecuniary interest,

"Art for Art's sake"

Amateur radio is "Radio for it's own sake"

See the connection?

do not use those terms. Be it painting in
oil or watercolor, sculpture
(in a variety of media), woodworking,
music, poetry, performing arts, etc., they
use terms like "studio",
"gallery", "performance space", etc.
There's a certain approach the
creative and performing artist have towards
what they do, and I think we
could learn from it. We should not be apologetic
for our activities any
more than an artist apologizes for his/hers.
In amateur radio we can be
both creative (building equipment and stations)
and performing
(operating our stations) artists!

Interesting insight Jim.

TNX

When I built my telescopes, each one was
designed to be functional, yet beautiful.
I was especially fond of the
12.5 inch reflector, which was done in
art deco style. The form followed
the function, yet the aesthetic enhanced
the form. On the urging of some
friends I entered it in the home made
telescope contest, and it won.

EXCELLENT!

Now to homebrewing some rigs....

By sheer coincidence, last night I was at Eastern University's
telescope.

There's also the factor of craftsmanship,
which is evident in the
steampunk objects. Craftsmanship can't be
bought or learned entirely
from a book; it's a matter of practice, too.
Steampunk clearly has lots
of it!

They love to create.

Same here.

I'm hoping to bring some of that to amateur
radio. I also expect a certain amount of ridicule.

From whom?

I think we hams may have been selling
ourselves short in some ways. We
have aesthetics that IMHO are just as
valid as any other. For example,
antennas are not "ugly" in that aesthetic - they are a beautiful
expression of form-following-function if done right.
To me, a house does
not become "home" unless there is a
properly-designed-and- installed
amateur radio antenna present.

I think that many people have been told that antennas are ugly,
and that some industries are happy to promote that.

Agreed. In fact, some *amateurs* may even be happy to promote
it.

Most antennas are not ugly.

Agreed. And for those that are, the ugliness is usually
more a function of a lack of craftsmanship than it is
of the antenna itself.

73 de Jim, N2EY