"Phil Kane" wrote in
et:

On 15 Feb 2004 23:47:21 GMT, Alun wrote:

Th4 U S cannot enter into a treaty that gives citizens of a third
country privileges irregardless of whether they are permanent US
residents or not. The treaty affects citizens of the two countries
alone, CEPT notwithstanding.

Become a US citizen and the problem goes away.

That's odd, Phil, because a licence issued in another CEPT country will
be valid anywhere but the US, conditional only not being a resident of
the country you are in, and on it being in the CEPT agreement,
regardless of what your citizenship is.

The US is not a CEPT country - it recognizes the ham licenses issued
by CEPT countries the same way that it recognizes any other ham
license offered for reciprocal operation - the license has to be
from the country of citizenship.

Correct. However, the question is why they require US citizenship in the
other direction? The CEPT doesn't make them do this. I can get around it. I
just find it odd.

This is to avoid the "flag of
convenience" problem. We had a guy living in California who had a
Hong Kong license (isn't it nice to know the right people) who
operated in the US on a reciprocal basis with the exotic call sign
until the FCC ruled that one must be a citizen of the licensing
country or get a U S license - turned out that he was not a Hong
Kong citizen. He eventually got a US license.


Yes. CEPT has a different solution to this problem, though. The agreement
only permits you to operate in a given country under CEPT if you are _not_
a resident. This would have prevented the particular example you mentioned,
as the guy was a US resident, and thus could never operate in the US under
CEPT, irregardless of citizenship. Of course, Hong Kong is not a CEPT
country, so you would have to substitute one that was to make this example
work.

As in many things, the US viewpoint is in a minority of one. Strange
that.

It's no problem, though. All I have to do is get my G licence
re-issued, and unlike the US there is no 2-year time limit to worry
about.

I can't get my Israeli license reinstated unless I immigrate either
as an extended temporary or permanent resident or apply for
citizenship, even though I have a valid Israeli address that is my
family's home. At least I know that I can get my old call sign back
if I do. If I go there as a tourist or on a temporary visa
(business or short-term resident) I have to use the my US call on a
reciprocal basis (K2ASP/4X) even though I have a can-be-reactivated
Israeli call sign.

--
73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane




That's a pity. In the UK it hinges only on having a UK address. If you
can't get someone to act as a mailing address, then you can only get a 6
month temporary licence without a UK call, e.g. you have to operate as
M0/foreign call, but if you can, then you can get a normal licence with a
standard call.

Either way, a US General or above gets you the highest grade of licence,
recently re-named Advanced. Unfortunately, anything less than a General
gets you nothing, but a US citizen with a Tech licence or above should also
be able to operate under CEPT with Advanced privileges, that citizenship
limitation being imposed at the US end. My XYL is British and has a Tech
licence, so right now she can't get a licence to operate in the UK atall.

In my case I should definitely be able to get one of my old G calls re-
issued. Either one would now be an Advanced licence, although they were
originally different classes. They are never re-issued to someone else,
except with the licencee's permission or after their death, and even then
only to an immediate family member or to a club. I held two UK calls at one
time, and I could allow the 'spare' one to be issued to a family member if
they qualified for a UK licence, i.e. for example if my XYL got her
General.

73 de Alun, N3KIP (Ex-G8VUK, G0VUK)

"Phil Kane" wrote in message . net...
On 15 Feb 2004 13:55:43 -0800, Brian Kelly wrote:

Whew. You hit some more buttons with this one. I like the T1 better
than the S1. But the K4 is the ultimate classic PRR power.

The ultimate class is the GG-1. Someday one will run again.....

They were magnificent beasts, no question about that and they're
probably the most memorable of the PRR power roster. Unfortuantely
they "didn't get around" all that much because of the limited amount
of PRR electrified mileage.

I was raised and still live in the heart of GG-1 country, I got GG-1
stories . . ! The best visual I ever had of one was when I was a young
kid. We have a neighborhood electrified PRR commuter and freight
branch line on which, back then, they normally ran those early 1900s
junker MU car commuter rattletraps. But every time TWU 234 struck and
the city transit company shut down the commuter mobs had to switch
from the stranded suburban trolleys to the PRR to get to their
downtown jobs. That's when the Pennsy rolled up it's sleeves and put
real trains on the West Chester line. Watching an inbound GG-1 pulling
a long string of 80 foot smoothside coaches glide into Clifton-Aldan
station was like a religious experience . .

Much later in life I did a good bit of business with the electric car
shops in Wilmington DE which is where the Pennsy based it's GG-1 fleet
and where Amtrak still headquarters it's electrics. More GG-1 tales: I
don't know where it is now but during that timeframe the shops
completely tore down an reassembled a museum-quality GG-1. Ya could
use the paint as a mirror . . I saw the GG-1 they cut in half and
converted into a brush-burner, the GG-1/2. And the GG-1 they turned
into a monster snow blower.

http://www.spikesys.com/GG1/

http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/about/roster/gg1.htm

One of 'em might run again somewhere some day. It's been my ongoing
understanding that the overhead power system had been switched from 25
Hz 11Kv to 60Hz but that's apparently not the case, the changeover
never happened so operating a GG-1 should still be possible. *IF* they
can replace the original PCB-laced transformer oil to an oil which is
not as toxic.

w3rv

Dave Heil wrote in message ...
Brian Kelly wrote:

Dave Heil wrote in message ...
Brian Kelly wrote:

I can only hope that someone recorded that banquet talk. Of course most
of Shepherd's stuff was that entertaining. That voice we hearing
narrating "A Christmas Story" is his.

Also the sequel, "Olly Hopnoodle's Haven Of Bliss". James B. Sikking
(best know for Hill Street Blues) plays Dad and Shep makes a cameo
appearance.

A nice bit of nostalgia! Most of the catalog houses had at least some
ham gear. It is interesting to note that famed industrial designer
Raymond Loewy designed the S-40 cabinetry.

Note that Sears, Hallicrafters and Loewy were all based in Chicago.

Also Frank Lloyd Wright, for at least some of his career.

He is the fellow who brought
us the '47 Studebaker Starlight Coupe and '53 Starliner Coupe, the '61
Avanti,
the S-1 steam locomotive (Pennsylvania RR), that sharp-looking fifties
Coca-Cola dispenser that we'd see in diners and drug stores, and all
sorts of products from pencil sharpeners to refrigerators.

Whew. You hit some more buttons with this one. I like the T1 better
than the S1. But the K4 is the ultimate classic PRR power.

http://prrsteam.pennsyrr.com/prrt1.html

As K2ASP sez, the GG-1 is the top of that pyramid.

For streamlined steam engines, the special J-3 Hudsons used on the New
York Central's Twentieth Century Limited are the most impressive.

Raymond Loewy, Dad and me . . .

Dad . . at sixtysomething he decided he'd had enough "family cars" and
announced that he was gonna buy a Corvette. Only over Mom's dead body
he was gonna buy a Corvette. Back to the drawing board. "OK, I'll buy
a Studebaker GT Hawk". 1963. Mom didn't bark as much at that one so he
ordered the Hawk. But with a twist. He also bought a monster Packard
V8 engine with two four-barrel pots. The Hawk and the engine arrived
at the Stude dealer and Dad delivered 'em to the Three Js speed shop
in Wilmington DE. Mom being unaware of what was going on of course.
They did some engine, exhaust system and suspension mods then
shoehorned the engine into the Hawk. "The rest is history . . " The
thing ate Corvettes for breakfast . . It still exists in a barn near
Coatesville.

bwaahaahaa...

Loewy was one of my idols when I was a kid. I had some talent along
those lines and was bound and determined to go to the Chicago School
of Design and study under him. Going into 9th grade Dad told me I had
to decide what I was going to do with my life and tossed the Sunday
Inquirer help wanted classified ads section at me. No ads for artists.
No ads for industrial designers. No ads for illustrators. Four pages
of ads for engineers. End of.

Yup. All my dad did was take us to work with him in the company
business. All his kids have at least a bachelor's degree....

Engineers are generally the guys who make things work. Designers are
those who make them nice to look at. We all know of the exceptions.

"Scientists dream of doing great things. Engineers do them"

And the gene lives on. I have a young niece who recently graduated
from the Pratt Institute industrial design program. She's
unbelievable. Two weeks into her first summer student internship she
came up with a compartment latch for some Volkswagen bus which her
employer's ID group had been wrestling with for months. They faxed her
sketch to VW, a VW functionary called back immediately and told 'em
"Yeah, that's it, run with it!" They slapped patent papers on it and
put it into production.

It does sound as if it runs in the family.

Ayup.

I bought an S-40A from W7LR a few years back.

Still have it?

Oh yes, fully restored and sitting on a shelf to my right.

The design is still
stunning.

I'm not sure if I was ever aware of Loewy's role in the S-40 or not.
But I am now. It's definitely a "coherent" design. That was his trick,
integrate form and function. Not much of a rcvr though.

No, not at all. Hallicrafters (and many other firms) were still building
the same basic receivers in a variety of cabinets through the decades
with few innovations or variations.

The insides of the S-40 were only slightly changed to make the
S-85/SX-99 and finally the SX-122.

The Loewy cabinet, with variations, showed up in the S-40, SX-42,
SX-43 and S-76. There may be others, too.

W4JBP willed me his 1937 Hallicrafters Sky Challenger years back.

. . . there's a gooder . . . get it yet?

Sure do. It sits next to the S-40A. The engraved German silver dial is
super looking.

I'll bet!

K8CFT, who administered my Novice exam, had a Globe King 500-C in his
shack. I've always wanted one but they are bloody expensive these days.

I'd rather have an EFJ 500 or some such. Nothing quite like having a
big Johnson.

Boat anchors are going for insane prices. N2EY recently told me about
an unbuilt still-in-the-box Heath AT-1 which sold for $5,100 for God's
sake. Ya can buy a complete pristine meatball S-Line including a 30L1
amp with $5,100 and have a *pile* of change left over. Or an Orion and
most of a Centurion amp.

Yup. There was also an SX-88 at $7,151 that beat the previous one at
$6000.

And a recent auction sold an *unbuilt* Heath SB-303 for about $1300.
Adjusted for inflation, that's about what they cost new. But the '303
isn't much of a receiver - not even up to the level of the earlier
SB-301, and defintitely not in the same class as the Drake R4 family
or any Collins, A or S.

I've noted Globe King 500-C's going for $3,000+.

I saw an ad for someone *making* new Globe Kings...

I was amazed to get
$775 for a 51J-4 the year before last. One of the big differences
between the modern marvels and the vintage gear is that one can still
obtain tubes and parts for the vintage rigs.

And information, most of all.

A few years back I sold a Kenyon T-656 plate transformer to a ham in
Ohio. But it turned out he was just helping out a friend in one of the
Scandinavian countries who was restoring a rare old prewar Harvey
Wells rig. My old transformer is now running the old Harvey Wells, and
I got a nice thankyou on the website. (search on "Kenyon T-656")..

I doubt that any of the
current stuff will be operational or repairable in fifty years. The
lack of a replacement switch, an LSI or an LCD display will doom them to
the scrap heap.

50? Try 20! Some older transceiver models are falling prey to the fact
that certain custom components are failing and there are no
replacements except
from junkers. If you can find a junker that has the part still good,
that is.

Cass is Hugh Cassidy WA6AUD. His "West Coast DX Bulletin" was tops.
Cass had a flair for writing and brought us the Old Timer living on top
of the hill; the local QRPer, full of questions (often rhetorical) for
the Old Timer; Red-Eyed Louie, always doing the dawn patrol looking for
rare DX and the Palos Verdes Sundancers. There are numerous other
characters. When Cass retired, his mailing list went to the fellows at
Madison Electronics in Texas. Bill Kennamer K5FUV edited their "QRZ DX"
for a number of years before going to the DXCC desk in Newington to
replace Don Search.

If/when I ever make it your place you'll have to let read some of 'em.

Road trip!

Once you start, there's no stopping. Allow me to whet your interest with
the following from 1977:

"There were some local QRPers up the hill last week, the group including
one of those serious types. His beady eyes were everywhere, questioning
and checking. And the QRPers got to talking of Red Eye and the Palo
Verdes bunch, and Slim and the Hero of Mafeking. So we had to tell them
about the JA who in all seriousness had asked that alongside the obscure
jokes we place an explanation of what we meant. Perhaps we should have
kept the file sealed. 'Jokes?', says this serious one. 'Obscure jokes?
Where are they? Why, I've been reading the bulletin for some years now
and while there are things that sometimes I do not understand, I have
not noticed any jokes.' Son of a Gun!! What does one do in a situation
like that? The sky was blue, the day was warm and there had been a slow
joy in the group as they talked. But we realized that like a lot of
things, humor and DX and home cooking, that most things are relative and
sometimes more so. So we told the beady-eyed one that we would
underline them in his copy from now on, a service that perhaps others
might want and use. And for $14.00 a year, the enigmas of DX will
comeyour way in inscrutable prose, tangled, twisted and tortured...and
maybe stretched a bit. $18.00 will fling it at you by first-class mail
to the U.S./VE areas. $20.00 will fly it far down the moonpath to
Mexico and all the lands below the Tropic of Cancer and beyond the
meridians. Someday we may get the message...someday someone might get
the message to us."

For those who understand, no explanation is necessary. For those who
don't...

These days there's no point to publications like DX bulletins, it's
all out on the web in almost real time. But the websites are no where
near as much fun to read.

They could easily be...but they aren't.

Writing is easy, writing well isn't.
]
I don't support the ARRL's "gimme" for tens of thousands.

Hundreds of thousands, Dave. See "ARS License Numbers". Add up the
Techs,Tech Pluses and Advanceds and it's over 400,000.

Now Len can't
accuse us of not discussing amateur radio policy, his favorite topic for
some obscure reason.

Len who?

73 de Jim, N2EY

In article ,
(N2EY) writes:

Dave Heil wrote in message
...
Brian Kelly wrote:

Dave Heil wrote in message
...
Brian Kelly wrote:

I can only hope that someone recorded that banquet talk. Of course
most
of Shepherd's stuff was that entertaining. That voice we hearing
narrating "A Christmas Story" is his.

Also the sequel, "Olly Hopnoodle's Haven Of Bliss". James B. Sikking
(best know for Hill Street Blues) plays Dad and Shep makes a cameo
appearance.

Do you need a SAG website address?

Do they have a subliminal morse message in the recording?

Do they QSL?


Note that Sears, Hallicrafters and Loewy were all based in Chicago.

Also Frank Lloyd Wright, for at least some of his career.

Architects have to test for morsemanship?

He is the fellow who brought
us the '47 Studebaker Starlight Coupe and '53 Starliner Coupe, the '61
Avanti,
the S-1 steam locomotive (Pennsylvania RR), that sharp-looking fifties
Coca-Cola dispenser that we'd see in diners and drug stores, and all
sorts of products from pencil sharpeners to refrigerators.

Whew. You hit some more buttons with this one. I like the T1 better
than the S1. But the K4 is the ultimate classic PRR power.

http://prrsteam.pennsyrr.com/prrt1.html

As K2ASP sez, the GG-1 is the top of that pyramid.

For streamlined steam engines, the special J-3 Hudsons used on the New
York Central's Twentieth Century Limited are the most impressive.

Yup. Good ole raddio tawk on hum radio policy...

Raymond Loewy, Dad and me . . .

Dad . . at sixtysomething he decided he'd had enough "family cars" and
announced that he was gonna buy a Corvette. Only over Mom's dead body
he was gonna buy a Corvette. Back to the drawing board. "OK, I'll buy
a Studebaker GT Hawk". 1963. Mom didn't bark as much at that one so he
ordered the Hawk. But with a twist. He also bought a monster Packard
V8 engine with two four-barrel pots. The Hawk and the engine arrived
at the Stude dealer and Dad delivered 'em to the Three Js speed shop
in Wilmington DE. Mom being unaware of what was going on of course.
They did some engine, exhaust system and suspension mods then
shoehorned the engine into the Hawk. "The rest is history . . " The
thing ate Corvettes for breakfast . . It still exists in a barn near
Coatesville.

bwaahaahaa...

Outfitted for mobile radio? Doing morse while eating vettes?

Strange group there.

Loewy was one of my idols when I was a kid. I had some talent along
those lines and was bound and determined to go to the Chicago School
of Design and study under him. Going into 9th grade Dad told me I had
to decide what I was going to do with my life and tossed the Sunday
Inquirer help wanted classified ads section at me. No ads for artists.
No ads for industrial designers. No ads for illustrators. Four pages
of ads for engineers. End of.

Yup. All my dad did was take us to work with him in the company
business. All his kids have at least a bachelor's degree....

Have any of them married?


It does sound as if it runs in the family.

Ayup.

That's been said about the Jukes...


A few years back I sold a Kenyon T-656 plate transformer to a ham in
Ohio. But it turned out he was just helping out a friend in one of the
Scandinavian countries who was restoring a rare old prewar Harvey
Wells rig. My old transformer is now running the old Harvey Wells, and
I got a nice thankyou on the website. (search on "Kenyon T-656")..

Oy, such a nice boy! :-)



For those who understand, no explanation is necessary. For those who
don't...

Strange...most of us think this newsgroup is about amateur radio
policy matters, not SAG or AFTRA personalities, olde trolleys and
choo-choos, architects, family lineages, and autos hidden in barns.

Apparently it has expanded to cover anything the olde-tyme hammes
(and extra super special morsemen) want.

Chat room. Ho hum.



LHA / WMA

In article ,
(Brian Kelly) writes:

"Phil Kane" wrote in message
.net...
On 15 Feb 2004 13:55:43 -0800, Brian Kelly wrote:

Whew. You hit some more buttons with this one. I like the T1 better
than the S1. But the K4 is the ultimate classic PRR power.

The ultimate class is the GG-1. Someday one will run again.....

They were magnificent beasts, no question about that and they're
probably the most memorable of the PRR power roster. Unfortuantely
they "didn't get around" all that much because of the limited amount
of PRR electrified mileage.

Old ham "spark" transmitters? Using on-off keying [expletive deleted}?

:-)

I was raised and still live in the heart of GG-1 country, I got GG-1
stories . . ! The best visual I ever had of one was when I was a young
kid. We have a neighborhood electrified PRR commuter and freight
branch line on which, back then, they normally ran those early 1900s
junker MU car commuter rattletraps. But every time TWU 234 struck and
the city transit company shut down the commuter mobs had to switch
from the stranded suburban trolleys to the PRR to get to their
downtown jobs. That's when the Pennsy rolled up it's sleeves and put
real trains on the West Chester line. Watching an inbound GG-1 pulling
a long string of 80 foot smoothside coaches glide into Clifton-Aldan
station was like a religious experience . .

Anything like shooting bears for naval intelligence?

Much later in life I did a good bit of business with the electric car
shops in Wilmington DE which is where the Pennsy based it's GG-1 fleet
and where Amtrak still headquarters it's electrics. More GG-1 tales: I
don't know where it is now but during that timeframe the shops
completely tore down an reassembled a museum-quality GG-1. Ya could
use the paint as a mirror . . I saw the GG-1 they cut in half and
converted into a brush-burner, the GG-1/2. And the GG-1 they turned
into a monster snow blower.

Oh! This is all about trolley and loco choo-choos!

For a minute there I thought you might be tawkin ole raddio tawk.

One of 'em might run again somewhere some day. It's been my ongoing
understanding that the overhead power system had been switched from 25
Hz 11Kv to 60Hz but that's apparently not the case, the changeover
never happened so operating a GG-1 should still be possible. *IF* they
can replace the original PCB-laced transformer oil to an oil which is
not as toxic.

Safety first. Wear rubber gloves when keying them old, old trolleys.

Gotta love all this old, old raddio tawk.

LHA / WMD

In article ,
(Brian Kelly) writes:

"Phil Kane" wrote in message
.net...
On 15 Feb 2004 13:55:43 -0800, Brian Kelly wrote:

Whew. You hit some more buttons with this one. I like the T1 better
than the S1. But the K4 is the ultimate classic PRR power.

The ultimate class is the GG-1. Someday one will run again.....

They were magnificent beasts, no question about that and they're
probably the most memorable of the PRR power roster.

230 tons, 79-1/2 feet long, 4620 continuous horsepower, over 8000 hp short
term. In revenue service for almost 50 years.

Unfortuantely
they "didn't get around" all that much because of the limited amount
of PRR electrified mileage.

2677 track miles, give or take. Washington Union Station to New York Penn
Station, also Philadelphia to Harrisburg, several freight lines and numerous
commuter lines around Philly.

Oddly enough, it was the New Haven which pioneered AC electrification, and
eventually the GG-1s went all the way to New Haven under NH wires.

I was raised and still live in the heart of GG-1 country, I got GG-1
stories . . ! The best visual I ever had of one was when I was a young
kid. We have a neighborhood electrified PRR commuter and freight
branch line on which, back then, they normally ran those early 1900s
junker MU car commuter rattletraps.

MP-54 cars.

But every time TWU 234 struck and
the city transit company shut down the commuter mobs had to switch
from the stranded suburban trolleys to the PRR to get to their
downtown jobs. That's when the Pennsy rolled up it's sleeves and put
real trains on the West Chester line. Watching an inbound GG-1 pulling
a long string of 80 foot smoothside coaches glide into Clifton-Aldan
station was like a religious experience . .

On 100 pound rail, no less...

I remember walking between 30th Street station in Philly and classes at Penn,
and passing under the elevated freight line west of the station while GG-1
pulled trains went overhead. One could look up and see the underside of the
train as it went overhead...

Much later in life I did a good bit of business with the electric car
shops in Wilmington DE which is where the Pennsy based it's GG-1 fleet
and where Amtrak still headquarters it's electrics. More GG-1 tales: I
don't know where it is now but during that timeframe the shops
completely tore down an reassembled a museum-quality GG-1. Ya could
use the paint as a mirror . .

That was 1977, GG-1 4935, repainted in the classic Brunswick Green livery. I
think it is now in Strasburg. Raymond Loewy, (born in Paris in 1893), was on
hand for the intial run of the restored 4935 (May 15, 1977).

4877 was repainted Tuscan red and wound up with NJT (New Jersey Transit). 4859
was also redone and last time I saw it was under the shed in Harrisburg
station.

There are others in museums but those are the best known.

I saw the GG-1 they cut in half and
converted into a brush-burner, the GG-1/2.

Actually a G-1 - the term "GG" comes from the wheel arrangement, two G
arrangements back to back. "G" meaning two leading/trailing axles and three
powered axles.

And the GG-1 they turned
into a monster snow blower.

4846 was cut in half, you may be thinking of one and the same unit.

http://www.spikesys.com/GG1/

http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/about/roster/gg1.htm

One of 'em might run again somewhere some day. It's been my ongoing
understanding that the overhead power system had been switched from 25
Hz 11Kv to 60Hz

In the 1970s there was a lot of talk about converting the original 11 kV 25 Hz
catenary system to 25 kV 60 Hz. Conversion of the older units with their AC
traction motors would have been impractical.

However, research showed that the NHRR folks who had chosen 11 kV 25 Hz back
around the turn of the 19th century knew what they were doing. Changing to 25
kV 60 Hz would have meant increasing clearances at every overpass and tunnel,
changing every single insulator in the catenary structure, replacement of every
existing substation and installation of at least as many new ones. Plus
complete replacement of the signal and electrification system components
connected to the track. Simply cost too much and the ROI wasn't there.

By the time all this was figured out, the decision to phase out the older
equipment had proceeded too far to economically stop. Although capable of 100+
MPH, newer equipment such as the AEM-7 family of rectifier locos could do over
125 MPH, and the new Acela trainsets over 150 MPH, so the die was cast.

Another headache was that the newer passenger cars were HEP (Head End Power)
equipped, rather than powered by the steam line, and to pull the new cars the
GG-1s had to have a specially built power car for the passenger consist. Hardly
a flexible arrangement. The newer locos had HEP capability built in.

When electrification was extended from New Haven to Boston a few years ago, it
was done at 25 kV 60 Hz, since it was all new work anyway. No tunnels and few
overpasses. The trains now in use can handle either type of power.

but that's apparently not the case, the changeover
never happened so operating a GG-1 should still be possible. *IF* they
can replace the original PCB-laced transformer oil to an oil which is
not as toxic.

Actually all of the ones that went to museums had their main transformers
removed for the obvious reason. The biggest problem would be getting a custom
made replacement transformer. Let's see, 4620 x 746 equals about 3500 kVA at 25
Hz - that's a bit larger than the weenie little things used in radio, even
"professional" radio.

It is quite possible that a GG-1 that has been kept indoors could get a new
transformer and run again. The main problem is that it's doubtful that any of
the electrified railroads left would want a one-of-a-kind unit.

ahh, to hear the "duck call" air horn go by at over 100 mph once again...

btw, the PRR was a pioneer in the use of radio for railroad communications,
too.

73 de Jim, N2EY

Dave Heil wrote in message ...
Brian Kelly wrote:

He and Jack Fulmer W4HAV (later W4YF) opened a Volkswagen dealership way
too soon after the war.

Yeah,Yanks were nowhere near accepting sub-compacts in that timeframe.
Nor were they very anxious to do biz with the Huns.

Jean and Jack were SURE that they'd stumbled on a good thing. If they'd
only waited five or six years...

How many times has this scenario been played out? Little guy sticks
his neck out, goes bust, big guys come along later and feast on it.

number of times on biz in Cincinnati and in KY. Where is WLW vs. the
airport?

The studios are downtown. The transmitter is up north of the city near
Mason, Ohio in the same general area as the VOA relay station was
located.

Dunno where I got the notion it was on the Kentucky side of the crick.

They did some engine, exhaust system and suspension mods then
shoehorned the engine into the Hawk. "The rest is history . . " The
thing ate Corvettes for breakfast . . It still exists in a barn near
Coatesville.

Neat story. We were at the other end of the automotive spectrum. Dad
owned a '51 Pontiac and one day, one of the plugs unscrewed itself and
put a pretty good dent in the hood. Pop traded it for a decidedly
unglamorous '60 AMC wagon.

Hey I been there. Had a '64 Rambler American followed by a '72 AMC
Hornet Sportabout wagon. Then I bought my first Honda in '81. New
ballgame.

No ads for industrial designers. No ads for illustrators. Four pages
of ads for engineers. End of.

Engineers are generally the guys who make things work. Designers are
those who make them nice to look at. We all know of the exceptions.

Amen. I followed the niece's coursework thru Pratt. The artsy-fartsy
side is the least of it. Either ya already have it or ya don't and if
ya don't ya don't go to Pratt period. What she did get is piles of
courses in materials science, math thru Calculus, a good dose of
applied mecahanics (basic stress & deflection analysis),
manufaucturing engineering, etc. As she put it "Now I can at least
speak your langauge Uncle Brian." And she can too. In the meanwhile
she's up to her ears in computer graphics I can't even start to get
into.

I keep wondering how she'd "restyle" N2EY's Southgate 7 contraption .
..

sketch to VW, a VW functionary called back immediately and told 'em
"Yeah, that's it, run with it!" They slapped patent papers on it and
put it into production.

It does sound as if it runs in the family.

Seems like. A cousin made a bloody fortune with his advertsing agency,
"retired" into being the Art Director for the Franklin Mint, was
elected a Fellow in the American Water Color Society and at 86 he
still has one-man shows in NYC twice a month. He's also a train nut, a
Pennsy fan. I have one of his train watercolors, one of his few
whimsical blasts from the past. One of these days I'll cobble together
a website and post it.

I bought an S-40A from W7LR a few years back.

Still have it?

Oh yes, fully restored and sitting on a shelf to my right.

Uh-huh . . . Hmmm . .

I'm not sure if I was ever aware of Loewy's role in the S-40 or not.
But I am now. It's definitely a "coherent" design. That was his trick,
integrate form and function. Not much of a rcvr though.

No, not at all. Hallicrafters (and many other firms) were still building
the same basic receivers in a variety of cabinets through the decades
with few innovations or variations.

AMC Honda. Hallicrafters Kenwood.


W4JBP willed me his 1937 Hallicrafters Sky Challenger years back.

. . . there's a gooder . . . get it yet?

Sure do. It sits next to the S-40A. The engraved German silver dial is
super looking.

There's some trip bait . . I've always wanted to listen to one of
those '30s rcvrs but never had the oportunity.

So many of the ham radio dealers and parts houses have gone out of
business or have been bought by larger firms. West Virginia had
Chemcity Electronics back when I first got on the air. They had several
locations throughout the state and they sold amateur radio gear as well
as parts. This end of the state had a Cameradio shop.

Cincinnati had a number of places selling amateur gear. There was
Coston's. The "Saturday Night at Coston's" gathering of hams is the
stuff of legend. Queen City Electronics was run by John Dine WA8DFD.
R&L Electronics started in a garage in Hamilton, Ohio. In Dayton, there
was SREPCO. Cincinnati had a number of parts houses including Holub's,
Hughes-Peters, Mytronics, United Radio and the surplus house, Lapirow
Brothers.

Different times, different places. I guess there were exceptions but
in the '50s the Philly parts & radio distributors were clustered
downtown along Arch Street. A whole bunch of surplus joints and the
two big parts houses, Almo and Radio Electric Service Company, known
as RESCO. Both were family business single-location store front parts,
general electronics and ham gear distributors. Wanna a couple
resistors, no problem. A Collins rcvr and a "hi-fi" amp or a PA
system? Here ya go. Both still exist but in far different forms and
none of 'em have had anything to do with ham radio for decades. You
might enjoy this link.

http://www.almo.com/corporate/history.asp

Over the years there have been a few ham-only stores but they never
did very well and disappered. The parts stores still exist here and
there even today but they're few and far between so it's easier to
dial up Mouser and let the brown trucks do the running around. The HRO
store here has an armlock on hamdom in these parts today. I got stupid
and dropped into the store on a Saturday, unbelievable, there were
folks there from as far away as NYC and Baltimore, took two hours to
get to the cash register. No more "HRO Saturdays" for me!

In the end what matters is today and my view is that when it comes to
finding "good stuff" it's all out on the web in volumes the Almos and
RESCOS of days of yore never had.

I've noted Globe King 500-C's going for $3,000+. I was amazed to get
$775 for a 51J-4 the year before last.

NICE radio!

One of the big differences
between the modern marvels and the vintage gear is that one can still
obtain tubes and parts for the vintage rigs. I doubt that any of the
current stuff will be operational or repairable in fifty years. The
lack of a replacement switch, an LSI or an LCD display will doom them to
the scrap heap.

Tell me, I have a zonked TS-940SAT with all the options except the
voice card, it's been updated by the Kenwood factory shop to the final
production design and it's loaded with filters. I love the radio but
it's full of creaky old point-to-point wiring, weird switches,
unmarked ICs, etc. I found a local shop which specializes in 930/940s
and as soon as I get it fixed I'm gonna dump it and run with the money
while it's still worth a few bucks.

If/when I ever make it your place you'll have to let read some of 'em.

Once you start, there's no stopping. Allow me to whet your interest with
the following from 1977:

That's probably why I missed 'em. I was well into in my hiatus from
ham radio in '77.


"There were some local QRPers up the hill last week, the group including
one of those serious types. His beady eyes were everywhere, questioning
and checking. And the QRPers got to talking of Red Eye and the Palo
Verdes bunch, and Slim and the Hero of Mafeking. So we had to tell them
about the JA who in all seriousness had asked that alongside the obscure
jokes we place an explanation of what we meant. Perhaps we should have
kept the file sealed. 'Jokes?', says this serious one. 'Obscure jokes?
Where are they? Why, I've been reading the bulletin for some years now
and while there are things that sometimes I do not understand, I have
not noticed any jokes.' Son of a Gun!! What does one do in a situation
like that? The sky was blue, the day was warm and there had been a slow
joy in the group as they talked. But we realized that like a lot of
things, humor and DX and home cooking, that most things are relative and
sometimes more so. So we told the beady-eyed one that we would
underline them in his copy from now on, a service that perhaps others
might want and use. And for $14.00 a year, the enigmas of DX will
comeyour way in inscrutable prose, tangled, twisted and tortured...and
maybe stretched a bit. $18.00 will fling it at you by first-class mail
to the U.S./VE areas. $20.00 will fly it far down the moonpath to
Mexico and all the lands below the Tropic of Cancer and beyond the
meridians. Someday we may get the message...someday someone might get
the message to us."

Heh. Yeah, I gotta read some of 'em. We used to needle the clueless,
the innocnet and the gullible with our "secret communications" from
the "Bowling Team Captain's Committee".

I don't support the ARRL's "gimme" for tens of thousands.

Ham radio has bigger problems than this one.

Now Len can't
accuse us of not discussing amateur radio policy, his favorite topic for
some obscure reason.

A Putz is a Putz is a Putz, whatta bore.

SNORE

Dave K8MN

w3rv

(N2EY) wrote in message . com...
Dave Heil wrote in message ...
Brian Kelly wrote:

Note that Sears, Hallicrafters and Loewy were all based in Chicago.

Also Frank Lloyd Wright, for at least some of his career.

Very early but his big days were in AZ.

Whew. You hit some more buttons with this one. I like the T1 better
than the S1. But the K4 is the ultimate classic PRR power.

http://prrsteam.pennsyrr.com/prrt1.html

As K2ASP sez, the GG-1 is the top of that pyramid.

Yeah, for you sparkies maybe.

For streamlined steam engines, the special J-3 Hudsons used on the New
York Central's Twentieth Century Limited are the most impressive.

Engineers are generally the guys who make things work. Designers are
those who make them nice to look at. We all know of the exceptions.

"Scientists dream of doing great things. Engineers do them"

A physicist and an engineer standing in bulap bags line up side by
side at one end of a basketball court.

There ia blonde to kill for at the other end of the basketball court.

Whoever gets to the blonde first gets his way with her.

The rule: Each successive hop has to be one half the distance of the
previous hop.

The engineer takes off like a bat outta hell. The Physicist doesn't
move and hollers at the engineer "You silly fool, you'll never get
there!"

The engineer hollers back "Watch me get close enough!"

And a recent auction sold an *unbuilt* Heath SB-303 for about $1300.
Adjusted for inflation, that's about what they cost new. But the '303
isn't much of a receiver - not even up to the level of the earlier
SB-301, and defintitely not in the same class as the Drake R4 family
or any Collins, A or S.

And for anywhere from $250 to maybe $500. Goofy.

Madison Electronics in Texas. Bill Kennamer K5FUV edited their "QRZ DX"
for a number of years before going to the DXCC desk in Newington to
replace Don Search.

If/when I ever make it your place you'll have to let read some of 'em.

Road trip!

Prolly.

Now Len can't
accuse us of not discussing amateur radio policy, his favorite topic for
some obscure reason.

Len who?

Oh you remember him James, the radio genius who needed 40Kw to QSO
W7/W6 from JA.

73 de Jim, N2EY

w3rv

Brian Kelly wrote:

Dave Heil wrote in message ...
Brian Kelly wrote:

number of times on biz in Cincinnati and in KY. Where is WLW vs. the
airport?

The studios are downtown. The transmitter is up north of the city near
Mason, Ohio in the same general area as the VOA relay station was
located.

Dunno where I got the notion it was on the Kentucky side of the crick.

You're likely thinking of the old WCKY at 1530 on the dial. It is now
WSAI which was at 1360. Confusing enough for you? WCKY was owned by
L.B. Wilson, a Kentuckian and the call stood for W Covington KentuckY.
Transmitters are on a hilltop overlooking Covington and the studios are
in downtown Cincinnati.

They did some engine, exhaust system and suspension mods then
shoehorned the engine into the Hawk. "The rest is history . . " The
thing ate Corvettes for breakfast . . It still exists in a barn near
Coatesville.

Neat story. We were at the other end of the automotive spectrum. Dad
owned a '51 Pontiac and one day, one of the plugs unscrewed itself and
put a pretty good dent in the hood. Pop traded it for a decidedly
unglamorous '60 AMC wagon.

Hey I been there. Had a '64 Rambler American followed by a '72 AMC
Hornet Sportabout wagon. Then I bought my first Honda in '81. New
ballgame.

Dad tried a couple of Buicks but has owned a number of Merc Grand
Marquis Limiteds over the last couple of decades. I'm a small car guy.
I'm now on my third Dodge Neon, this one is bright yellow and has a
spoiler.


I keep wondering how she'd "restyle" N2EY's Southgate 7 contraption .
.

I see it in a National 60's blue wrinkle cabinet with satin stainless
panel. There'd be no miniaturization with plenty of room for mods.

sketch to VW, a VW functionary called back immediately and told 'em
"Yeah, that's it, run with it!" They slapped patent papers on it and
put it into production.

It does sound as if it runs in the family.

Seems like. A cousin made a bloody fortune with his advertsing agency,
"retired" into being the Art Director for the Franklin Mint, was
elected a Fellow in the American Water Color Society and at 86 he
still has one-man shows in NYC twice a month. He's also a train nut, a
Pennsy fan. I have one of his train watercolors, one of his few
whimsical blasts from the past. One of these days I'll cobble together
a website and post it.

Do it!

I bought an S-40A from W7LR a few years back.

Still have it?

Oh yes, fully restored and sitting on a shelf to my right.

Uh-huh . . . Hmmm . .

I'm not sure if I was ever aware of Loewy's role in the S-40 or not.
But I am now. It's definitely a "coherent" design. That was his trick,
integrate form and function. Not much of a rcvr though.

No, not at all. Hallicrafters (and many other firms) were still building
the same basic receivers in a variety of cabinets through the decades
with few innovations or variations.

AMC Honda. Hallicrafters Kenwood.


W4JBP willed me his 1937 Hallicrafters Sky Challenger years back.

. . . there's a gooder . . . get it yet?

Sure do. It sits next to the S-40A. The engraved German silver dial is
super looking.

There's some trip bait . . I've always wanted to listen to one of
those '30s rcvrs but never had the oportunity.

My HRO is the mechanical marvel but for performance, I'd have to say
that the RME-69 has it beat. If we talk about the modern era, I'm
partial to the 75A-3 (modified to A-4 with the Universal Radio product
detector) for the ham bands and the 51S-1 for general coverage.

You might enjoy this link.

http://www.almo.com/corporate/history.asp

I'll take a look.

In the end what matters is today and my view is that when it comes to
finding "good stuff" it's all out on the web in volumes the Almos and
RESCOS of days of yore never had.

I've noted Globe King 500-C's going for $3,000+. I was amazed to get
$775 for a 51J-4 the year before last.

NICE radio!

It fell into my "if you don't turn it on and use it" category. I found
other uses for the money. I need to reduce the size of my collection of
heavy iron and increase the number of dollars. I can use the dollars
for modern marvels.

Tell me, I have a zonked TS-940SAT with all the options except the
voice card, it's been updated by the Kenwood factory shop to the final
production design and it's loaded with filters. I love the radio but
it's full of creaky old point-to-point wiring, weird switches,
unmarked ICs, etc. I found a local shop which specializes in 930/940s
and as soon as I get it fixed I'm gonna dump it and run with the money
while it's still worth a few bucks.

Not a bad idea. I think I may have told you that OH7XM was trying to
repair a TS-850 for a fellow in Helsinki. He found that the frequency
display unit is no longer available. That's one of the things which has
kept me away from K'wood.



"There were some local QRPers up the hill last week, the group including
one of those serious types. His beady eyes were everywhere, questioning
and checking. And the QRPers got to talking of Red Eye and the Palo
Verdes bunch, and Slim and the Hero of Mafeking. So we had to tell them
about the JA who in all seriousness had asked that alongside the obscure
jokes we place an explanation of what we meant. Perhaps we should have
kept the file sealed. 'Jokes?', says this serious one. 'Obscure jokes?
Where are they? Why, I've been reading the bulletin for some years now
and while there are things that sometimes I do not understand, I have
not noticed any jokes.' Son of a Gun!! What does one do in a situation
like that? The sky was blue, the day was warm and there had been a slow
joy in the group as they talked. But we realized that like a lot of
things, humor and DX and home cooking, that most things are relative and
sometimes more so. So we told the beady-eyed one that we would
underline them in his copy from now on, a service that perhaps others
might want and use. And for $14.00 a year, the enigmas of DX will
comeyour way in inscrutable prose, tangled, twisted and tortured...and
maybe stretched a bit. $18.00 will fling it at you by first-class mail
to the U.S./VE areas. $20.00 will fly it far down the moonpath to
Mexico and all the lands below the Tropic of Cancer and beyond the
meridians. Someday we may get the message...someday someone might get
the message to us."

Heh. Yeah, I gotta read some of 'em. We used to needle the clueless,
the innocnet and the gullible with our "secret communications" from
the "Bowling Team Captain's Committee".

Not too much changes. After all, we're still needling the clueless, the
innocent and the gullible.

I don't support the ARRL's "gimme" for tens of thousands.

Ham radio has bigger problems than this one.

I don't know that they're bigger. They're mostly just "other".

Now Len can't
accuse us of not discussing amateur radio policy, his favorite topic for
some obscure reason.

A Putz is a Putz is a Putz, whatta bore.

We're not dealing with ordinary here. This one was in the BIG TIME once
upon a time.

Dave K8MN

(N2EY) wrote in message ...
In article ,
(Brian Kelly) writes:

"Phil Kane" wrote in message

The ultimate class is the GG-1. Someday one will run again.....

They were magnificent beasts, no question about that and they're
probably the most memorable of the PRR power roster.

230 tons, 79-1/2 feet long, 4620 continuous horsepower, over 8000 hp short
term. In revenue service for almost 50 years.

Unfortuantely
they "didn't get around" all that much because of the limited amount
of PRR electrified mileage.

2677 track miles, give or take. Washington Union Station to New York Penn
Station, also Philadelphia to Harrisburg, several freight lines and numerous
commuter lines around Philly.

Like I sed they didn't get around all that much . . .

Oddly enough, it was the New Haven which pioneered AC electrification, and
eventually the GG-1s went all the way to New Haven under NH wires.

Yeah, yeah, all the way to New Haven, whoopee. In the meanwhile
steamers had been running close headers from NYC all the way to Boston
in the 1800s on the same roadbed. What was it . . only five years ago
that an electric *finally* made it from NYC to Boston for the first
time? On the taxpayer's dime of course. Bleh!!

real trains on the West Chester line. Watching an inbound GG-1 pulling
a long string of 80 foot smoothside coaches glide into Clifton-Aldan
station was like a religious experience . .

On 100 pound rail, no less...

The GG-1 rail loads were nothin' compared with the daily freights
which hauled ballast outta the quarries in western Delaware County in
those days 100 lb rail be damned. And they're still at it too.

Just a few years ago at some ungodly wee hour I got hungry and went to
the Wawa at Primos Station to dredge up a hoagie. There was an
outbound freight parked at the station, three big Geeps and a line of
hoppers that wound out of sight around the Merion Ave. curve. I did a
triple take, it was all orange AMTRAK equipment. A trainman had
manually opened the Oak Ave. crossing gates and was waving traffic
over the crossing while his buddies were tanking up on coffee and eats
in the Wawa.

I went up the guy and asked him if they'd lost their map of the AMTRAK
lines or what, Primos is *not* hardly AMTRAK country, right?. Wrong.
Daily wee-hours AMTRAK Ballast train.

I remember walking between 30th Street station in Philly and classes at Penn,
and passing under the elevated freight line west of the station while GG-1
pulled trains went overhead. One could look up and see the underside of the
train as it went overhead...

.. . . ya peeping Tom . . !

Much later in life I did a good bit of business with the electric car
shops in Wilmington DE which is where the Pennsy based it's GG-1 fleet
and where Amtrak still headquarters it's electrics. More GG-1 tales: I
don't know where it is now but during that timeframe the shops
completely tore down an reassembled a museum-quality GG-1. Ya could
use the paint as a mirror . .

That was 1977, GG-1 4935, repainted in the classic Brunswick Green livery. I
think it is now in Strasburg. Raymond Loewy, (born in Paris in 1893), was on
hand for the intial run of the restored 4935 (May 15, 1977).

4877 was repainted Tuscan red and wound up with NJT (New Jersey Transit). 4859
was also redone and last time I saw it was under the shed in Harrisburg
station.

There are others in museums but those are the best known.

16 of 'em are still out there.

I saw the GG-1 they cut in half and
converted into a brush-burner, the GG-1/2.

Actually a G-1 - the term "GG" comes from the wheel arrangement, two G
arrangements back to back. "G" meaning two leading/trailing axles and three
powered axles.

groan . . The brush burner was known as "Old Halfie".

And the GG-1 they turned
into a monster snow blower.

4846 was cut in half, you may be thinking of one and the same unit.

Tust me, it wasn't particulary difficult to discern the difference
between a half of a GG-1 reworked into a brush burner parked on a
track just west of the main shop and the complete GG-1 snow plow
parked in the field on the west side of the transfer slide. Sheesh . .
!

In the 1970s there was a lot of talk about converting the original 11 kV 25 Hz
catenary system to 25 kV 60 Hz. Conversion of the older units with their AC
traction motors would have been impractical.

However, research showed that the NHRR folks who had chosen 11 kV 25 Hz back
around the turn of the 19th century knew what they were doing. Changing to 25
kV 60 Hz would have meant increasing clearances at every overpass and tunnel,
changing every single insulator in the catenary structure, replacement of every
existing substation and installation of at least as many new ones. Plus
complete replacement of the signal and electrification system components
connected to the track. Simply cost too much and the ROI wasn't there.

By the time all this was figured out, the decision to phase out the older
equipment had proceeded too far to economically stop. Although capable of 100+
MPH, newer equipment such as the AEM-7 family of rectifier locos could do over
125 MPH, and the new Acela trainsets over 150 MPH, so the die was cast.

Further proof of my contention that they never oughta let you damned
sparkies anywhere near the railroads.

but that's apparently not the case, the changeover
never happened so operating a GG-1 should still be possible. *IF* they
can replace the original PCB-laced transformer oil to an oil which is
not as toxic.

Actually all of the ones that went to museums had their main transformers
removed for the obvious reason.

But then they didn't all go to museums did they? Hmmm? One of those
might run again.

The biggest problem would be getting a custom
made replacement transformer. Let's see, 4620 x 746 equals about 3500 kVA at 25
Hz - that's a bit larger than the weenie little things used in radio, even
"professional" radio.

WLW ran 500,000 kVA *OUT*. Plus it had 250,000 kVA worth of modulation
xfmrs.

It is quite possible that a GG-1 that has been kept indoors could get a new
transformer and run again. The main problem is that it's doubtful that any of
the electrified railroads left would want a one-of-a-kind unit.

It ain't the railroads which run the museum pieces, it's the museums
which run 'em. Steamtown, etc.

ahh, to hear the "duck call" air horn go by at over 100 mph once again...

The call of the Ruptured Duck . . Ugliest sound to ever come off the
rails until the diesels trumped the GG-1.

When was the last time YOU heard a steam whistle played in PRR revenue
service like I did?

Thought so . .

The GG-1 is a great niche piece but that's all it ever was compared
with the steamers.

Snippts by recognized authorities on the subject:

In 1914 the Pennsylvania Railroad built, what many people believe to
be, one of the most famous Locomotives to have ever roamed the rails,
the K4 Class 4-6-2 Pacific. It was so successful that the Pennsy had
424 more built.

K4s #3678 - This is one of 4 K4s's that was Streamlined in 1940 with
the help of Industrial Artist Raymond Loewy.

73 de Jim, N2EY

w3rv