[GreenKeys] An Update

Thu, 6 May 2004 21:20:03 -0500

Welcome back, George!!  Good to see you on here again.  Tks for all you did
in the Dovetron project, no problems there as has already been mentioned.
73,
Don, WB5HAK
----- Original Message -----
From: "George B. Hutchison" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 3:20 PM
Subject: [GreenKeys] An Update


> GreenKeyers - - -
>
> I have been loathe to do or say anything on GreenKeys due to the
> embarrassment over the Dovetron Project. I had hopes of supplying
> everyone with a nice spiffy-clean unit with power cord, alignment
> paperwork, and a card delineating what all everything had been adjusted
> to, etc.
>
> The course of things changed when it became adament that it was
> necessary for me to take over managing my dad's affairs, getting him
> proper medical care, ferreting out where he had rat-holed all of his
> assets, and other details pertinent to getting his life of 89 years into
> some sort of order.
>
> I am spending an average of about 18 hours per week with him, taking him
> on rides, going to lunch, the bank, and what have you. It does not leave
> much time for the "fun" projects.
>
> To the few that pissed and moaned to me about things, all I can say is
> wait until your turn comes. If you are fortunate, your parent or parents
> will die quickly and quietly, leave you a pile of cash and a big house,
> and evaporate in a puff of red smoke. There are far more people out
> there who are aware of the real world and its ways who have been quite
> supportive in the past months. A big thanks to Jerry Lockett, N6JP, Bill
> Bytheway, N7TTY, and Roy Norris, K4EEG, for taking the time to counsel
> and relate their own experiences in this sort of thing. It helped a lot.
>
> I have been watching GreenKeys with fascination and a sort of big smile
> at what some might consider to be re-invention of the wheel when it
> comes to autostart, selcal, all-call and message termination codes, etc.
> Dammit guys, GO TO IT!!!  You haven't had fun UNTIL you HAVE made your
> own wheel!!!
>
> Irv Hoff's name has finally been broached, as well it should. Irv laid a
> lot of track for such folks as Bill Henry and HAL Communications, stole
> a lot of ideas from firms such as Frederick Electronics, and made it
> possible for many of us to readily understand just what the hell was
> going on, why, and how it could be made better. It pained me to see Irv
> and Bob Weitbrecht, W6NRM, at loggerheads over such things as slideback
> detectors. They were both, in my mind, great guys, and the world is
> better off for their short visit in the course of eternity.
>
> Irv and I went at it on occasion. The power supply as originally
> designed for the ST-6 used  transistors as a great way of protecting
> the fuse. I said as much, and boy, you have not lived until you have had
> three or four feet of machine speed hand-typed copy peel off the machine
> telling you where the bear went in the woods, all of it in perfect
> grammar, punctuation, etc..
>
> It is now your turn to do it again, and I heartily endorse the whole
> idea. I think Tony Podrasky has about the best idea, but leave out the
> underscore. Call it "HOFFNET". Remember, teletype machines do not have
> the underscore character.
>
> For those concerned about being on frequency, I suggest you simply watch
> ebay, the surplus ads, and the swapmeets, and latch onto something cheap
> but good such as an HP 5245L Frequency Counter. I have seen them go for
> as little as 25 dollars, and if you have a receiver you can adjust the
> time base in the counters so close that the FCC will be quite happy with
> where you are sitting. Roy's idea of a reference station is good, and it
> would not take much to do that. The Harris RF-131 SSB Synthesizer will
> allow you excellent accuracy and stability, and they have also gone for
> a song on ebay.
>
> Speaking of the FCC, they shot down the Widecast Project. Seems that Ed
> Thomas, the OET's Chief Engineer, perceived a lot of holes in the
> project, such as interference with adjacent channels, limiting use of
> the spectrum below 25 megacycles to emergency and government
> communications, etc. My opinion is that he did not even bother to read
> the petition but relied on some opinions presented by underlings. and
> is/was probably under some pressure to make sure that the BPL crap was
> not given yet another reason to be stopped.
>
> The FCC was chartered to be the stewards of the electromagnetic
> spectrum. In order to do a proper job it seems only fitting that a
> commissioner have some level of technical expertise. I believe that the
> FCC as a whole is nothing more than a bunch of mediocre attorneys who
> have been given a reward for some manner of service to some higher up
> political hack. Technically I believe that they cannot tell the
> difference between an OHM and an Englishman's 'Ouse. 'Nuff said.
>
> I will soon be retiring from Rockwell-Collins. I won't say much about it
> except that Collins is no longer the company that most of us grew up
> revering as the best-of-the-best. The equipment is technically pretty
> good. Those planes that have screwed themselves into the earth were NOT
> equipped with Rockwell-Collins Autopilots. One does have to wonder,
> however, how can it be a good deal to sell two weeks worth of vacation
> time for one weeks pay. I Dunno.
>
> The family and I will be moving from Auburn, Washington to a little town
> called Sequim. (pronounced 'Squim') I will be turning from electronics
> into sandwich making, in that we have purchased a Quizno's Toasted
> Sandwich Franchise. Inasmuch as it will be adjacent to a Wal-Mart, and
> probably have a Starbuck's Coffee Shop next door, it might do pretty
> well. We'll see...
>
> I have consideered taking most of the teletype stuff to the dump, as I
> don't think there would be anyone interested in buying it. But, the love
> of teletype machines is like nail fungus; it's in the blood. I just
> bought a 14 TD from Bob Baker. That 14 has a real rare dual distributor
> disc in it that will make it possible to make the dual head 14 TD that
> Chuck Swiger sent one time into a fully independent dual head model 14.
>
> For those interested in the autostart project, I have some Harris RF-230
> Transceivers and matching Power Supplies, and four of the channelized
> (not automatic) antenna couplers that go with them, as well as enough
> interconnecting cabling and interface boxes to make four complete
> set-ups. The transceivers are the channelized models (RF-230M) and some
> have two synthesizer boards so that you can have up to 64 channels in
> the unit. They are rated at 125 watts output for 24/7 if you have a
> cooling fan blowing on the rear heatsink. Harris had a mod kit to
> provide such cooling).
>
> I originally got them as incentive giveaways for those interested in a
> good exciter for a station in the Widecast Service. Since that project
> is dead, I don't need 'em. Anyone interested can e-mail me and make me
> an offer on a set-up. Recently the transceivers alone have been on ebay
> for around 600-800 bucks. Seems a bit high to me.
>
> Time for me to grab my lunch and go make more junk work.
>
> Hope I have not bored people to death, but some have asked about what's
> going on.
>
> 73,
>
> George, W7TTY
>
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