Fwd: Re: [GreenKeys] An Update

Fri May 7 22:30:23 EDT 2004

Hi George:

Good to have you back in the active category!  Sorry to hear about your 
difficult family matters.

And a shame about the widecast project -- I thought we had a shot with 
that.  You have every right to be pissed;  the process just seems 
politically-selective.  Or just plain stupid.

Love the Dovetron!   Thanks again for all your hard work on that 
project.  I know you spent a lot of time procuring these for everyone, and 
we all sure do appreciate it!

thanks again, and welcome back,

gil

>From: "George B. Hutchison" <[email protected]>
>To: <[email protected]>
>Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 1:20 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
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > GreenKeys mailing list
> > [email protected]
> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
> >
>
>
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