New old toys
We’ve come a long way since the time of Marconi. I’ve been known to risk RF burns for about three decades now, and I grew up with the clicks of telegraph sounders, so fist-powered communication is nothing new. My own children have heard CW, without ever understanding “what” was being said spelled out in plain language. This evening, though, I showed a “bug” to one of the frequent visitors and sent a simple ID. His reaction: “Cool! It’s like scratch“. I’m officially from a far distant place and time.
I received a six meter transverter this afternoon. The opportunity presented itself, through a poorly described eBay auction, and I was the only bidder. Black box magic for me, as I’ve never owned such an invention before, and I have nothing to use to judge if things are actually functional. The unit passed the initial smoke test, and the reassurning glow of the power LED and an increase in birdy noise in my receiver tells me that something is going on. It’s just that 50 MHz isn’t used by a cordless phone or a taxi radio or anything else nearby. I’m resigned to listening for beacons. I cut a simple dipole from an old power cord and added another band capability to my station.
There may be some reluctance on the part of other housemates to listen to white noise for the next twelve hours. Something about soothing sounds… If I have to wait until the weekend, I’m going to be a rather anxious compulsive, but the alternative is moving to a desert island. This is probably a good way to build character. My hobbies are old school tech, but those who live in the Internet generation don’t always appreciate the art form of wireless communications.
