Left Coast Political Scene

Are we being manipulated by the Ham Radio Manufacturers? Here is a letter that was sent to DX Engineering? If after reading this you have similar views --why not drop K3LR a note at the DX Engineering website "Contact Us" tab. I am sure he would love to hear from others in the ham homebrew community who like me see $4K for a Appliance Box as being out of step with our true ham roots which are now over 100 years old! 10/26/2019 ~ PPS (Pre Post Script).  W hen you have the innovative and experimental mindset, then it is possible to add some new technology to fix problems with older radios. One does not learn that by knowing the 3000 menus in the IC7300. A Ten Tec Model 540 had a completely broken dial cord mechanism. Yes. radios used to have dial cord mechanisms.  The message here is "when you know stuff, you can do stuff"! Working Contests and Operating may not give you the skill sets to pull this off. Watch the video... October 23, 2019 ...

Mechanical Engineering in our Radios, Rigs and RADIGS Being hams, we often think about the electronic hardware in our rigs. Does it have an IRF510 in the Output or a Real RF Device like a RD06HHF1? Is it being "Run" with a digital VFO or one of those drifty, shifty Analog boxes. BUT we often forget that some of these beloved radios rely heavily on our brother Mechanical Engineers to make it all play. You only need to look at James Millen who did all of the ME on the HRO receivers. Or pop the hood on that Collins R390A and savor the mechanical tuning mechanisms. Perhaps you overlooked the same in your KWM-2 or Drake TR-4. The ganged tuning of various networks is a marvel. Hey don't forget the SBE-33/34 and the "Geneva" Turret tuning arrangement. But there is a special place in my shack for those really "cool guys" at Ten Tec. If you perhaps have some earlier Ten Tec radios like the 505, 509 or 540 that string driven dial system was pu...