From Scratch!

[News Flash... Did Rome just establish the 11th Commandment aimed at Priests. "Thou shall not use ChatGPT to write your mass sermons." Not quite like this but it is a fact and now a problem.]

The word Scratch takes many definitions and without being a closet etymologist I would like to explore some of those definitions.

We have all heard about "starting from scratch" which takes it root from Olde English where races were conducted either "afoot" or on horseback. The starting location was a line scratched in the ground as the starting position. In other words, you were starting from scratch.

[Aiming for precision the 1st use of from scratch in connection with a sporting event goes back to 1778 and once again England and the sport of Cricket.]

Note the Scratch Line

Scratch her off the list often refers to a YL who is just incompatible with you. (AKA is not interested in amorous adventures and abhors the back seat of a 57 VW Beetle. The final straw... she wears not one but two sets of knickers.)

Two Pairs of Knickers ~ A Real Shame!

Scratch Bake means to bake a cake with individual ingredients and not cake mixes... that is a sign of a true baker.

YUMMY!

Finally, we have Scratch Built which connotes a ham who builds a rig from a design, often his own and gathers the components and builds a true work of art. As with all things there are gradations in Scratch Built starting with Ugly, proceeding to Manhattan and ultimately employing a CNC Mill.

Scratch Built

This Scratch Built 40M Hybrid Wireless Set utilized a CNC Mill extensively in its fabrication. Whether it was cutting metal or producing circuit boards, the CNC was there to provide the capability to produce a project with form, fit and function rivaling a commercial product built on a line. 

For some person to build a project like this is not something easily done without having experience, tribal knowledge and lots of luck. But a journey has to start with a 1st step, and in the next series of posts I will take you on that journey.

I am proposing a project that has been called evil, beset with the devil, a cause of pes planus and even has a vacuum tube. 

Yes, a one tube Regen Receiver using low voltage on the plate (30VDC) and operating on 40M and built using a CNC. That said my approach with the CNC using island squares can be duplicated using W1REX MePads or the old fashion cut the copper squares and the super glue down on a chunk of copper PC Board. 

This project has three goals: Get you off the couch, learn a bit about vacuum tubes as a circuit element via a Regen Receiver and finally something about producing a PC Board that can be CNC Milled (or built using Manhattan style). 

Keep her knickers on for a bit longer and turn off the soldering iron. Our 1st piece in the series will involve some good old fashion noodling as this effort drives the subsequent steps and in fact eliminates some missteps had you just jumped in the deep end. 

Beware of the Ides of March...

MacArthur's Last Stand Against a Winless War

The Waldorf Astoria meeting on April 28, 1961, was a pivotal moment in American history. General Douglas MacArthur, then in his early eighties, advised President John F. Kennedy against starting a land war in Asia, particularly in Vietnam. MacArthur's warning was a reflection of his experience in World War II and his belief that the U.S. should not engage in a land war in Asia. His advice was preserved in a memo that Kennedy later referred to in White House policy discussions. This meeting provided a glimpse into MacArthur's grand strategy and his perspective on the Cold War, as well as the implications of his famous warning to "never fight a land war in Asia." 

The American Conservative+4

We might also extend that to the Mid-east. How quickly we forgot Iraq.

Them that know can make it go and those who don't wished they did.

Going back to the Catholic priests... some are not preparing their sermons from Scratch!!!!!!

73's

Pete N6QW