Different club, different place, and different radio but otherwise also
my experience almost down to the punctuation as yours, Bob. I'm too old
for FD now, but that was the last time I volunteered any of my gear.
The days when a ham with a couple of years of experience pretty much
knew what was going on with the electronic "magic" in front of him are
gone now. They're distant specks in our rear view mirrors and it is
foolish to think we can have that era back [all those who have
constructed their own current equipment from piece-parts please raise
your hands.] 😉 Everything is unpacked from a shipping box these days.
Diagnosing why your new Winkeyer won't key your radio is a big deal for
many today ... watch Steve's [K1EL] Winkey email list for a few days if
you don't believe me.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs. One of mine is
that the ITU's abandonment of Morse code proficiency for any amateur
license with HF privileges was timely, smart, and may have turned the
declining new ham licensing rate around. Another of my beliefs is that
the FCC's abandonment of the two-year period of on-the-air service for
an Extra license was ill-conceived and basically dumb. Much earlier in
my life I held a 2T. I'd passed the 1T and all I needed was the
required service period under a 1T at sea which made incredible sense at
the time and still does. College took precedence over RO-afloat.
Exercise for OT's: Count the number of front-panel switch/knob
functions on your current radio ... then note all those that appeared on
your equipment in the 50's/early 60's.
Extra credit: Do the above for all the MENU functions as well ... oh
wait, menus had yet to be invented so everyone gets zero.
73,
Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW - CWops #142
Sparks NV DM09dn
Washoe County
Bob McGraw <mailto:[email protected]>
Sunday, May 18, 2025 1:05 PM
Sounds like a good plan.
My Field Day story. I set up my Tentec Eagle, a manual ATU with
written pre determined values for each band, a power supply, a Bird 43
power meter, a laptop computer and a multi-wire all band antenna.
The intent for that station was to work digital modes, AFSK, Packet,
FT-8, etc. Now mind you, there was an 8.5" x 11" page on the table in
a plastic protector sheet with all of the tuner settings for the
digital segments of the bands, 160M - 10M. All was working nicely,
contacts were rolling in. About midnight I retreated to my travel
trailer for a nap. About 2AM I was awaken by a knock on the door.
The fellow said there was something wrong and they couldn't make any
contacts. I went to the station location. There I found 2 EXTRA
Class hams pushing buttons and turning knobs. Sure enough there was
no output indicated on the Bird meter when in the TX mode. Then I
noticed the radio was on 20M and the values for the antenna tuner were
clearly those for 80M. When I pointed that out, one of the fellows
state "well my tuner changes when I change my radio". That only cost
me a set of final PA devices and about an hour of my time.
For that reason and others, I detest the VE program where a person
walks into an exam session with no license and walks out with an EXTRA
Class license. Yes, I know the Field Day and club activities are to
teach and get less experienced hams accustomed to the ham radio
environment. But it just isn't happening. Never has, never will.
The folks on the air today only know what they think they know, few
will ever read a manual, and most will always believe "old ham lore"
most of which is incomplete or incorrect. In the same light, I was
asked to teach a segment of a class for new ham prospects. When I
asked what I would be teaching, the answer came back "the test". No
thank you, I want no part of that exercise.
As long as you have operators clearly familiar with Elecraft radios,
the methods, the terminology and such, you'll be OK. But with the
first comment "that doesn't work like my bla bla bla radio" you're in
trouble. I know as I worked with (not for) Tentec and did both
hardware and firmware beta testing for 3 of their last models. When I
decided to go with an Elecraft radio, it was indeed a learning
experience. For sure, the Elecraft did not operate like any Tentec
I'd ever had on the desk.
73
Bob, K4TAX
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[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Sunday, May 18, 2025 9:39 AM
Bob and everyone that has responded!
I couldn’t agree more. I really appreciate all the comments and
suggestions that have come my way, but even with the best data sheet,
as you say – there are always going to be the “I know how to do
“EVERYTHING on ANY RADIO” folks.
So, I am currently going to take a picture of the front of my K3S and
circle / number ONLY the controls that should be touched…. Assuming
one has to touch anything. The areas that I will explain are the
following:
Topics:
1. General overview: Push / push hold (yellow markings) differences
2. ON / OFF
3. Band change
4. Filter adjustments (shift / width)
5. Notch Filter
6. AF / RF gain
7. Mode
8. RIT
9. VOX / PTT
10. Antenna selection
11. ATU
12. Lock VFO
The first instruction to all users will be “DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING
UNLESS IT IS ONE OF THE FOLLOWING CONTROLS”
Fortunately, my K3S will be used ONLY for CW and all CW ops have a K3,
K3s or a K4 😊
73,
Bruce N1LN
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