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Unquestionably the Best Ham Radio Commercial Ever Produced


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V.T. Eric Layton

Excellent. It kinda' brought back memories of my own experience as a child with two-way radio.

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I used to love ham radio, then I had a neighbor like that kid.

Only he was adult and rude. Didn't care how his actions affected all his neighbors.

We couldn't talk on our landline, corded telephone some days when he was on his radio.

 

It's OK though, I'm over it.

The FCC got involved, he doesn't use his radio any more. The antenna's still there.

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V.T. Eric Layton

We used to resolve those kinds of issues in a different fashion back when I was involved in two-way radio locally here in you know where. If someone became a nuisance, we would:

  1. track down their physical location
  2. sneak up to their antenna pole or tower in the middle of the night and cut or pin their coaxial cable, thus effectively shorting out the final output stage of their radios; often causing smoke, fire, and extensive equipment damage.

Problem solved.

 

There was that one time that I shot a fellow's 1/4 wave ground plane off the top of his pole with 12 guage - 00 buckshot. That was fun! There were lots of sparks and aluminum shrapnel raining down for a few seconds afterwards. ;)

 

Our pro-active solutions often saved the FCC, and by extension - the tax payer, much money and effort.

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if ham radio ruins so many people's days, how is it that it is legal??

 

-or-

 

is there ham radio that does not ruin everyone's life?

 

(I was unaware of any problems.)

Ham radio operated within the legal limits is mostly no problem with consumer electronics.

The problem starts when the operator installs power boosters and other equipment to get more range, better reception.

Kind of like the old CB radio. You could talk and hear just fine, as long as no one was using sideband technology. When someone was using sideband, if they were close by, all you could hear was their output very distorted.

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V.T. Eric Layton

Unfortunately, even legal and properly used two-way radio can, and often does, cause interference with other devices nearby. RF wave propagation and harmonics are some Twilight Zone kinda' things, occasionally.

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V.T. Eric Layton

About SSB transmission on 11 Meter (CB band)... back in the day, it was perfectly within the rules to transmit using SSB on any frequency in the designated "Citizen's Band" spectrum with the exception of Ch. 9, which was set aside for emergency comms only. However, there was a "gentleman's agreement" in place for many, many years which allowed for unimpeded SSB comms on Ch. 16 and 36 - 40, exclusively. Using SSB on standard AM channels was considered harassment and/or poor CB etiquette.

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if ham radio ruins so many people's days, how is it that it is legal??

 

-or-

 

is there ham radio that does not ruin everyone's life?

 

(I was unaware of any problems.)

 

My old mum was a ham enthusiast . She had a big modern Kenwood (1990/2002) She used sbb and all sorts . with a D*** huge yagi array . Used to get out to Canada . and east coast USA.

I could never take to it .Not my scene. But she had endless hours of pleasure . So there ya go .

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I know a few very nice ham enthusiasts.

They work their butts off when there is a disaster, all for the love of their fellow man.

 

I remember after the Haiti earthquake, 2010 or so, one guy took leave from work and ran comms for folks with family in Haiti for a month. I think he slept about 2 hours every other day. That is what most hams I have known are like.

 

Great people.

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Guest LilBambi

My dad was a HAM (funny guy) ;)

 

However, he generally used CB band for radios. He gave it up when people forgot how to be polite and not stomp all over everyone with Linears (Linear base amplifier) .... and abusive behavior.

 

We continued beyond that but only when we were traveling/camping.

 

Nice to see people are getting taken in hand for being buttheads on CB band:

 

FCC Fines Alaska Man for Interfering with Air Traffic Using CB Radio - ARRL

 

and

 

http://transition.fc...C-238040A1.html

Edited by LilBambi
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V.T. Eric Layton

Shhhh... don't tell, but I was one of those folks who used them naughty linear amplifiers. At one time I ran 2000 watts output power at my house. I was NOT, however, an arse about it. I did not run full power at all times. I usually de-tuned the finals on the amp to swing between 75-100 watts for normal local comms, but late at night I would fire that mutha' up and talk skip (ionospheric wave propagated communications) to many stations in the north, central, and south America; couldn't skip those signals laterally. :(

 

One of the "big" amps I used to own...

 

Wawasee Black Cat - JB2000

 

jb-2000_front.jpg

 

I also owned a smaller Swinger 100+ watt amp

 

SWINGER-205-Tube-Linear-Amplifier.jpg

 

and a Pride 100 (mobile amp for 12v applications)

 

Vintage-Pride-12-Volt-100A-Amateur-Radio-Bi-Linear-Amplifier-80-10-MTR-p442552.jpg

 

Ah... those were fun times; up all night yakkin' with my CB and hamster pals. ;)

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Nice looking rig . Did you have a remote aerial turner. Ever come across "Judy triple three"who was ok or "Candyfloss"a crazy woman. :alien: :alien: :alien:

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V.T. Eric Layton

Nah... I did all that long distance talking on a 5/8s wave ground plane antenna that was 65' high.

 

You know, oddly enough... Judy Triple Three really sounds familiar. Who knows? I still have a collection of QSL cards that I received from folks back then. This would have been 1973-1983 or so. I think '79 was the peak sunspot cycle. Conditions were so good that summer in the North America that you could easily talk skip with only the legal 4 watts output power; 2000 watts helped out a lot, though. ;)

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I wish I had my old mum's qsl cards now . Don't know what happened to them . I remember I offered her 2k irish punts for her rig . But the funny old bird sold it for 850 to a sneaky ragamuffin . Man that guy was a lick. :devil:

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securitybreach

I wish I had my old mum's qsl cards now . Don't know what happened to them . I remember I offered her 2k irish punts for her rig . But the funny old bird sold it for 850 to a sneaky ragamuffin . Man that guy was a lick. :devil:

 

I think understood maybe a quarter of that comment ;)

 

I thought the Irish used pounds.... :ermm:

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They did when I was a kid but then the parity with the English pounds went down the tubes and they re-christened them Punts. For a long time they were worth more . Then we changed again---> to eurothrash.. .Hey you guys There is a great rate on the dollar at the moment so if you ever want to visit the Emerald Isle .. Now's yer chance.

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V.T. Eric Layton

Cap'n Crow, maybe we can swap homes. You can come live in sunny Florida and I'll come live in Eire. It'll be like coming home for me (me mum's side of the family). :)

Edited by V.T. Eric Layton
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What part is the matriarchal line from .

 

Anytime you wanna visit I'll meet you at Dublin Airport . There is a guest room and all you will need is a change of clothes ,toothbrush and a good appetite. Stay as long as you like .

 

How much we talking Ian .. What about Anubis...Who would mind the cat..

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V.T. Eric Layton

What part is the matriarchal line from .

 

 

 

Mom traced her ancestry to Ireland and Northern Scotland (Viking stock). Coincidentally, dad's side of the family is also Viking from Northwestern Spain.

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Cluttermagnet

Ahem- are you sure he was a licensed Amateur Radio Operator? If so, how do you know?

Sounds a LOT more like out of control CB Operator behavior.

Hams are generally ladies and gentlemen, and have the tech savvy to avoid or remediate

such neighbor RFI (radio frequency interference) problems.

 

If this was a CB'er, my strong hunch, you do ham radio a GREAT disservice

by voicing such opinions...

 

And the hams are good guys- they don't deserve this...

 

Please understand the difference!

Hams are NOT CB'ers. CB'ers are NOT Hams.

It is VERY rare that a ham would behave like your bad neighbor did...

 

Eric is a very notable exception- cut his teeth on CB but he GETS IT!

A rare bird actually, among CB'er's. A lot of those smarter CB'ers

eventually go on to earn their ham radio 'tickets', and they become

excellent ham operators.

 

My undying admiration for one CB'er who was good enough to troubleshoot

and repair electronics to the component level- for a living- five days a week.

I believe he is probably a way better troubleshooter than I ever was,

although I am a ham radio operator. It's a gift. He has it. Not one of my

stronger suits (but I design and build electronics)...

 

 

 

I used to love ham radio, then I had a neighbor like that kid.

Only he was adult and rude. Didn't care how his actions affected all his neighbors.

We couldn't talk on our landline, corded telephone some days when he was on his radio.

 

It's OK though, I'm over it.

The FCC got involved, he doesn't use his radio any more. The antenna's still there.

Edited by Cluttermagnet
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Cluttermagnet

Yes, the video is artistically inspired- but who is MTN anyway? What is their stake in this?

 

A search brought up this from Wikipedia:

 

MTN Group, formerly M-Cell,[1] is a South Africa-based multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African, European and Middle Eastern countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg.[2]

 

Sounds about right...?

The accents fit...

Edited by Cluttermagnet
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V.T. Eric Layton

Most of the Laytons seem to stem from Norfolk in the 17th century.

 

Layton is my mother's maiden name. She had documentation going back to the 1600s regarding her ancestry. Pretty interesting stuff. Of course, my father's side came over long before that with the Spaniards during the late 1400s. ;)

 

Norfolk, Virginia? Yes, I do believe that my mother had family from Virginia that eventually spread out to Georgia and the Carolinas. My mother's mother was a Wells.

 

Interesting stuff. In a few days, we're' ALL going to be IRISH! :)

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