Military Collector Group Post,Oct.21/97 Index: BC-342 for AC Stuff; MORE TCS; Lenox Carruth Vlad Needs BC-611 Stuff; Bill's Darwin Award Candidates; E.T. Krenkel;Russian Radio Hero HUMOR;Gettin better **************************************************** BC-342 for AC Stuff; Dennis: I just got a nice BC-342 in good shape. Someone hung a 1-inch square little S-meter on it, but otherwise it looks un-messed-with. Paint and plate are very good. Needs a couple of replacement corner latches. Has original RA-20 and original power cord in serviceable shape. Since it's ground-pounder stuff I wanted to pass it by you first since I already owe you some cash. If you don't need it that's perfectly OK... I've got a couple of cash offers so I can just send you cash. It's heavy so shipping would run around $18 or so. I'll ship it up for $100 credit with you. Whaddaya say? 73 DE Dave Stinson AB5S arc5@ix.netcom.com ****************************************************** MORE TCS; Lenox Carruth Well, Dennis, I don't know what I can add to the excellent TCS story that you already have written. I did not use them in the military so have no stories to tell there. I have had one operating for about four months. I do not have an antenna for it here at the house and have only used it in the field. I took an old wooden folding table and drilled some holes in it for the TCS cables so they could go straight down. I also made a bracket that holds the remote (for the speaker) at the left end of the table. I put the transmitter on the right side and the receiver on the left since I am right handed and would more naturally operate the receiver with my left hand if I were sending code with my right (my code is lousy!). I never have figured out why they are arranged in the opposite manner in the manuals. I also drilled a hole in the right rear of the table to fit a GRC-9 antenna base and use six antenna sections and a two-foot lead in. Works great outdoors but my wife won't let me drill a hole in the roof so I can use it inside! I would like to hear some good suggestions about what people are using as a simple antenna for the TCS. I don't have a tower. My TCS receiver worked as soon as I turned it on. It hears as well as a BC-348 and has a lot better dial calibration! The transmitter had been modified in the audio section so I found a schematic and restored the original connections. The transmitter tht: 632459). 19971101 22:53:39: . [17359]: Saved a message to disk (To: military radio collectors#1, military radio collectors#2 Subject: Military Collector Group Post,Oct.21/97 Offset: 644277). 19971101 22:53:39: . [17359]: Saved a message to disk (To: military radio collectors#1, military radio collectors#2 Subject: Military Collector Group Post; Oct.23/97 Offset: 677681). 19971101 22:53:40: . [17359]: Saved a message to disk (To: mblom@mail04.mitre.org Subject: Did You Mis? Oct.23/97 Offset: 698138). 19971101 22:53:41: . [17359]: Saved a message to disk (To: military radio collectors#1, military radio collectors#2 Subject: Group Wants/Trades, Oct.23/97 Offset: 705163). 19971101 22:53:41: . [17359]: Saved a message to disk (To: military radio collectors#1, military radio collectors#2 Subject: Military Collector Group Post, Oct.24/97 Offset: 738947). 19971101 22:53:42: . [17359]: Saved a message to disk (To: military radio collectors#1, military radio collectors#2 Subject: Military Collector Group Post, Oct.27/97 Offset: 753445). 19971101 22:53:43: . [17359]: Saved a message to disk (To: military radio collectors#1, military radio collectors#2 Subject: Group Wants/Trades,Oct.28/97 Offset: 767933). 19971101 22:53:44: . [17359]: Saved a message to disk (To: military radio collectors#1, military radio collectors#2 Subject: Military Collector Group Post, Oct./97 Offset: 799061). 19971101 22:53:44: . [17359]: Saved a message to disk (To: wd0aln@tri-lakes.net Subject: military-radio-guy: Did You Mis? Oct.28/97 Offset: 844377). 19971101 22:53:45: . [17359]: Saved a message to disk (To: military radio collectors#1, military radio collectors#2 Subject: Military Collector Group Post, Oct.30/97 Offset: 853077). 19971101 22:53:45: . [17359]: Saved a message to disk (To: military radio collectors#1, military radio collectors#2 Subject: Military Collector Group Post, Oct.31/97 Offset: 866148). 19971101 22:53:46: . [17359]: Saved a message to disk (To: military radio collectors#1, military radio collectors#2 Subject: Military Collector Group Post, Nov.1/97 Offset: 881971). 19971101 22:53:49: . [17359]: SetStatusText: Preparing for transmission ... 19971101 22:53:49: . [17359]: SetStatusText: Initializing modem 19971101 22:53:49: . [17359]: 164: Initializing serial communication 19971101 22:53:51: . [17359]: 199: &F&C1&D2&K3%C0 19971101 22:54:25: . [17359]: 294: Network 4179986517/2055620062,CompuServe 19971101 22:54:25: . [17359]: 164: Waiting for a connection... 19971101 22:54:25: . [17359]: SetStatusText: Waiting for a connection... 19971101 22:54:26: . [17359]: network 4179986517/2055620062,CompuServe 19971101 22:54:26: . [17359]: SetStatusText: Authenticating... 19971101 22:54:26: . [17359]: 255: message error, discarding: rc = -1! 19971101 22:54:30: . [17359]: Server version `1.19' 19971101 22:54:30: . [17359]: Server name `x7.boston.juno.com' 19971101 22:54:33: . [17359]: server time 878424870 ( 14328 secs behind ) 19971101 22:54:34: . [17359]: ADJUST_TIME -3 secs 19971101 22:54:31: . [17359]: SetStatusText: Authenticating... done 19971101 22:54:31: . [17359]: 165: Authentication succeeded 19971101 22:54:31: . [17359]: SetStatusText: Transmission in progress 19971101 22:54:31: . [17359]: 167:sending data 19971101 22:54:31: . [17359]: SetStatusText: Transmission in progress 19971101 22:54:32: . [17359]: SetStatusText: Closing connection... 19971101 22:54:37: . [17359]: 169: Hangup successful 19971101 22:54:37: . [17359]: Reading messages... (No such file or directory) 19971101 22:54:39: . [17359]: 108: numMessages 109 items.GetCount() 109 19971101 22:54:39: . [17359]: AdjustMessageIndex: numMessages 109 currentMessageIndex 109 (No such file or directory) 19971101 22:54:39: . [17359]: 108: numMessages 109 items.GetCount() 109 19971101 22:54:39: . [17359]: AdjustMessageIndex: numMessages 109 currentMessageIndex 108 (No such file or directory) 19971101 22:54:39: . [17359]: 108: numMessages 109 items.GetCount() 109 19971102 02:52:13: . [17359]: 108: numMessages 0 items.GetCount(en worked fine. Beyond what Dennis said about the redundant design is the commonality between the transmitter and receiver. This seems to be the first use of common parts to such a great extent. The cases, mounts, tuning assemblies and crystal banks are all the same. This reduced, not only the cost but the number of parts necessary in repair depots. The only thing that surprises me about a Collins design is the decreased receiver sensitivity on the higher bands when crystal control is used. Granted, this would not have been a great problem communicating with another PT boat half a mile away, but, I am still surprised Collins did it. It seems anomalous considering their usual attention to detail. The original dual-dynamotor supply was a great idea. The receiver could be used for monitoring without the additional drain of the transmitter filaments or high voltage supply. I suppose that the post-war use of the set did not require much monitoring, hence the later single-dynamotor design. The PP-380/U AC power supply is another anomaly. Why did they design an AC supply with no provisions for the remote control which contained the speaker? What kind of fixed installation would not need a speaker? Does anyone have any definitive answer to this? I have a hard time imagining a fixed station use where a speaker would not be desired. Apparently, the original designers could not imagine a use where a speaker would not be desired either! As you can see, I have more questions about the TCS than answers. I hope that, even if this does not enlighten anyone, it may stimulate some interesting discussions. Since last spring, when I got the radio working, we have used it in public displays. The best was on Memorial Day at a ceremony in conjunction with the Moving Wall. There was a lot of WW-II stuff including vehicles, tents, weapons, German stuff etc. but the TCS got the best reviews. We originally tried to find a local ham who could communicate with us but discovered that the ground wave was too short for anyone that we could find that had AM capability. Fortunately, we were able to borrow a working BC-611. We set the scene as a Marine radio site in the Pacific communicating with forward patrols. We let the public talk on the TCS to the BC-611 and they got a big thrill out of it. Visitors ranged from World War Two veterans, many with a tear in their eye, to college students who did not know when WW-II was (until we go through with them!). One college age girl told us that what we had showed her was so interesting that she was going to get some books about the war and read them. It's this sort of response that makes our work worthwhile. One of the more personally satisfying visitors was a girl with Down's Syndrome. She was there with her parents and was really shy about talking on the radio. Fortunately, my son (about her age) was there and we convinced her to talk to him when he was using the BC-611. She finally did it and left with a huge smile. (her parents were also smiling!) I have all parts for a complete TCS-14 setup in NOS to excellent condition except for a transmitter. We are also looking for an affordable BC-611 to use in future displays since we cannot always borrow the other. In fact, we may not ever be able to use it again as the owner was not a part of our group. The TCS makes a great radio for public displays because it "looks" like real radio equipment should look. Compared to modern communications equipment, the TCS looks like a massive, solid, all-business rig to the public. Now if I can just keep from touching the antenna connector when tuning up! (The other Collins design boo boo??) Lenox Carruth, Jr. carruth@swbell.net Dallas, Texas Collector of WW-II Communications Equipment and Memorabilia Wanted: TCS-14 Transmitter, TBX, BD-71, Sextant ************************************************************* Vlad Needs BC-611 Stuff; Good morning Dennis, Could you please post the following for the group: 1. Looking for microphone cartridge cover (or cap) for my BC-611D transceiver restoration project. Would like to get one or two replacement cartridges as well, carrying belt, and copy of the schematic. 2. Have some parts for German Torn E.b. receiver for trade. Have BC-221 freq. meter (1943, very good cosmetical cond.) with original user manual issued by War Dept., freq. chart, original spare tubes and home made power supply for trade or sale. Thank you, Vladimir Dvorkin KB9OLM ex. UA3ACR Vlad.Dvorkin@US.PCC.philips.com ************************************************************* Bill's Darwin Award Canditates; St. Petersberg Times 18 October 1997 Seth Stevens, 19 and Jason Fleenor, 23 jumped the fence at the bi centennial station of the Metromover in Miami, thinking it was shut down for the night, and walked 200 yards down the track, planning to hang a ?Go Marlins? banner over the Interstate 395 road from Miami Beach. Stephens was on a maintenance catwalk and Fleenor was on the rail leaning over, with a car stopped on the tracks 5 or 10 feet away from the sign hanging point. Stephens warned?I hear noise? and Fleenor said something like, ?Don?t worry about it, They?re closed.? That?s when the driverless car rolled forward and killed him. Fleenors body fell onto a large mesh screen that keeps debris from falling into the street. Stevens ran to the next station and called police. The invsestigation threw a monkey wrench into the morning commute, with part of the Metromover system closed and police forcing eastbound interstate traffic to get off at a downtown ramp. Stevens was charged with trespassing; no other charges are likey said Detective Ed Munn of the Metro-Dade Police. ?WAY TO GO JASON? THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net Telephone AC 813 585-7756 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another Nominee for the Darwin Award for 1998 > Date: Sunday, October 19, 1997 8:23 PM > This reminds me of the hispanic "tagger" who climbed onto the freeway over sign after midnite to spray paint his gang moniker onto the highway sign. He slipped and fell 40 feet to the freeway. He suffered no apparent injury in the fall, but a passing motorist with out headlights on hit him and dragged him alsmost 400 feet before stopping, peeling almost all of his skin off and breaking most of his bones. He was pronounce DOA at the hospital. ************************************************************ E.T. Krenkel;Russian Radio Hero Dennis, I got this story from Mike Hewitt today in England. Maybe the group would enjoy reading it. Bill Howard Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the Birth of E.T. Krenkel Ernst Theodore Krenkel! It is perhaps difficult to meet men, especially of the older generation, who did not know this marvellous man of destiny, distinguished radio operator of our time, Arctic explorer and member of many historical polar expeditions including the famous drift in the Arctic Ocean on station North Pole-1, active amateur radio short-wave enthusiast and for twenty continuous years President of the USSR Radiosport Federation. For over a quarter of a century E.T. Krenkel was a member of the editorial board of our magazine "Radio" and we often published his articles. By word and deed he assisted to solve the problems of development of amateur radio and radiosport. RAEM, E.T. Krenkel's callsign, was known to short-wave enthusiasts all over the world, and each one dreamt about meeting him on the air via amateur radio. It seems appropriate here to cite the words of English short-wave enthusiast Tony Smith G4FAI, who wrote ten years ago in his letter to the editorial staff of "Radio" magazine: "The very best in amateur radio is that which unites people, carries friendship across borders, language barriers and other difficulties. No less remarkable is the fact that in our hobby there are people like E.T. Krenkel who arouse the admiration and respect of radio amateurs all over the world. He occupies a place of honour both in the history of his country, and in the history of the international amateur radio movement." In connection with the 90th anniversary of the birth of E.T. Krenkel, the editorial staff approached Ernst Theodore's son -- Theodore Ernstovich Krenkel, with a request to tell about his father in "Radio" magazine. Let us call the attention of our readers to his recollections. My father ..... In the summer of 1956, RAEM returned to amateur radio after an eight-year interval. Father was then 53 and I was 16. I well remember the day when he switched on his transmitter, and sent a call "CQ, CQ"... The equipment in his working place on the veranda of his country-cottage was well in spirit with his tradition: equipment magazine under his arm, alarm clock and key screwed to the table. His antenna type was a "long wire" - a simple piece of long wire. Generally speaking it must be said that all his life father was a "strict CW man", i.e. a radio operator who only worked on the key. Having trained as a radio operator for twenty years, he regarded phone operation cooly and it was impossible to change his mind. He loved to narrate the polar fable, how as a radio operator on remote polar stations for twenty years, he went mad on hearing human speech by radio for the first time. He sat up for radio stations deep into the night when it was especially interesting for him. He did not like to hurry things and for this reason he did not take part in contests when he had to transmit his number quickly to a colleague and hurry to establish communications with the next. On such days, usually on Saturday and Sundays, father switched off his radio set with regret saying that he couldn't stay on the air to work "such a mess". He exchanged QSL cards in a very conscientious manner and was a reliable correspondent. 1948 was retained in father's and all of our memories. This was the year of our struggle with "cosmopolitanism". Just then on the personal instructions of the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, G.M. Malenkov, they expelled him from the Central Radio Club of the USSR, where he was chief of the Soviet Club, and they relieved him of his position as Head of the polar stations of the Northern Sea Route Administration (NSRA). At the same time they forbade him to work on the air. This was a terrible blow, since he was deprived of his most favourite work. It must be said that all the Papanin four were subjected to persecution: they took I.D. Papanin away from Head of Northern Sea Route Administration, P.P. Shirshov ceased to be Minister of the Navy and E.K. Fedorov was taken from the post of Head of the Hydrometeorological Service of the Red Army. In order to support his family, father started work as a lecturer for the Society of "Knowledge". He appeared in Moscow and its suburbs with lectures about the North Pole and the work of a radio operator on a drifting ice station. He went on lecture several times a week in any weather. After the duration of his stay in such a suspended status father was appointed director of a small radio plant, thanks to the help of A.N. Bulganin, from 1951 as Chief of the laboratory of the Automatic Radiometeorological Station (ARMS), then from 1969 Director of the Institute of Hydrometeorological Making Industry, in which he worked until the end of his life. In spite of being busy father found much time and attention for his amateur radio work. On becoming President of the USSR Radiosport Federation, he continually participated in the work of the IARU, representing our country, looking after the maintenance of its interests. After his return from abroad by train I often joked: "You are our Hiram Percy Maxim". This gave him pleasure, since the well-known American engineer who created the machine gun, was still the first President of the American Amateur Radio League. For his participation in the North Pole expedition as part of the famous four with Papanin they awarded father, as well as the title Hero of the Soviet Union, an academic Doctor's degree of Geographical Sciences, which he regarded highly sceptically, jokingly observing: "What kind of doctor am I. I am a medical assistant of Geographical Sciences". In fact, a sense of humour and personal modesty were distinctive features of his character. Probably, in his time like many others, he had outgrown "star disease", but I was born later and as far as I can remember I never noticed any recurrence of that disease in his behaviour. Father was a great lover of funny stories and collected them like Yuri Nikulin now. Usually catching another "bearer" of humour, he would open the door of his study and invite: come on in and tell me some jokes. His many friends and comrades told me that he himself was a story teller and wonderful company - they liked his graphic, measured speech with its easy French style pronunciation. Whatever he was speaking about, his speech was always interesting, clear and memorable. The expedition to the North Pole was the summit of father's polar career which began as far back as 1924. On 21 May 1937 the expedition landed at the North Pole. The legendary drift of NP-1, which was watched by the whole world, lasted 274 days. At the beginning of 1938 the ice floe started to be carried away quickly into the Greenland Sea, and the icebreaker Yermak, which had to go to assist the courageous explorers, was found to be under major repairs in Leningrad. Incidentally, it gave grounds for Stalin to reprimand Otto Schmidt the Head of the NSRA - "Schmidt is a very risky man", that meant the end of Otto Yulievich's polar career. And indeed, in the autumn of 1938 they appointed I.D. Papanin as Head of the NSRA in place of Schmidt. The Papaninites were taken off the ice on 19 February 1938 and on 21 February they changed places at sea on board the icebreaker Yermak. On arrival in Leningrad in early March they were unexpectedly delayed. It was simply explained: on 14 March 1938 the sentence of Bukharin and Rykov - ['victims' of the February 1938 'Show Trials'] - was carried out and, on instructions from above, they decided to postpone the ceremonial reception for 3-4 days. Father, as spoken of by his writer-friend Vladimir Lidin, was at all times a man: "There are people, by whom the path of mankind is measured as a landmark." The personal courage and heroism of the members of the expedition to the North Pole compels us to think of them with enormous respect. Indeed, the four intrepid Russian men were the first "cosmonauts", as cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov called them one day. And it is no coincidence that in 1961 "polar cosmonaut" Krenkel, as President of the Radiosport Federation, presented an honorary award to Yuri Gagarin for the first Space-Earth communication on UHF. But I would like to come back to father's polar career and some pages of his biography. Readers of this magazine will be interested - especially in his youth. In 1921 he joined a course in Moscow for radio-telegraphists, on finishing which he worked at the Lyubertsy receiving station. At that time he met a student who in summertime had worked two months probation on a port tug in Leningrad. His stories interested father. Soon he set off to Leningrad with a letter which the student had handed to him. On a scrap of paper his new acquaintance wrote to his operator-friend: "Pete! Help this fellow. He's a good chap and knows his job..." .. At father's funeral, in December 1971, I noticed in the crowd a very elderly man who brought a small bouquet of violets. It was the man who had given my father his "start in life". So the circle completed itself.. In Piter a radio operator said to father: Do you see that yellow building with a spire on the other side of the river? That's the Admiralty. I was there yesterday. An expedition is being formed to go to the Arctic Ocean to relieve a party of men on some small island or other. They need a radio operator urgently, but the pay is small and he'll have to go off for a full year to God knows where... The island turned out to be Novaya Zemlya and "God knows where" was the Polar Observatory at Matochkin Shar Straits, which now bears the name of Ernst Krenkel. It was the second relief of the winterers - from 1924 to 1925 - which father took part in. The selected party was well mixed. There were participants of the Krondstadt mutiny and even two German seamen from the cruiser "Magdeburg", which was sunk in the Baltic during the first world war. They had a spark transmitter at the station and they still did not think whatever about short-waves. After returning from his winter stay and service in the army in autumn 1926, father already not only knew about short-waves but had the official amateur radio callsign - EU2EQ. At this time he planned to carry out his dream - to "send" on short-waves from the Arctic. But how? And here is the result of father's "adventurist" trait of character - he became an impostor. He arrived in Moscow as a representative of the Nizhny Novgorod radio laboratory, making the acquaintance of Bonch-Bruyevich who offered to provide him with a 300-watt transmitter for carrying out experiments in the Arctic on behalf of the Hydrographical Office. Then he went to the Hydrographical Office in Leningrad, where they knew him as a good radio operator and offered his services as radio operator of the Polar Geophysical Observatory (PGO), for the winter of 1927/28. In addition he laid down conditions that he transport a short-wave transmitter there on which to operate as a radio amateur in his spare time. The deed was done. So in October 1927 an amateur radio station with the callsign "PGO" showed up on Novaya Zemlya. By the way, when they had relieved the winterers, by an oversight, the ship's boat with all the short-wave equipment was carried out to sea. Father, without a moment's hesitation, threw himself into the icy water and salvaged the equipment. After that occasion he did not like the cold and as a professional polar explorer was unable to endure a small open window. Father's third winter stay was on Franz Josef Land in 1929. An expedition set off there on the steamer Sedov with Captain V.I. Voronin under the leadership of Otto Schmidt. It was to land the polar explorers at Calm Bay. It was father's first meeting with Otto Yulievich Schmidt and was to determine his future life. From the very beginning they formed a mutual respect and, from father's side it can be said, a complete trust in all Schmidt's Arctic plans, while admiring him as a learned and elder companion. On 12 January 1930 father established world record long distance short-wave communications from Calm Bay with the American Admiral Byrd's Antarctic expedition. He was already a well-known short-wave enthusiast by the time he returned from his winter stay and the Society of Radio Friends invited him to be the Head of their Central short-wave section. Father was unable to stay in one place long. In 1931 he flew as a radio operator and member of the Soviet group with the international air expedition on the dirigible Graf Zeppelin. Next year he took part in the expedition on the steamer Alexander Sibiryakov, which completed through navigation along the Northern Sea Route from Archangel to the Pacific Ocean for the first time. 1933 came. An expedition was prepared on the steamer Chelyuskin. Its purpose was to show the possibility of navigation along the Northern Sea Route in an ordinary boat which had some strengthened plating along the water line of the hull. Otto Schmidt, the leader of the expedition, appointed father as chief radio operator. The Chelyuskin epic occupies a special page in father's life. As is generally known, on 13 February 1934 the Chelyuskin was crushed by compressed ice and sank 144 miles from Cape Wellen. 104 people were stranded on the ice, including 10 women and 2 children. They managed to salvage a two-month supply of provisions, sleeping bags and tarpaulin tents. So Camp Schmidt, as father called it in his first radio message, was formed in the Choukchi Sea. It is clear that without reliable radio communications it was impossible even to think about organising the rescue of the Chelyuskinites. Here the skill of the expedition's radio operator assumed major importance. By 13 April 1934 the fliers A.V. Lyapidevsky, V.S. Molokov, S.A. Levanevsky, N.P. Kamanin, M.V. Vodopyanov, M.T. Slepnyov and I.V. Doronin managed to bring the members of the expedition back to the mainland. These fliers became the first Heroes of the Soviet Union. RAEM, the callsign of the Chelyuskin, was awarded to father as his personal amateur callsign. In the summer of 1935 father set-off to a new winter stay as Head on Cape Olovyanny. Other members of the winter stay were the meteorologist B.A. Kremer, radio operator A.A. Golubev and mechanic N.G. Mekhrengin. In the course of the winter stay he offered to serve on another polar station on Domashny Island, 200 kilometres further north. Permission was received and he was taken there by aircraft together with Mekhrengin. This winter stay lasted five months and proved to be very arduous. Both men fell ill with scurvy, and after V. Chkalov's safe landing on Udd Island (the station on Domashny Island transmitted weather reports along the route of the flight) left a radio message for Schmidt in Moscow: "The supports of both engines are affected by corrosion. We are talking with Sanders." His humour was "black". Interpreted in normal language, the radio message reported that the legs of the polar winterers were finally being crippled by scurvy. And the phrase "talking with Sanders" recalled the fate of the mechanic Sanders who died from scurvy on the Sedov expedition. So then father joked they had two legs between them. In order to somehow keep in shape they dragged themselves 200 metres to the opposite end of the island where they kicked an empty tin can with their healthy legs and then returned. One of father's legs was crimson and one could quite easily dip a finger in it, such was the disease of scurvy. Characteristically, father never transmitted any SOS signals. And in life too. On 1 September 1936, the "Sibiryakov" approached Domashny Island with the new crew of polar explorers. My father was a restless man. Hardly having recovered from scurvy, he started to prepare for an expedition to the North Pole [callsign UPOL]. After returning from this expedition he was appointed Head of NSRA polar stations and worked in that position until 1948. In the middle of November 1968 father headed the voyage of the scientific research ship Professor Zubov to the shores of the Antarctic. To the great satisfaction of short-wave enthusiasts, his RAEM/MM callsign appeared on the air. The first pages of his book "RAEM Is My Callsign" were written then. Father lived a full life - full, but not long. He died 16 days from his 68th birthday. In Novodevichy cemetery where he was buried, a granite headstone stands on his grave, shaped like his callsign RAEM. T. Krenkel Moscow (translated by G4AYO from the December 1993 article in "Pao", i.e. Radio magazine) *********************************************************** Dave Sundheimer W0NBZ w0nbz@juno.com Burnsville (near Minneapolis) Minnesota LONELY ADAM _________________________________________________________________ One day God finds Adam wandering around the garden with a really hangdog expression on his face. He's just shuffling along, scuffing the dirt with his foot and generally looking dejected. God says, "Adam, what's the matter? Don't you like the Garden I made?" "No, the Garden's great," says Adam, "I guess I'm just lonely." "Hmmm..." says God, "That's a problem alright. Tell you what, I can make you a companion. Someone with whom you can talk about anything you like, who will always be interested, who will cook and clean for you, never complain about anything, never need anything from you, and who will always be ready for fun and games or who will leave you alone when you need solitude. This companion will be a perfect match for your needs, and will also be pleasant to look upon forever. All it will cost you is an arm and a leg. What do you say?" "Well," says Adam, "Sounds really nice but sort of expensive...what can I get for a rib?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TODAY'S SCIENTIFIC QUESTION IS What Is Electricity? and Where Does It Go After It Leaves The Toaster? Here is a simple experiment that will teach you an important electrical lesson: On a cool, dry day, scuff your feet along a carpet, then reach your hand into a friend's mouth and touch one of his dental fillings. Did you notice how your friend twitched violently and cried out in pain? This teaches us that electricity can be a very powerful force, but we must never use it to hurt others unless we need to learn an important electrical lesson. It also teaches us how an electrical circuit works. When you scuffed your feet, you picked up batches of "electrons", which are very small objects that carpet manufacturers weave into carpets so they will attract dirt. The electrons travel through your bloodstream and collect in your finger, where they form a spark that leaps to your friend's filling, then travels down to his feet and back into the carpet, thus completing the circuit. Amazing electronic fact: If you scuffed your feet long enough without touching anything, you would build up so many electrons that your finger would explode! But this is nothing to worry about unless you have carpeting. Although we modern persons tend to take our electric lights, radios, mixers, etc. for granted, hundreds of years ago people did not have any of these things, which is just as well because there was no place to plug them in. Then along came the first electrical pioneer, Benjamin Franklin, who flew a kite in a lightning storm and received a serious electrical shock. This proved that lightning was powered by the same force as carpets, but it also damaged Franklin's brain so severely that he started speaking only in incomprehensible maxims, such as "A penny saved is a penny earned." Eventually he had to be given a job running the Post Office. After Franklin came a herd of electrical pioneers whose names have become part of our electrical terminology: Myron Volt, Mary Louise Amp, James Watt, Bob Transformer, etc. These pioneers conducted many important electrical experiments. For example, in 1780, Luigi Galvani discovered (this is the truth) that when he attached two different kinds of metal to the leg of a frog, an electrical current developed and the frog's leg kicked, even though it was no longer attached to the frog, which was dead anyway. Galvani's discovery led to enormous advances in the field of amphibian medicine. Today, skilled veterinary surgeons can take a frog that has been seriously injured or killed, implant pieces of metal in its muscles, and watch it hop back into the pond just like a normal frog, except for the fact that it sinks like like a stone. But the greatest electrical pioneer of them all was Thomas Edison, who was a brilliant inventor despite the fact that he had little formal education and lived in New Jersey. Edison's first major invention in 1877, was the phonograph, which could soon be found in thousands of American homes, where it basically sat until 1923, when the record was invented. But Edison's greatest achievement came in 1879, when he invented the Electric Company. Edison's design was a brilliant adaptation of the simple electrical circuit. The Electric Company sends electricity through a wire to a customer, then immediately gets the electricity back through another wire, then (this is the brilliant part) sends it right back to the customer again. This means that an Electric Company can sell a customer the same batch of electricity thousands of times a day and never get caught, since very few customers take the time to examine their electricity closely. In fact, the last year any new electricity was generated in the United fact, the last year any new electricity was generated in the United States was 1937; the Electric Companies have been merely re-selling it ever since, which is why they have so much free time to apply for rate increases. Today, thanks to men like Edison and Franklin, and frogs like Galvani's, we receive almost unlimited benefits from electricity. For example, in the past decade scientists developed the laser, an electronic appliance so powerful that it can vaporize a bulldozer 2,000 yards away, yet so precise that doctors can use it to perform delicate operations to the human eyeball, provided they remember to change the power setting from "vaporize bulldozer" to "delicate." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When finished reading use browser back button or go to http://www.prc68.com/MCGP/MCGP.html