CB and Ham Radio Techs Love Their Bird Wattmeters

[Squarewave]

Some of you guys must be asshole magnets.  Of course if you think you're surrounded by assholes...

Exactly.....there appears to be a common denominator with these people 

[bd139]

I think I conclusively disproved that on the basis that you don’t get the same problem with hiking groups. Thus proving immunity to asshole magnetism.

Perhaps the issue is you are the assholes

 (only joking for ref)

[xrunner]

I think I conclusively disproved that on the basis that you don’t get the same problem with hiking groups. Thus proving immunity to asshole magnetism.

Perhaps the issue is you are the assholes

 (only joking for ref)

I don't think they've ever received a ham's radio to repair that was full of live roaches. 

[bd139]

Hahaha 

This house clearance I’m doing may have similar surprises. I’ll post the gory details in here. I’ve already been shown several crates of rain damaged tubes 

[joeqsmith]

Some of you guys must be asshole magnets.  Of course if you think you're surrounded by assholes...

I fully admit to being an asshole.  I also don't hike which adds some credence to BD139's statement.   

I think I conclusively disproved that on the basis that you don’t get the same problem with hiking groups. Thus proving immunity to asshole magnetism.

[vk6zgo]

Well the thing is at least with me the ratio of bad to good is insanely higher in amateur radio than any other hobby I've been involved with over the last 40-odd years. It really is a horribly toxic environment with people who tolerate and even amplify the problems due to the controlled nature of the communication medium.

If I go out hiking for example it's a right mixed bag in age, gender, political inclination and race and everyone gets on. One black woman at a hamfest and half the people would be cutting holes in their bedsheets. the rest would say nothing to them

That doesn't describe our local hamfest.

There are people of all sorts of ethnicities, genders, etc, & nobody turns a hair.
Most of us are wandering around looking at the secondhand stuff other hams are selling, or catching up with old & sometimes younger cronies.

The only Ham I knew that "pushed the envelope" on air to any extent was an old Brit, who liked to "whinge", as Brits do.

The usual reaction by others was to steer the conversation back onto something neutral, or, worst case, say " Sorry, I've got to cut this short, my wife/hubby is calling me for something!"
He must have wondered why the other local hams had such needy spouses!

[vk6zgo]

Ah so you have met the morons 

Actually call signs are good. You can Google them easily and see what crap they posted on QRZ 

I use my callsign because I am lazy.
I used it on QRZ.com because they asked me to, & elsewhere because it seemed like too much hassle to think up some silly nickname.
If I wanted to be the "Blue Wombat" or something, I would buy a CB Radio!

[vk6zgo]

I think I conclusively disproved that on the basis that you don’t get the same problem with hiking groups. Thus proving immunity to asshole magnetism.

Perhaps the issue is you are the assholes

 (only joking for ref)

I don't think they've ever received a ham's radio to repair that was full of live roaches. 

I repair my own radios..

If I don't do it, they don't bloody get repaired ------after all, it's just ham radio!
I also have a profound distrust of the ability of "clever chaps" to fix my stuff, or to wrangle my roaches, for that matter!

[vk6zgo]

Hahaha 

This house clearance I’m doing may have similar surprises. I’ll post the gory details in here. I’ve already been shown several crates of rain damaged tubes 

Rain, in itself, doesn't usually do a lot of harm to tubes, apart from the possible loss of markings.
Trying to pick up a carton full of 'em that has been rained on is another thing, entirely!

[vk6zgo]

I fully admit to being an asshole.   

We already knew that, Joe!

[bd139]

Well the thing is at least with me the ratio of bad to good is insanely higher in amateur radio than any other hobby I've been involved with over the last 40-odd years. It really is a horribly toxic environment with people who tolerate and even amplify the problems due to the controlled nature of the communication medium.

If I go out hiking for example it's a right mixed bag in age, gender, political inclination and race and everyone gets on. One black woman at a hamfest and half the people would be cutting holes in their bedsheets. the rest would say nothing to them

That doesn't describe our local hamfest.

There are people of all sorts of ethnicities, genders, etc, & nobody turns a hair.
Most of us are wandering around looking at the secondhand stuff other hams are selling, or catching up with old & sometimes younger cronies.

The only Ham I knew that "pushed the envelope" on air to any extent was an old Brit, who liked to "whinge", as Brits do.

The usual reaction by others was to steer the conversation back onto something neutral, or, worst case, say " Sorry, I've got to cut this short, my wife/hubby is calling me for something!"
He must have wondered why the other local hams had such needy spouses!

We love a whinge.

Culturally speaking we have a problem here which is suspect propels a lot of the asshattery. It’s only present in people born before about 1960 so will be wearing off soon thanks to our poor health epidemic  (notably the non asshats seem no to have any health issues). A couple of hours on 80m usually confirms this hypothesis:

[bd139]

Hahaha 

This house clearance I’m doing may have similar surprises. I’ll post the gory details in here. I’ve already been shown several crates of rain damaged tubes 

Rain, in itself, doesn't usually do a lot of harm to tubes, apart from the possible loss of markings.
Trying to pick up a carton full of 'em that has been rained on is another thing, entirely!

It’s not the rain that’s the real bother. The disintegrated asbestos roof that was preventing the rain ingress is. Obviously anything tainted by that is being disposed of professionally.

The stuff in his loft is of interest. There is a full Heathkit SB line up there. Hopefully not rotting. Hopefully not assembled with Jesus’ first soldering iron after half a bottle of scotch.

[joeqsmith]

I fully admit to being an asshole.   

We already knew that, Joe!

Good to see you posting again.

[xrunner]

I fully admit to being an asshole.   

We already knew that, Joe!

Good to see you posting again.

As long as "someone's wrong on the internet!" he'll be here. 

I also have a profound distrust of the ability of "clever chaps" to fix my stuff, or to wrangle my roaches, for that matter!

Right. so I guess you'll never go to the doctor to get your stuff fixed - those clever chaps don't know anything ... 

[vk6zgo]

I fully admit to being an asshole.   

We already knew that, Joe!

Good to see you posting again.

As long as "someone's wrong on the internet!" he'll be here. 

I also have a profound distrust of the ability of "clever chaps" to fix my stuff, or to wrangle my roaches, for that matter!

Right. so I guess you'll never go to the doctor to get your stuff fixed - those clever chaps don't know anything ... 

But my doctor doesn't obsess on the Internet about the shortcomings of a certain group in society, plus, I know nothing about medicine, but have a modicum of knowledge of electronics.

Anyway, she's a clever lady!

[joeqsmith]

I fully admit to being an asshole.   

We already knew that, Joe!

Good to see you posting again.

As long as "someone's wrong on the internet!" he'll be here. 

I also have a profound distrust of the ability of "clever chaps" to fix my stuff, or to wrangle my roaches, for that matter!

Right. so I guess you'll never go to the doctor to get your stuff fixed - those clever chaps don't know anything ... 

It seems the thread may be causing some spikes in their blood pressure.  Best to have that checked. 

[xrunner]

It seems the thread may be causing some spikes in their blood pressure.  Best to have that checked. 

Let's be careful Joe. He might be an old-timer and we don't want to be responsible for aggravating any health conditions he may already have.

I finished the design for the the slide-in mount and rear panel. Again both turned out OK the first time - I must be living right. Now I have all I need to put everything together. Like the previous version of the power meter I'll put copper tape on the inside of the panels so the whole case will be shielded.

Once it's all together in the case I'll re-take and play with some calibration data. There's stray RF and probably marginal breadboard connections so best to do that work after it's inside a finished project enclosure with soldered wires in places as required.

[joeqsmith]

It seems the thread may be causing some spikes in their blood pressure.  Best to have that checked. 

Let's be careful Joe. He might be an old-timer and we don't want to be responsible for aggravating any health conditions he may already have.

I finished the design for the the slide-in mount and rear panel. Again both turned out OK the first time - I must be living right. Now I have all I need to put everything together. Like the previous version of the power meter I'll put copper tape on the inside of the panels so the whole case will be shielded.

Once it's all together in the case I'll re-take and play with some calibration data. There's stray RF and probably marginal breadboard connections so best to do that work after it's inside a finished project enclosure with soldered wires in places as required.

I thought he said he was retired from the radio station where he had been employed and people looked up to him.   Still, it doesn't matter if he was a white haired, over weight, out of shape ham that BD139 was talking bout or a youngster with the strength of an ox,  if the thread is causing him stress I would hope he would be smart enough to avoid it.   Oh right...  ham ego...   

[vk6zgo]

It seems the thread may be causing some spikes in their blood pressure.  Best to have that checked. 

Let's be careful Joe. He might be an old-timer and we don't want to be responsible for aggravating any health conditions he may already have.

I finished the design for the the slide-in mount and rear panel. Again both turned out OK the first time - I must be living right. Now I have all I need to put everything together. Like the previous version of the power meter I'll put copper tape on the inside of the panels so the whole case will be shielded.

Once it's all together in the case I'll re-take and play with some calibration data. There's stray RF and probably marginal breadboard connections so best to do that work after it's inside a finished project enclosure with soldered wires in places as required.

I thought he said he was retired from the radio station where he had been employed and people looked up to him.   Still, it doesn't matter if he was a white haired, over weight, out of shape ham that BD139 was talking bout or a youngster with the strength of an ox,  if the thread is causing him stress I would hope he would be smart enough to avoid it.   Oh right...  ham ego... 
 

I never said "people looked up to me"--I said "I was respected", meaning by my peers, who knew as much or more than I.
There is a radical difference!
If any ego is involved, it is your own!

[joeqsmith]

I never said "people looked up to me"--I said "I was respected", meaning by my peers, who knew as much or more than I.
There is a radical difference!
If any ego is involved, it is your own!

[/quote]

Meaning, you no longer are, respected that is?  I'm sure in your little circle you still are, if that helps.   

Indeed, coupled with being an asshole,  I do have an ego.  The difference is this site causes me no stress and I find it rather entertaining. 

One of the best one liners I have seen posted on this site was someone suggesting I was "ego pimping".   We still use that phrase today.   

[xrunner]

Yes I'm still working on it. Got sidetracked but back on the job. 

[bd139]

Looking good. My AD8307’s are in the post. Hopefully they get here before I move. RF signal generator now repaired to a usable standard although it needs more work.

Will join the party soon 

[joeqsmith]

Is the T for top secrete?

[xrunner]

Looking good. My AD8307’s are in the post. Hopefully they get here before I move. RF signal generator now repaired to a usable standard although it needs more work.

Will join the party soon 

I'm sure I'll be taking notes. You got a decent RF source to check it out now.

Is the T for top secrete?

No. 

I was using it to hold the cable in a circle so it would tend to go in the case easier.

It's possible I might have a Bird Model 43 over here to check out. The ham friend who came over yesterday with all the "Arduino" maker stuff said one of the local hams bought a used Bird 43. He thought it was reading "low". Meaning he thought it would read ~50W from his radio on high power (2 meter band) and it was reading ~40W. The friend of mine, who I sold a properly working Coaxial Dynamics meter to years ago (with an assortment of slugs), checked all this out.

His C.D. meter (with a C.D. slug) measured 50W. The slug is compatible with the model 43, so when inserted into the Bird, the model 43 read 40W just like the Bird slug. So they were wondering what the problem was. My friend offered to "take it to someone who could check it out properly" - guess who?

But the other ham just said "eh naw it's good enough fer me!". This is one problem with some hams - they don't have any innate curiosity about why things do what they do. They can't even be bothered to let someone check it out FOR FREE.

^^^ I said SOME hams, for all the grumbling readers out there.

So we will see what happens. If I get it over here I'll take some pics. Since the proper operation of the Bird model 43 is as much mechanical as it is electrical, it'll be interesting to see what the problem is. Inside there is nothing but wires going to a meter movement. It could be the meter or the mechanical alignment where the slug is inserted.

[joeqsmith]

^^^ I said SOME hams, for all the grumbling readers out there.

That should help. 

Hopefully they will let you have a look at their meter.