开云体育

For decades I have taken equipment that was discarded in disgust or stored horribly and restoring it to operation. Initially, it was because of poverty, now I get great enjoyment from rescuing it from the dumpster and solving the puzzle of it's problems. In 1971 I had returned from duty in southeast Asia to Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York to finish my term. Having worked on some neat stuff, I was interested in having some of the rigs for my own. At that time, a Tektronix 524 would cost $200.00 or more, and a Collins R-390 receiver would be $500.00 . Once I got to the base, I felt certain there would be surplus stores around, and there were, in nearby Utica. Enroute to one I had been told about, I noticed piles of gear out in the open in the heaped ruins of a burned building. Some of it was totally wrecked, but most was a bit smoked up and covered with dirt and ashes. The owner was delighted to sell us anything we wanted from the ruins for very low prices. I got an R-390 for $15.00, quite literally half buried in the ground, and a friend with me got a 535 scope that was just about as bad for the same price. After an initial stop at a self service car wash to get the worst of the dirt and ashes off, we both spent many evenings and a few weekends, and a good amount of penetrating oil and contact cleaner, dismantling and cleaning the rigs. Manuals were easily obtained, I worked in the radio shop and my friend had a connection in the instrumentation lab. We were both very surprised and impressed at how well they turned out physically, indeed good enough that some of the lifers and officers gave us a lot of crap about having "misappropriated" them. Fortunately, we were both returnees from the Vietnam theater, and knew what to expect and do. We had receipts from the surplus store and pre-restoration photos. The lifers then just shrugged in disappoinment and left us alone. We both enjoyed the fruits of our work, I kept the R-390 for years, and my friend used the scope for digital experimenting and very early computer crafting. What frightens me today is so few young people having the interest or ability to do such work, and the priceless learning and skill they could gain from doing so.

Bruce Gentry, KA2IVY