G[mloulnal - Quarter Century Wireless Association

Probably one of the greatest changes in Amateur radio since its
beginnings has been in the "home brewing" art. Originally, all amateur
equipment was home brewed. Even as recently as tW\X{lI, most
hams built their own receivers - although owning a store-bought re-
ceiver had become the dream of most everyone. Now on most every
band and QSO, we hear the proud proclamations: "The transmitter
here is an Eidrer Splitter K4\7 and the receiver is a companion SS4R."
This is followed by a description of a store-bought antenna, which is
'different' in that it is almost thirry-four feet in the air. No home brewing
herel \Xihy has Amateur Radio with its long tradition of home
brewing changed so?
There are probably sweral reasons fot this change including, possibly,
our aftluent life sq.le. Aftluence has brought conspicuous consumption
into every facet of our lives, including hobbies. Thus, whether
we have the latest and finest K4\X/ and SS4R combination, or last
years predecessor which had one more vacuum tube, might influence
our position in the "pecking order".
But hams, in general, are individualisdc t)?es who don't consciously
concern themselves with social "pecking orders" and conspicuous
consumption; and it would appear, therefore, that other factors
are involved. lWhat might those factors be? Time? Material? Facilities?
Ingenuity? Perseverance?
What about time?
No one will argue the fact that arnateur transmitters and receivers
of pre tWorld War II were much simpler than their modern day counterparts
and took less time to build. They were so simple, in fact, that
one might "tear down to rebuild on one weekend and be back on the
air widr a brand new rig by the next week end. They were simple, not
just in their circr-ritry but also in their mechanical construction. They
were often built on a pine board; and shielding, if required, was used
to keep the bugs out rather than in. In those days more time was spent
&eaming about the design than in actual construction.
In earlier days therewere enough salvageable parts in an old broadcast
receiver - available to the prospective home brewer for the asking
- to build an excellent 25-watt transmitter and companion receiver.
This was a ty?ical rig - 100 watts was high powerl Additionally, tie
radio parts emporiums were bulging with goodies directly applicable
to arnaterr home brew projects. On the other hand, modern electronic
equipment is so constructed that parts salvaging is almost impossible.
And worse, the majority of surplus parts were designed for
specific applications, generally precluding their use in amateur gear.
That is not to say that new components are not available; howevet the
price in unit quantities desired for home brewing is often prohibitive,
What about facility
Probablythe biggest Actor marking the demise ofthe home brewing
art is the lack of facility by most hams. Vahen the chassis was a pine
board, a few hand tools and the kitchen table for the workbench would
suffice. Today, a reasonably well-equipped wortr