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Message Digest
Volume 28 : Issue 250 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Heathkits
Heathkits P.S.
Re: How Hackers Snatch Real-Time Security ID Numbers
Re: How Hackers Snatch Real-Time Security ID Numbers
Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Driver Texting Now an Issue in Back Seat
Palm Unveils a Smartphone for Younger Users
Re: Texting (and cell phone usage) while driving movie: the consequences
Re: Texting (and cell phone usage) while driving movie: the consequences
AT&T to Make Faster 3G Technology Available in Six Major Cities This Year
Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Re: Where Have You Gone, Bell Labs?
====== 28 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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===========================
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 07:57:46 +0000 (UTC)
From: "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Message-ID: <h87n5q$t4e$4@news.albasani.net>
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>On Sep 8, 12:40 am, "Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
>>Hah! You date things from CBBS! Traditionally, we celebrate the
>>anniversary of February 16, 1978, although it probably went live a week
>>or two earlier.
>Would anyone know what platform this BBS used?
Ward and Randy invented the BBS. Bill is recalling about a significant
moment in computer history. This invention predated Usenet and the Web.
Here's Randy's narrative. This article is undoubtably in the Telecom
Digest archives.
The original CBBS consisted of a S-100 motherboard picked up
at some fleamarket. This was a "kit" of course, so I had to
solder all the connectors. (lotsa soldering done in those days,
such as 8 k memory boards filled with 1kX1 chips)
It was mounted on a BUD chassis with a single density 8 inch
floppy drive. On the motherboard was some 8080 cpu (upgraded to a
Z80) a Hayes 300 baud modem card, a 3P+S board with the parallel
port used for control signals, a Processor Technology VDM video
display card, and an 8k memory board. There was also a card with
8 1702 EEPROMS that held the CP/M BIOS, video display drivers,
and debug code, all written by Ward. I had a EPROM burner, and
Ward made sure all the BIOS variables and experimentor stuff
ended up in the last 1702. Musta re-programmed that sucker 10
times a week for a few months.
The floppy drives of that time had 117vAC running the spindle
motor, and the drive would wear out quickly. So I built a
circuit on a prototype board that would turn on the system
power when a ring signal came in from the modem card and do
a reset of the computer. By the time the drive spun up, the
software had answered the phone and booted CPM and CBBS from
the floppy. (simple power fail system!) The circuit board also
had some 555 timers, so when the caller went away, the drive
motors would continue to spin for about 10 seconds to flush out
any data, then shut the system down. I had an old Heath chart
recorder I hooked across the floppy drive motor and set up the
chart speed for 2 days per sheet. Was able to determine the
calling patterns from the chart.
From the 173k single density single sided floppy, we went to a
pair of them, then to double density double sided drives. Bout
a year later, moved CBBS to a NorthStar Horizon cabinet with
a 10 meg seagate hd. Both those systems are still sitting
around someplace. It is now running on a PC clone motherbard
still running CP/M with the original 8080 assembly code! The
clone board has a V20 chip, which fully supports the 8080 op
codes. Ward wrote a wrapper around CP/M-CBBS, and CBBS has been
running that way for over 15 years.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 07:16:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Heathkits
Message-ID: <26d725ae-8da4-4a2c-abb9-70a61fd7e7d8@z30g2000yqz.googlegroups.com>
Telecom Digest Moderator wrote:
>In addition to Ward Christensen's CBBS, I also used it to connect to
>the Heath User Group BBS in Massachusetts.
In the separate discussion on Teletypes, there was mention of Heath
products. I presume they mean the hobbyist chain, Heathkit, which,
among other products, sold kits that customers put together
themselves. The descriptions of the old BBS (Bulletin Board System)
showed that everything was discrete components wiring together by
hand.
I knew computer experimenters who used Heathkits, both to build
something as well as test and experimental pieces, such as jumper
boards as described in the other thread. It was also big for amateur
radio.
I forgot how much in the early days was hardware work.
Wiki has this to say:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathkit
Cheap electronic assembly eliminated the cost savings of kits and the
Heath business model. Heath ceased selling kits 3/30/92. The company
is into other stuff now.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 08:08:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Heathkits P.S.
Message-ID: <cb9d9b4d-c7a6-4cbc-80c0-7ca53c8c7a01@t13g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>
I forgot to ask in my earlier post . . . Did Heathkit ever sell
telephone equipment?
Back in the late 1960s some electronic supply stores began to sell
telephone sets, perhaps older 302s or non Bell products, such as AE or
ITT. Around that time people discovered they could buy their own
telephone set, with the 4-prong plug, and not have to pay the
extension rental charge. (A set cost about $10 back then). The
bootleg extension market got rather large.
Bell, as well as the state regulators, naturally didn't like this and
threated the wrath of the heavens upon anyone discovered with a
bootleg phone. Supposedly Bell developed line testers that added up
ringer resistance on a phone line and compared it to its records to
see if there were bootleg extensions in use. Of course, word of this
got around and consumers disconnected the ringer of their bootleg
phones.
While Bell literature described such devices, I question if they
really existed or were used to any great extent. The state of the art
of computerization and equipment back then meant comparing business
office records to a line tester wasn't so easy since the interfaces
were usually very different. Converting AMA punched paper tapes to a
form the billing computer could use required translation steps from
one medium to another. I also question whether subscribers' service
was disconnected--beyond a few "to be made an example of"--for having
a bootleg phone.
Also some electronics stores sold parts, like headsets, dials, etc. A
friend of mine bought a headset (the 52 series?) and spliced it into
his phone. I did likewise. We both found we could hear fine, but
transmission to other people was poor. I wondered if headsets
required a different circuit than the 500 set. At the same time my
friend experimented with his phone dial, changing it to 20 pulses per
second and found that it worked, nicely speeding up his dialing time.
(we were served by either panel or #1 xbar).
------------------------------
Date: 9 Sep 2009 11:32:05 -0400
From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: How Hackers Snatch Real-Time Security ID Numbers
Message-ID: <h88hpl$cqt$1@panix2.panix.com>
<hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:
>
>What Windows applications would become dysfuctional if vulnerable
>traits were closed up?
You name it.
First thing is dump the whole notion of allowing a visual basic script
embedded into a word processing document or spreadsheet to run external
applications.
That would break a HUGE number of big corporate applications. It would
also be a phenomenal improvement in system security.
>In other discussions, some suggested that far too many applications
>uilize these automated features; that eliminating them would cripple
>computer use. Is that true?
It's possible. It would have been better not to have put them there in
the first place, but if you don't design security into a product it turns
out to be very difficult to retrofit it after the fact.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:00:32 GMT
From: "Tony Toews \[MVP\]" <ttoews@telusplanet.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: How Hackers Snatch Real-Time Security ID Numbers
Message-ID: <19ufa5ttmbi4jkr2p3c73c24sq6kqeo7p2@4ax.com>
kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
>> What Windows applications would become dysfuctional if vulnerable
>> traits were closed up?
>
> You name it.
>
> First thing is dump the whole notion of allowing a visual basic
> script embedded into a word processing document or spreadsheet to
> run external applications.
>
> That would break a HUGE number of big corporate applications. It
> would also be a phenomenal improvement in system security.
Microsoft offers a number of different levels of security to this
problem. You can set the macro security of the application to be
various levels. High means only files [which have been] signed with a
recognized digitial certificate, somewhat similar to the SSL used in
https pages by your bank, will be executed. Office 2003 came with
high security enabled by default, as have newer versions of Office.
Now it had its quirks as [does] any V1.0 feature. However that's over
six years ago now.
In the current out of box security settings Microsoft Office now
refuses to run any code whatsoever. You, or your system
administrators have to override that.
Setting your macro security to low means anything goes which is how it
used to be before Office 2003.
Sementic quibble. It is not a Visual Basic Script that is part of
Word, Excel, PPT or Access but Visual Basic for Applications. The
term script can be seen as rather negative such as "script kiddies"
>> In other discussions, some suggested that far too many applications
>> uilize these automated features; that eliminating them would
>> cripple computer use. Is that true?
>
> It's possible. It would have been better not to have put them there
> in the first place, but if you don't design security into a product
> it turns out to be very difficult to retrofit it after the fact.
Hindsight is perfect, now isn't it?
Tony (Microsoft Access developer since about 1993. Microsoft Access MVP since
1999)
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Tony's Main MS Access pages - http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/
Granite Fleet Manager http://www.granitefleet.com/
------------------------------
Date: 9 Sep 2009 11:36:18 -0400
From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Message-ID: <h88i1i$dkg$1@panix2.panix.com>
Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> wrote:
>The "Claim To Fame" for the Hayes modems was, as John Levine pointed
>out, that it could be used with only a three wire connection. This may
>seem like a solution in search of a problem today, but return with me
>now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, prior to the Borg -
>
>* There was no agreement on what connectors to use: my Heath H89 had
> both female and male 25 pin connectors for the DTE ports.
DTE is male. Ma Bell is female. It's what the original standard
says. Of course, nobody paid attention to the standard, which is how
we got into this mess.
> Retailers would sell anything that looked like a computer cable,
> no matter what the connector sex, the wire, or the pinout.
This has not changed.
> Operating Systems did NOT have complete control of the serial
> ports. CP/M required drivers that were written by OEM's, or even by
> end-users like me, and everyone was in an incredible hurry to get
> product to market, so "DSR" and "CD" leads were often ignored. Hell,
> it was hard enough to get the speed right, with some control
> programs requiring manual setup for the modem speed since they had
> no "auto detect" capability.
This is inexcusable and is the result of poor programming on the
result of microcomputer vendors. You did not see this in the big
computer world. Back at that time there was a huge influx of
hobbyists coming into the microcomputer world who didn't really know
what they were doing, did not know that standards already existed, and
they found themselves making commercial products. It was a very weird
time.
> Software vendors advertised "technical support" very heavily, but
> what they provided was a long list of excuses for doing nothing: if
> the modem lights blinked, they would tell you it was a modem problem
> and refer you back to your modem vendor.
This also has not changed.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
***** Moderator's Note *****
ISTR a news story about Philippe Kahn, founder of Borland, who, while
observing a Microsoft demonstration that involved dialing in to some
online service they were pushing, stood up and asked why the modem
lights weren't blinking.
Bill Horne
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 12:36:56 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Message-ID: <4be49878-b23f-4026-9d96-661387dc2570@y21g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>
On Sep 9, 1:10 pm, klu...@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
> This is inexcusable and is the result of poor programming on the
> result of microcomputer vendors. You did not see this in the big
> computer world. Back at that time there was a huge influx of
> hobbyists coming into the microcomputer world who didn't really know
> what they were doing, did not know that standards already existed, and
> they found themselves making commercial products. It was a very weird
> time.
Yes, but with qualifications.
Yes, you generally did not see this in the business mainframe world
because work had to get done - employees and vendors waiting for their
checks would have no tolerance for an excuse, "well, the pin
connectors weren't as we expected". Work had to get done on time per
schedule*. Indeed, big shops had reciprocal backup arrangements with
another shop, so if their machine was down, they could run their
critical reports at another site.
Sometimes big shops would tinker with 3rd party add-on peripherals
which sometimes worked well, sometimes not. But these normally would
be on less critical applications and a backup on hand.
In the science/academia world there was more experimentation with
peripherals, especially if a lab had its own mini computer to
experiment with.
The flip side is that in the nascent micro-computer world, which was
much more hobbyist than business in its early days, the era of
experimentation produced many technical advances. It enabled end-
users to really get into the guts of the new technology, certainly not
possible or allowed with a mainframe. Mainframe technology moved
forward slowly, indeed, IBM purposely set up its new PC division to be
separate for that reason.
My objection to that early experimental micro-world was that
individuals and entrapreneurs passionately claimed a hardware or
software [item] was fully developed and ready for the rigors of
demanding real-world business service, when in fact it was most
certainly not. Many end-users fell in love with a sales pitch of a
micro, but closer examination often found the hardware was severely
underpowered for its anticipated needs and the software's
functionality was not as robust as claimed.
In those days many mainframers found themselves in the unpleasant
situation of rushing to bail out a critical end-user who bought a
micro-application which didn't work.
* I knew a junior programmer whose program crashed in the middle of
the night. They called his house but his father refused the call.
The programmer was fired the next day.
***** Moderator's Note *****
"Underpowered" doesn't begin to cover the rapacious and sleezy conduct
of some micro vendors. I heard of one retailer which sold machines
equipped with 64K of RAM, but never recompiled CP/M to recognize the
memory beyond it's default 56K setting. When customers asked for a
memory upgrade, the vendor would do the recompile and then charge them
as if they had actually installed the added RAM.
It was a gold rush, and the winners were the ones who kept their eye
on the gold.
Bill Horne
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 11:53:09 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Driver Texting Now an Issue in Back Seat
Message-ID: <p06240803c6cd7f8edc2f@[10.0.1.3]>
DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION
Driver Texting Now an Issue in Back Seat
By MATT RICHTEL
September 9, 2009
After decades of marriage, Terry and Debbie Buchen learned to work
through various marital issues. Then something new came between them
- his cellphone.
Mr. Buchen, 62, couldn't put it down while driving. The first time he
sent e-mail messages from behind the wheel, he drove his BMW S.U.V.
into a ditch on a deserted stretch of road.
He was alone and driving slowly, and he wasn't injured. Still, the
incident was "very scary," his wife said.
Mr. Buchen knew he had a to make a choice between his habit and
marital bliss.
"I chose my wife," he said. But then Mr. Buchen, an agronomist for
golf courses, asked for a compromise: he asked her to drive when they
were together so he could stay connected with clients. That didn't
fly. "If looks could kill," he said.
For all the conversations about distracted driving playing out in
statehouses and on talk shows, the most heated discussions, and the
ones with the most lasting impact, may be happening between family
members and friends.
Such disputes are an extension of a longstanding source of tension -
sometimes light, other times more antagonistic - between drivers and
their self-appointed watchdogs.
It's just that now, the back-seat driver is going after the BlackBerry.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/technology/09distracted.html
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 11:55:12 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Palm Unveils a Smartphone for Younger Users
Message-ID: <p06240804c6cd8036039e@[10.0.1.3]>
Palm Unveils a Smartphone for Younger Users
By JENNA WORTHAM
September 9, 2009
Taking the next step toward rebuilding its lineup of smartphones,
Palm announced on Wednesday a new cellphone called the Pixi.
Palm also announced it was dropping the price of its Pre smartphone
by $50 to $150, with a two-year service agreement and after a $150
instant rebate and $100 mail-in rebate.
Given the name, the Pixi is aimed at younger customers than those who
bought the Pre. The company said the phone would have a smaller touch
screen and be slimmer than the Pre, but it would share many of the
same features, including eight gigabytes of storage and GPS
navigation capabilities. Like the Pre, the Pixi runs on the company's
new operating system, called WebOS, which promises speedy Web
browsing.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/technology/companies/09palm.html
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:17:07 -0800
From: John David Galt <jdg@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Texting (and cell phone usage) while driving movie: the consequences
Message-ID: <h88k9c$9bd$1@blue.rahul.net>
Thad Floryan wrote:
> And some high-end production cars already can automatically
> parallel park the vehicle on public streets. The ones I
> know about include Lexus LS460, 2010 Lincoln MKT or MKS
> (Ford's Active Park Assist), and BMW's Autopark system;
> there may be others.
The BBC show "Top Gear" tried out this gadget earlier this season, and
it promptly drove the BMW straight through the front window of a
store.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:02:38 +1000
From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Texting (and cell phone usage) while driving movie: the consequences
Message-ID: <pan.2009.09.09.23.02.37.228203@myrealbox.com>
On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:13:11 -0400, John David Galt wrote:
> Thad Floryan wrote:
>> And some high-end production cars already can automatically parallel
>> park the vehicle on public streets. The ones I know about include Lexus
>> LS460, 2010 Lincoln MKT or MKS (Ford's Active Park Assist), and BMW's
>> Autopark system; there may be others.
>
> The BBC show "Top Gear" tried out this gadget earlier this season, and it
> promptly drove the BMW straight through the front window of a store.
It wasn't caused by some using a GSM phone and the signal interfering
with the technology, was it? -;)
--
Regards, David.
David Clayton
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a
measure of how many questions you have.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 13:46:16 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: AT&T to Make Faster 3G Technology Available in Six Major Cities This Year
Message-ID: <p06240807c6cd9a11ba73@[10.0.1.3]>
AT&T to Make Faster 3G Technology Available in Six Major Cities This Year
Rollout of New Technology - HSPA 7.2 - Matched by Backhaul Deployment
to Cell Sites to Support Surging Mobile Broadband Demand Throughout
Evolution to 4G
Dallas, Texas, September 9, 2009
AT&T today announced details of its rollout plans for High Speed
Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 technology, which will provide a
considerable speed boost to what is already the nation's fastest 3G
mobile broadband network.
Supporting this HSPA 7.2 initiative is AT&T's ongoing deployment of
additional backhaul capacity to cell sites. These backhaul
connections add critical capacity to the network to support today's
unprecedented growth in mobile data traffic as well as the future
demands of next-generation 4G networks.
AT&T plans to begin deployment of HSPA 7.2 in six major U.S. cities,
including Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami,
with initial service availability expected in these markets by the
end of the year. All told, the company plans to deploy HSPA 7.2 in 25
of the nation's 30 largest markets by the end of 2010, and to reach
about 90 percent of its existing 3G network footprint with HSPA 7.2
by the end of 2011.
The upgraded network platform allows for theoretical peak speeds of
7.2Mbps. Typical real-world downlink and uplink speeds experienced by
customers with upgraded 3G will be less than the theoretical peak and
will vary based on a number of factors, including location, device,
and overall traffic on the local wireless network at a given time.
...
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=27068
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:13:27 -0500
From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (PV)
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Message-ID: <ZuudnXRi24watTXXnZ2dnUVZ_rWdnZ2d@supernews.com>
"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> writes:
>> Ward (and Randy Suess) had a long history of randomly breaking into
>> CBBS sessions with comments (and not nice ones if it was Randy and
>> you were doing something he didn't like). They were/are interesting
>> guys.
>
> When were you on CBBS?
I signed on every couple days from high school practically from the day they
opened the modems. *
--
* PV Something like badgers, something like lizards, and something
like corkscrews.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:14:55 -0500
From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (PV)
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Message-ID: <ZuudnXdi24xCtTXXnZ2dnUVZ_rWdnZ2d@supernews.com>
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>On Sep 8, 12:40 am, "Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
>> Hah! You date things from CBBS! Traditionally, we celebrate the
>> anniversary of February 16, 1978, although it probably went live a week
>> or two earlier.
>
> Would anyone know what platform this BBS used?
It was a purpose-built S100 bus computer, and custom software. *
--
* PV Something like badgers, something like lizards, and something
like corkscrews.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:51:43 -0500
From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi)
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Message-ID: <wfGdnYmh0vPirDXXnZ2dnUVZ_tqdnZ2d@posted.nuvoxcommunications>
In article <sZqdnVt78pmnFDvXnZ2dnUVZ_oFi4p2d@supernews.com>,
PV <pv+usenet@pobox.com> wrote:
>bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) writes:
>> When the hobby market developed, then things got seriously messy.
>> If a computer was connected to a modem, it needed to look like DTE,
>> because the modem was DCE. If it was connected to a terminal (or a
>> printer, or, ....) it needed to look like DCE, because that 'other
>> device' was hard-wired as DTE.
>
> And you had computers that didn't set some of the lines right, so
> you might use carefully-spliced cables (or a gadget from radio shack
> with jumpers and opposite-gender connectors on both ends) to
> duplicate signals. And null modem adapters. And gender changers. And
> then they added 9 pin serial...
And -printers- that used non-standard pins for various handshaking.
At this remove, I don't remember which one, but one of the _big_
letter-quality printer manufacturers (NEC, Diablo, ??) was *notorious*
for this.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:10:35 -0500
From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi)
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Where Have You Gone, Bell Labs?
Message-ID: <Ks-dnYn3tcF2qDXXnZ2dnUVZ_oOdnZ2d@posted.nuvoxcommunications>
In article <0dvda555cs3ob7s8m5eunl0jbkn6oh2j25@4ax.com>,
Tony Toews \[MVP\] <ttoews@telusplanet.net> wrote:
>T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net> wrote:
>
>> And the antenna is about six feet high - too big to use in a car!
>
> Some radio amateurs are indeed using seven foot tall antennas
> atlhough admittedly on minivans.
_I_ was the "Armstrong" antenna mount when a friend would go on a 2m
hidden- transmitter hunt, using a 10 element beam. Amazingly
effective, although there was a significant 'distraction' factor with
regard to other drivers. (A local cop nearly ran off the road when we
drove past him :)
After a few times out, we decided 10 elements was overkill, and went
to a steerable 4-element beam, with the mast in a slip-ring, supported
by a section on a 'moose rack'. Raise it enough to clear the roof to
swing it for DF -- point forward or aft, and let it drop to where the
antenna 'beam' was at the moose rack for close clearances.
In fairly short order, some of the other 'hunters' were also using
4-element beams on a mast, stuck (near vertical) through a rear window
on a van.
The guys hiding the transmitter started to have to work a _lot_
harder, to make the hunts last any length of time. But that's a whole
-nuther- set of stories. <grin>
***** Moderator's Note *****
I was once the "fox" on a fox hunt done on Boston Common. To throw the
searchers off the scent, I dressed in an old Army jacket and dirty
jeans, with mis-matched socks and shoes. I carried my 2 meter
transceiver in a paper bag, and whenever a hunter got close, I'd go up
to him and asked for spare change in a slurred voice.
It took two hours for one of them catch me: he was using a slotted
antenna made out of an aerosol can. He was the only one who believed
what his DF gear was telling him.
BTW, DF'ing, a.k.a. Radiosport, is a major hobby in Japan.
Bill Horne
------------------------------
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