[wacor]

Originally Posted by JohnWill

I remember when I was a kid in my teens driving around and just pushing the garage door opener button for every house, you'd be amazed at how many doors we opened!

Back in the mid 60's we had a tv that would once in a while turn on the neighbors garage door. And it was a long distance also.

I have tried the opener at different spots down the road. I also have fair luck if I close my door when part of the car is still inside the garage as I am backing up.

For now I will just make sure I don't open his door and wait till I see him and tell him I tried.

[Koot]

Originally Posted by itsjusme

LOL Yeah, i`m guilty too. Back then they operated on a frequency and had a receiver that was easily overridden. And we had a remote of sorts. If you had a CB with a big amplifier, you could open doors for blocks. LOL Most of those CB amps put out dirty signals with terrible harmonics, it would overload the receiver front end and drive em nuts.

I remember those days well even though I was just a child. The wide double harmonic (at +/- 54 MHz) would wipe out neighbor's televisions even without an amp. That brings back fond memories of the huge sunspot cycle in '58 about the time the FCC allotted 27 MHz to the CB band. Also, Eico, Johnson white face, Johnson black face, General MC-5, Browning radios. It wasn't long before I got into Ham radio and passed my novice test in Atlanta, and soon became an Extra Class. Talking about big amplifiers, I've designed and built some huge, monster amps over the years.

Sorry about the off-topic, but I couldn't resist...

[itsjusme]

I never wanted to get the extra class license, once i got to general and found that most of the extra`s hung out on the general class portion because they were lonely. LOL I also have amps that will go way beyond the legal limit if i push em, but i seldom use them. I`ve talked around the world on 100 watts. And yeah, you could open some doors with a barefoot 4 watt radio if you were right in front of the house.

[Koot]

Yeah, that's true - on phone most of the action (rag chewing or DX) was in the general portion of the bands. On CW there was more activity that extras enjoyed in the lower portions.

The biggest amp I built used two 3CX5000A7 in ground grid with a 3CX800A7 as a pre-driver. Early on I would build amps with a pair of 3-500s. But later on my favorite homebrews used 3CX800A7 tubes because they were so easy to drive. I've built them with two tubes all the way up to five tubes. The prettiest amp was built in a stripped out 30S-1 Collins base and upper cabinet using three 3CX800A7s. At one time I had a dozen Peter W. Dahl plate and filament transformers and dozens of vacuum caps for C1 & C2 laying around just waiting for the next one to be built. I used to enjoy talking to a bunch of friends about building amps on 75 meters. Lot of fun. 73s

[valis]

why is it that I now have this sudden urge to obtain a ham radio and fiddle with it for a bit?

[Koot]

Originally Posted by valis

why is it that I now have this sudden urge to obtain a ham radio and fiddle with it for a bit?

It "was" a better hobby years ago, but sadly the older Hams are dying off and there are very few kids taking up the hobby. Also, decades ago you could build your own equipment because parts were readily available, but not too much anymore. And there used to be a multitude of new Ham radios and equipment from various manufacturers, but it's very limited now. It's still a great hobby and a wealth of knowledge and experince can be learned along the journey - it's just not what it used to be...and never will be again.

[itsjusme]

Originally Posted by valis

why is it that I now have this sudden urge to obtain a ham radio and fiddle with it for a bit?

Didnt mean to get off topic, as if that hadn`t already been done in this thread. You can delete my post`s if you wish.

[valis]

heck no........this threads been meandering all over hell and back. Besides, wacor's the one driving, and I'll lay you ten to one that he will swear that he didn't have anything to do with this thread.

[wacor]

Ham radio operators are worse than born again christians. My best friend toyed with them in high school and then suddenly in his 40s got hooked again. Put up a 40' tower on property in northern MI on one of the higher pieces of land. It was so high and such a sturdy tower he was offered to rent it to the cell phone companies. Went on a trip to Tenn back 15 years ago and he spent the entire trip on his mobile rig that he put in my car. One fishing trip up in Canada he brought the mobile rig.

Yeah these people need to get a life.

Now that will be the end of such talk on this thread.

Thank you

[itsjusme]

Yeah these people need to get a life.

ROTFL ! Yeah, i guess thats kinda like people that hang out on these forums that can accumulate 25-35k posts in just 5-6 years.

Do you know anyone that has a system and remote like yours that you could try to see if it also opens your neighbors door also?

[valis]

Originally Posted by itsjusme

ROTFL ! Yeah, i guess thats kinda like people that hang out on these forums that can accumulate 25-35k posts in just 5-6 years.

he does bring up a valid point.

[wacor]

Originally Posted by valis

he does bring up a valid point.

You obviously have never been stuck in a car driving over 6 hours with an obsessed ham operator

Besides I can multi task quite well.

And work is just this stinking slow

[valis]

you at least got the work........I got laid off friday........

and no, I've not spent 6 hours in the car with a ham operator (is there any other type other than 'obsessed'?), so you get bonus points for that.

I still wish I could have been there to see your face when both doors opened.......priceless......

[wacor]

sorry about the layoff V

that stinks

and yes obsessed to put it mildly. When he was on the fishing trip he made my buddy go to short at a particular time so he could fire up the radio to communicate with somebody back home.

hearing dit, dit, dot, dot for hours on the road makes my blood curdle

he is the obsessed type that has to also prove he is still up to speed on the morris code.

oye

[Koot]

You're right that most Hams are obsessed with their hobby and are on the geeky side. That gets old very quickly - I know. However, I can honestly say that's not how I am. I've been far more obsessed with playing golf over the years than Ham radio. In fact, Ham radio is down the list a ways. There are a number of hobbies, including sports car racing and track events, that top the list ahead of Ham radio. Not all Hams are like your friend, but I agree that most are. By the way, it's Morse code - not Morris code! Some may even call it "CW", which means "continuous wave".