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 Previous: The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler |  Next: PSK for Beginners |
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
August 4, 2006
This week, there are a more surprises in store for us as we find additional Amateur Radio references beyond Amateur Radio.
Two weeks ago, when I wrote about finding ham radio in popular culture, I expected that you readers would let me know about Amateur Radio references that were missing from Wikipedia's "Amateur Radio in Popular Culture" Web page. I was not disappointed. But, before we dig into the mailbag, here is an addition of my own.
Years ago, I'm sitting in the movie house, watching Sky Riders, a terrorist kidnapping potboiler, when I noticed that the radio that the evil doers are using to commit dastardly deeds looks mighty familiar. So, instead of concentrating on the plot of the movie, I am now concentrating on catching another glimpse of that radio. Sure enough, the next time it shows up in a scene, I recognize it as my very own Kenwood TS-520A transceiver! Well, not my very own, but one that came off the same assembly line as mine. I nudged my movie companion and whispered, "That's my radio." My movie companion was not impressed and shushed me.
Now, back to the mail.
Jeff Montgomery, WB4WXD, just finished reading a bunch of old Carl and Jerry columns from Popular Electronics of the late 50s and early 60s that a fellow ham had scanned from old magazines. Jeff asked, "Remember them? Sure are neat the way the kids solved a lot of problems a la Hardy Boys and Tom Swift." You can read a sampling of Carl and Jerry columns at the Web page compiled by John Frye, W9EGV, entitled The Carl and Jerry Stories from Popular Electronics October 1954 through December 1964.
Tim Comfort, NL7SK, wrote that Icom has comic books and coloring books featuring Zack and Max's Amateur Radio adventures.
 Comic book and movie heroine Modesty Blaise is another pop icon with Amateur Radio connections. |
From Hank Kohl, K8DD, "Years ago, the comic strip Modesty Blaise had ham radio in it when she talked to Willie Garvin via 20 meters. They were using G3 or G4 calls. Wish I would have saved them with the Dilbert ham radio strips that I have somewhere in the basement!"
Nicholas Proy, KB3LSR, claims, "Honda actually uses Morse code for the beeping when you leave your key in the ignition. The four beeps (····) are 'H' for Honda. Talk about a funny sense of humor!"
According to John Berry, WB6NZW, "In the movie The Postman, the old guy, who is a vet, sits in front a transceiver at night sending out 'CQ.'"
Meanwhile, Dick Jones, W0PZD, is of the opinion that "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial was certainly a ham in the true sense of the word."
Finally, Leigh Klotz, WA5ZNU, typed, "Your column came out just in time; my wife and I were watching The Glass Bottom Boat last night, a movie in which Doris Day is a ham! It wasn't in the Wikipedia list, so I added it."
Which brings us to Stan "Gray" Young, WG4RAY. He reminds us that "If you've got things to make a Wikipedia article better -- edit it! The whole idea is that folks can edit these articles. Then the next person to check the article will have the benefit of your input!"
One more thing: Numerous readers wrote to inform me that although I assumed two columns ago that Robbie Burnet's "Morse Goes To The Movies!" Web site was gone, its ghost is viewable at the Internet Archive Web site. In the November 11, 2005 installment of Surfin', I wrote about Internet Archive Web site and its WayBack Machine. He said, "Online, the site's Wayback Machine has 40 billion Web pages archived back to 1996. If you know the URL for an old Web page, enter it in the Wayback Machine's search engine and click on the 'Take Me Back' button." Be sure to check it out when you are trying to find an old Web site that seems to have given up the ghost.
Until next time, keep on surfin'.
Editor's note: Except for bugs in bad places, Stan Horzepa,
WA1LOU, usually enjoys strange juxtapositions. To discuss ham radio in unusual
places, as well as other odds and ends, e-mail
Stan or add comments to his blog.
| Previous: The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler | Next: PSK for Beginners |
