I remember as a kid pouring over every issue of Scientific American and
QST each month when they came. They were both veritable fountains of the
latest factual technology for me and I devoured every word. I remember
struggling with the science behind a few QST articles and concluded that
I just wasn't smart enough to understand the prinicples involved. Later
as a teen ager, I simply couldn't believe that the ground effect of
burying a vertical straight down could really be a new breakthrough in
antennas, but the article was footnoted with references and all. Asking
the senior hams about this new phenomen, brought forth broad smiles and
poderous explanations about the theories involved. They kept me going
for almost two weeks, during which time I read the ARRL antenna manual
cover to cover as well as two other books on antenna theory. I enjoyed
laughing at myself when they finally let me in on QST's annual secret and
now I look forward every year to finding the outrageous April spoof!
Didn't do me any harm. I read a lot of technical books as a kid that I
would never had bothered with were it not for QST's gentle humor.
Jon Hamlet, W4ZW
Casey Key Island, Florida
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