[TenTec] Monitor (was-Contesting)

[al_lorona at agilent.com]

> 
> When I use a PRO I reset the monitor to B&W.  Even though 
> it's backward 
> (white on black) I find this combination easier to view than 
> the color screens.  


Blair, you reminded me of something that happened to me earlier this
year. I was de-planing from a Boeing 767, and when I passed the open
cockpit I stuck my head in to thank the pilots. Their displays were
still frozen on the last screen that they were looking at when they
landed. I pointed to one of the LCDs and asked, "What's that?", and the
co-pilot answered that it was the navigation display. 

This navigation display would sorely disappoint most hams, especially
the ones that like fancy color screens. The display consisted of a stick
figure airplane on a black background, and two lines showing (I guess) X
and Y position. There were a few numbers in the corners. That's it. 

I almost laughed. But the co-pilot said that this is the most desirable
possible screen precisely because of its simplicity. It tells him the
one piece of information most important to him as he is bringing a 767
down onto the runway; that is, *where he is*. And he seemed to be not
bothered in the least that there weren't many colors, fonts, moving
meters, annunciators and other pictures.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/444718/L/

The simpler, the better. No?


Al W6LX