Topband: Vertical Array Over Uneven Ground

[George Dubovsky]

All,

This argument has been going on ever since I got out of Engineering school,
and frankly, it's not going to stop until "my" generation is gone. I'm an
EE and I work in my own machine shop in my (new) retirement. I work in
Imperial units because I THINK in Imperial units - it's what I learned as a
wee bairn. I KNOW what an inch and a foot are, instinctively, and although
I have no problem working in metric, I prefer not to because the units are
non-instinctive - to ME. I care not a whit if metric calculations are
faster or somehow superior; I don't think in metric - period.

Now, two of my kids are 1990's vintage EEs, and they grew up on metric. I
was taken aback when one of them - in high school - described a dimension
to me by holding his fingers THIS far apart and stating: oh, it's about 10
cm. When his generation largely displaces mine in the workforce, metric
will have won. It won't be better or worse than Imperial measurement - it
will just BE. Me, I'll continue working - and thinking - in inches, feet,
mils, and turning out good work to precise dimensions, while ignoring snobs
that presume that "I just don't get it".

73,

geo - n4ua

On Thu, Nov 15, 2012 at 7:05 PM, James Rodenkirch <rodenkirch_llc at msn.com>wrote:

> Gosh, Paul.....why don't you simply keep measuring in our system and avoid
> the obvious "mental wedgie" you keep forming PLUS you won't be so
> "weary"?!?!?!
>
> 72, Jim Rodenkirch K9JWV
>
> > Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2012 18:58:48 -0500
> > From: paul at n1bug.com
> > To: zr at jeremy.mv.com
> > CC: topband at contesting.com
> > Subject: Re: Topband: Vertical Array Over Uneven Ground
> >
> > > I suspect most Americans are more comfortable with our own measuring
> system
> > > plus our ham bands where antenna formulas are still published in feet
> and
> > > inches.
> >
> > I suspect most (or at least many) Americans are resistant to change
> > and unwilling to give anything different than what they are used to
> > a fair try before dismissing it.
> >
> > When I don't have to deal too extensively with materials made to
> > specific sizes for the U.S. market, I do much of my measuring and
> > work using the metric system. Why? Because once I got used to it, I
> > find it much easier to work with. My notes on projects going back
> > over 20 years usually give dimensions in metric (eg. plate line
> > dimensions for a VHF amplifier in millimeters). I have grown
> > somewhat weary of converting to another system just so that other
> > Americans won't grumble about my choice of units. I may stop that
> > practice. If other Americans don't understand the measurements and
> > can't be bothered to do the conversion, they probably don't really
> > want/need the information.
> >
> > Paul
> > _______________________________________________
> > Topband reflector - topband at contesting.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Topband reflector - topband at contesting.com
>