[TowerTalk] "Coax Break-In".. Applauded!

[Roger L. Elowitz]

Hi Gang,

Please allow this Towertalkian a brief turn on the soapbox.

Regarding the recent post QUESTIONING the validity of the "coax
break-in" procedure, viz......

 "To those Nasa engineers or other experts, is this really necessary
(supposely reduces back ground noise)?"..... 

I believe... is one of the smartest things the questioner could have
done.  True, he risked "losing face" by asking a naive question.... but
he also stood to profit from the knowledge that the article he thought
was valid... was totally bogus and purely in jest... considering the
occasion of the "holiday." Some of us may be forgetting that he was
asking an intelligent question and trying to learn something.  All
totally laudable.

When I was in the cub scouts ( seems like a few hundred years ago ) I
recall going on a treasure hunt with a list of things to acquire.  On
the list was "a bucket of blue steam" and "a left handed pencil."  It
took a long time for me to understand why so many people were laughing
at me when I asked for these items. 

While I was soon embarrassed to learn that I was asking for nonexistent
objects... and the joke was on me for not knowing, the pain was short
lived since I then had the "power" to send "less fortunate" younger cub
scouts on similar "wild goose chases."

Then again, I learned to question authority and things I didn't
understand and, while some people laughed at my ignorance or naivete, I
simply took it as an opportunity to learn something new so that next
time...I WOULD HAVE THE POWER OF THE KNOWLEDGE.  For some of us... that
kind of experience can lead to terrible embarrassment and for others
only very mild discomfort.  Hopefully, our egos are strong enough to
withstand this rare tweaking. 

To the point of whether joke articles or posts of this kind should be
allowed in technical magazines.... or for that matter, on this esteemed
reflector... I vote A RESOUNDING.....YES!

First of all, we are dealing with some very sophisticated humor here.
We are playing with exceedingly technical concepts. When an uninformed
person trips over something like this... the smartest thing he can do
is question it.  Somehow.... exposing one's ignorance always risks some
loss of face or embarrassment.  We generally get over it quickly and
move on to other things.  Those of us who don't... have other
personality problems that may indeed need professional help.

Generally, learning-by-embarrassment IS NOT a preferred route. As a
retired elementary school teacher I can state that with some authority.
 It's messy and inefficient and frequently counter productive.
Laughing at Johnny or Jane because they mispronounced a word when they
were reading aloud in class has no doubt interfered with many a kid's
reading progress.... as did standing up and giving a wrong answer while
everyone starred at you.  But every single one of us has faced those
challenges and most have mastered them... some perhaps better than
others. (Let's not forget that posting anything to the multitudes on
this reflector often takes great courage and for some of us....
involves a tremendous surge of adrenaline and perspiration as we click
that "SEND" button.

To eliminate humor in this technical medium because it has the
potential of embarrassing the uninformed... would do us all a
disservice. It would contribute to a stuffy air of seriousness that was
totally devoid of fun. I hope I'm not totally missing the point by
believing that "THIS IS A HOBBY" and that "HOBBIES ARE ABOUT HAVING FUN
AND ENJOYING ONESELF." I firmly believe a little "harmless" fun is a
GOOD THING!  It helps us all loosen-up a little and not take ourselves
too seriously.

And, once more, I reiterate, I DO NOT advocate a constant barge of
humorous pieces lest we get totally confused about what's really going
on!  However, a well placed zinger, on occasion, that rocks us in our
seats with side splitting laughter.... I most vociferously encourage.
But again, MODERATION  is to be cherished.

Furthermore, the article on "Breaking-In Coax"  did NOT suggest that
anyone do anything illegal or unsafe.  I would question the wisdom of
posting or publishing something that did advocate anything of that
nature...even if it was in fun. The object should never be to bring
physical harm to anyone.

Then again... had the article smeared a WARNING ..... HUMOR ALERT....
THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS PURE NONSENSE.... IT'S APRIL FOOL'S YOU KNOW!!!!
in the title... it would totally defeat its purpose....wouldn't it....
to appear totally serious and at the same time be totally bogus.
There's precisely the fun.  It's the masquerade effect.  It's the
CANDID CAMERA kind of thing with the talking mailboxes, the lowering
lunch counter stools, the cars with no engines.... kind of thing.

For the gentleman who asked the naive question... this has indeed been
a "Candid Camera" experience.  He will never again read an April issue
of anything, anywhere without a healthy degree of skepticism.  And,
should he ever run across such a bit of frivolity in the future... he
will no doubt enjoy it immensely and encourage others to do
likewise....all in good, clean, sophisticated fun. 

The ARRL policy of publishing such April Fool's pieces is a very, very
long standing tradition and most of us look forward to the challenge of
scouring the April issue of QST to search out the bogus article.  We
howl with delight and laughter when we find it and we derive the utmost
in sadistic pleasure in temporarily tweaking our friends about it.
GREAT, GREAT FUN!

Now, I have this can of "RF Grease" that claims a "3-db Signal
Improvement" when applied to my beam elements.  Should I REALLY USE
IT... or should I train some moles to carry explosive charges down to a
rocky strata so I can get my ground rods properly installed?  What to
do, what to do? I think I'll lay the grease on double thick and try for
the 6-db in signal improvement and just forget about the ground rods
and double my homeowners insurance limits instead. Even moles have
rights!

Submitted for your intellectual consideration......

Roger Elowitz, K2JAS

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