[TowerTalk] April Fools...

[Hsu, Aaron T.]

I remember back in high school - my friend Gerry and I were heavy into
our Commodore 64 computers.  We came across an article in the April
issue of Compute! magazine.  The article talked about a new way to speed
up the C-64 by bypassing certain I/O routines and replacing them with
the HEX code listing in the article.  Gerry was a bit skeptical, but I
thought it was possible since accellerator programs worked on the C-64
disk drives.  So, we spent the next hour typing in HEX codes - not
assembly nmemonics like LDA 08, just HEX like 0E A4 3F 73, etc.  Gerry
noticed a few HEX codes that related to the print functions, but we kept
going.  After we were done, we saved the program, did a "load
xxx.xxx,8,1" and then "SYS xxxxx" to start the program.  What came up
was a BIG sparkley screen with the words "April Fool's!!!".  DOUGH!!!
Should have known better.  What really threw us off was the fact that
Compute! usually sent out issues 2 months in advance.  We received the
April issue in February and weren't even thinking of April 1st.

What's worse?  We looked at the article again.  This time, we noticed
that parts of the page were a light shade of grey.  Holding the magazine
further away, we were able to make out "April Fool's" plastered
diagonally across the article, sorta like a watermark.

>From that day forward, I've always viewed articles with a grain of
skepticism.  I don't mind QST's traditional April Fool's article at all.
In fact, I look forward to the humor.  But, I do agree that somewhere in
the article needs to be a disclaimer that it is an April Fool's article.
The technical level of today's amateur just isn't was it use to be.  A
watermark like the one mentioned above would be just fine...   :-P

  - Aaron Hsu, KD6DAE
    athsu@unistudios.com
    dae@pacbell.net


> From rec.radio.amateur.antenna
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 19:39:19 GMT
> From: Jim Harris <jimhar@hal-pc.org>
> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.antenna
> Subject: Coax breakin?
> 
> I will be erecting a new antenna system soon for HF operation.
> However, I noticed an April 1997 article in QST that mentioned coax
> feed-ins should be 'broken in'. The author advised to DC current
> harden the center conductor and sweep varing AC signals. Also, he
> mentioned that one should pull or tension the cable, so as to reduce
> mechanical resonances. 
> 
> To those Nasa engineers or other experts, is this really necessary
> (supposely reduces back ground noise)?
> 

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