ABOUT www.BoatAnchors.co.uk - classic valve (tube) or hybrid amateur radio gear

It is now January 2017, and I am thinking it is about time I gave some indication of how I wish to develop this web site.

The main objective is to collect and collate information on a particular kind of amateur radio equipment which qualifies as being known as a "boatanchor".

The use of the term "boatanchor" is possibly emotive, and some may argue with some justification about what does and what does not qualify as a "boatanchor".

For the purposes of this web site I am, at least to start with, restricting myself to such equipment which I either own, or have owned (this limits the scope somewhat, as my long-suffering family have to share their living quarters with this collection!), or possibly am likely or wish to own. A "boatanchor" in the above context is simply a "heavy" piece of equipment. One requiring a carrying handle. Most will be "hybrid" solid state / vacuum tube designs. Most will be at least 20 years old. By my reckoning there was a "Golden Era" in the development of Amateur Radio equipment which started in the early 1970s and continued for about 15 years. A bit like pop music if you put it that way! Most of the equipment featured here will be from that era.

There are other "boatanchor" sites which feature MUCH larger and heavier equipment than you will find on this site. Some of the equipment found elsewhere is rack mounted. None of mine is! I suspect some of it may even require three-phase power from the grid! I do not wish to belittle these other sites in any way - I found most of them both enjoyable and fascinating in equal measure.

It is also my intention to articulate why I find so much of interest in this kind of equipment, as well as giving technical information which may assist others who wish to restore, or simply operate such items.

In so doing, maybe I will find some of answers to this last question myself. In many ways such an interest in outdated and superseded technology seems to be quite irrational. I can only defend it by saying that it gives me the kind of pleasure some may find in breeding prize roses or in painting watercolour landscapes. It calms my spirit. I apologise to those who subscribe to Oscar Wilde's view that "Nothing is so aggravating than calmness". At least I suppose it is relatively harmless!