Did anyone else catch the episode of " Touch " on the Fox Network last night? Here follows a short description of how the Hallicrafters was used.

About halfway through the program a ham radio broadcast was used to communicate with the ISS ( International Space Station ). The ISS had lost normal communications with Houston.

So the radio operator on Earth used an old Hallicrafters receiver that looked like an S20R ( just like the one I have ). All looked very real for a few minutes until several things happened with this story. The ham operator had trouble with a very weak signal; to remedy this he tipped the radio over and replaced a tube located below the chassis that he said was failing. The next thing he did was fiddle with a couple of switches on the front and instantly began transmitting to the ISS.

Anyone who has one of these Hallicrafters will know what was faked on the show..... This episode is available to watch online on the Fox Network.

G.

Yes, I watched the show. I thought that since there really is a ham radio aboard the ISS that it was kind of a shame they didn't find a way to do something that might be at least remotely plausible. I know, the whole basis for the show is the implausibility of it all, but I kind of draw the line at transmitting with a receiver.

I like the show, but some of that was a little painful to watch.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/radio/
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/ariss/
http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-on-th ... ce-station

Curtis Eickerman

Remember the movie from a few years ago where the kid used his late father's Heathkit receiver to transmit to his dead father? I see two problems here. L

Yeah, I cringed through that one too. At least the Heathkit receiver resembled their transmitter and transceiver.

Here is a show that attempts to get it right...Curtis Eickerman

Yep, it all started when the old guy dropped the tube in the bus.... Those two sockets side by side under the chassis did look at bit out of place <g>

Maybe that's the "Transmit" Mod?

Its just holywood.......... I remember an Andy Griffith show with the Gypsy's that put a curse on the town for no rain as they were mad at Andy. They were monitoring the weather with a Hallicrafters SX-110 or something similiar. Big heavy radio. Carrying it around like it was as light as a loaf of bread and it was instant on when they turned it on to listen to the forecasts.


Todd

Cool movie though. Frequency, I think it was called. Technical goofs and total implausibility aside, it was a fun premise. Reminded me of Ursula LeGuinn's "The Lathe of Heaven".

There was another radio problem in the Andy Griffith show. I do not recall the season, but the police radio in the office was an Eico CB. At lease I think it was a CB maybe it was ham radio, I can not recall which. Jim

I'm pretty sure there was an Eico 720 ham CW transmitter plus something else. I'd have to go back and look at one of the shows to figure out what the other radio was. I think it was an Eico 723 CB. Strangely enough these were in later seasons and earlier seasons actually had a Motorola radio that could have been used for police dispatch purposes.

When they did the "Return to Mayberry" special there were different radios.

Curtis Eickerman

That is funny that they had a radio that could have been used in the early shows and changed to a most unlikely radio later. I did not recall the order. I recall the Motorola very well. At one time I worked at a place that had a similar Motorola system and the thing was on 24/7 and needed NO service whatsoever for over 20 years. Not even a tube change. The company later bought a new ststem and it required work VERY often. Jim

Not to digress the thread, but back in the 70s we used to buy 20 year old Motorola radios that have been in service all their lives, change the xstals, tweak the oscillators, front ends and finals and use them for ham radio for another 10-15 years.... Good radios indeed.

Now, back to our normally scheduled thread.

I don't understand, are you saying the moon landing was a fake?

The moon landings were real. The Saturn V launches were faked.

Ducking and running.

Curtis Eickerman

I did not understand you post and was asking YOU if YOU think it was fake? If you don't want to answer that, I understand. I have an opinion, but was interested in your opinion.

Yes, the moon landings were faked. The flag is waving in the breeze. That is why you can still bounce a laser off of the reflectors left behind by Apollo 11, 14 and 15 and a couple of Russian unmanned crafts.

And the earth is flat.

And the biggy for the moontruthers, "there are no stars in the sky". Well there wouldn't be in a daytime exposure, would there? Dust in no atmosphere? Other than that exhausting from the retros.