The AM Forum

I just happened to run across this story while searching for something else on the web. Just too good to ignore.

Some may remember the MaxCom Automatic Antenna Matcher (http://www.eham.net/forums/TowerTalk/1362). It was advertised in the mid 80's in CQ and 73 magazines. QST did a product review and X-rayed the device. Found resistors, a toroidal transformer and a couple of partial circuit boards. The circuit boards were not connected to anything, and had no function. Everything was potted (so people could not see the "solid state" electronics). The broad-band, solid-state tuner/matcher, which was touted to work from 150 kHz to UHF, consisted of several resistors across the feedline, with terminals for the legs of a dipole.  Low SWR, but about equally low efficiency.  They came in several sizes, with the kilowatt size costing almost $1000. The Florida company was run by a dude named Sonny Irons.  Photos of Irons appear in some of the old ads, and pretty well speak for themselves.

I recall reading in the ads: "For all SSB radios.  Just connect the antenna, press the switch, and talk, talk, talk!"  Just the thing for the slopbucketeer crowd. I suspect some of their customers were drug and gun runners off the coast of Florida, who needed communications capability, had money to burn, but not much technical knowledge. First class rip-off.

The following story makes scant mention of the MaxCom, however.  It is about a police raid on his house, which probably was unconstitutional.

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/1998-04-23/news/sonny-s-last-stand/1

http://www.waterfront-news.us/98/06/html/speakeasy.htm

The QST article on Maxcom, available to members (I'm not one) only  :-\

http://www.arrl.org/members-only/prodrev/pdf/pr8411.pdf (http://www.arrl.org/members-only/prodrev/pdf/pr8411.pdf)

The E-Ham discussion was a riot!! It reminds me of an episode that I had personally  some years back.

I got into a very heated discussion that almost turned very ugly with a salesman / pitchman for Amsoil at the Baltimore boat show. This A/H was trying to tell me that a 350cid chebby engine required 350A to crank it with normal oil in it. (Which is pretty accurate) But......... after doing nothing other than changing to their product, it only now only took 30A to crank the engine!! Come on and get real!! I rebuilt enough of those starters on the bench to know that the bare starter alone (without being attached to the engine) drew more than that. Then he claimed that they took one and drained all of the oil out of it and ran it till it locked up. Then without doing anything else to it other than refilling the crankcase with their product, the engine restarted and was still running perfectly in excess of 100,000 later.

Needless to say, I had had enough of his B/S and our discussion got hotter and heavier untill it turned into a full blown shouting / screaming match. Needless to say I was removed by the show security people and almost ended up in the hoosgow for taking a couple of swings at him and assuring him where I was going to put his baton.

henceforth comes my signature: "Never argue with a fool, sooner or later no one will be able to tell the difference!"

                                                       the Slab Bacon

And....er....furthermore they actually had a fairly good product, but their early advertising hype almost killed them!

If you think the MaxCom Automatic Antenna Matcher story is a riot, check out the Seafarer’s Church of the Creator (http://www.religionnewsblog.com/13286/estate-owner-wants-to-avoid-33000-tax-bill-by-making-home-a-church).