The AM Forum

Anybody see the premier of the new CBS series "Jericho" last night? Looked like it might be interesting. It deals with the life in a small Kasnsas town after an attack on the U.S.  Unfortunatey, the writers depicted the only person in town who could reach "outside" for information on the status of the rest of the country as one of those eccentric ham radio operators who lives hermit-style and appears to be slightly mentally retarded. He charges the town sheriff fifty cents to use his radio.  We really need to upgrade our image somehow.

Yes, well....good luck there. Hollywood is far less concerned with accuracy than sensationalism these days. They talk a good talk about not stereotyping, discriminating, or whatever other warm fuzzy you pick. Then they go against all they claim to support, in the name of 'entertainment'.

'We know it's not accurate, but we wanted it to be entertaining.'

Translation: we don't really care if it's demeaning or inaccurate as long as it makes us money. It's just a movie/TV show/entertainment. Where's your union pin??

The movie 'Pearl Harbor' comes to mind. I bet General Doolittle is still rolling in his grave over his portrayal. Or U-571 showing us, not the Brits, as capturing the Kriegsmarine enigma. I suppose they can at least say that this new show is fantasy, not history. And look at the bright side: they did remake King Kong. Again.  ::)

I happened to see Jericho last night also and was disappointed to find how the ham is portrayed.  But perhaps he will be one of the saviors in the series.  I wonder if we will get to see what his rigs are?  I guess his gear is not magically affected by the EMP - tube equipment saves the day?

I liken this show to the new science fiction show last year about the kid with the pet genetically-engineered lizard from down deep in the ocean.  I forget the name of the show but it was interesting at first, but you knew it wasn’t going to go anywhere in the long run.

There were quite a few technical errors in the show.  I got a kick out of the sheriff using one of the 1950’s CD ionization chambers to check the radiation levels.  He had a 1/3 scale reading and said the level was fine.  As I recall, those units aren’t too sensitive and even on the lowest scale that would be a very unhealthy reading.

Getting our emergency preparedness better is where it's at today, and the scenario is not far-fetched in the respect of a situation that would stress the federal and state capabilities and leave the citizens on their own (again). 

Hmmmmm. Biblical town, eccentric hermit, was this based in KS or NJ?

Nah, if it was New Jersey, he would have been jumped and had his radio taken away at gun point. Along with his coat and sneakers. :P

More than likely, the ham station they show will wind up being some sort of CB setup, probably not even powered up while they are talking on it.(Remember the truck CB radio's in that movie Twister)

I remember this old black and white space movie I watched late at night a few years ago,(the kind with rockets hung on visible strings, and flames that go straight up after leaving the rockets' engine. Yeah those ones) The radio guy was talking to another ship or Earth, whichever, and his radio setup was some 50's tube tester.

Production companies have consultants they pay to spec out things like weapons, electronics, vehicles, damn near everything. But, I would assume these 'made for TV' shows skip those expenses.

SK

Ok, I just watched it (Thank you BitTorrent), and I kinda liked it. But yeah, the ham dude, a little too ecentric. I mean hell, I charge a $1.50 myself.

I'll be tuning in just to see what they have the guy doing next.

Interestingly jericho also premiered here in Australia last night . Anyway on the teaser for the next show I'm pretty sure the ham rig had a spinner type VFO knob with calibrations around the edge a'la FT101.

Anyway, isn't illeagal to charge for third party traffic ?
                                                                    Ian VK3KRI

Hostraders in two weeks take a look around.

The Jericho pilot will be re-shown tonight (Saturday) at 8 p.m. on CBS.

You're kidding right? Ever heard of W2VJZ in Liberty Corner, NJ?

Yep, saw the episode last night..........

The 'ham' was convinced the aliens were attacking..... lotta good that shot-gun would have done.



I am glad of one thing though:


The 'ham' wasn't portrayed as the RICHEST man in town.....

I remember some old B&W science fiction flick back in the late 50's that featured an alien spacecraft that looked like a flying saucer. They depicted an inside view, which included some old familiar looking piece of black wrinkle WW2 surplus radio equipment with meters and vernier dials, something like a BC-375, as the spaceship's control panel.  I don't recall, but you probably could have looked closely and read the English language panel markings.

Once again hams are portrayed as dofusses by Hollywood.   What a surprise.   The last one was talking to his 30 year dead father.   The one before that was a furry alien (ALF.)

Who's surprised?

 Maybe they listen to the oasis on 3872 kcs and think all hams are like that.

Steve, I never personally had a run in with the irb, but I remember hearing all the arguing a few years back over him jamming the frequency, and BC'ing when nobody would include him in the conversation. I just googled his call and found a bunch of hysterical audio clips. Must have been a full moon.

Nah. Those clips were pretty close to every day normal operation when Irb was on. I always considered him nothing more than free entertainment, but he seemed to get under the skins of many people.

Is he off the air?
I travel away form the east coast too much to listen anymore so I don't know if the chimes are QRT

Carl,
     As far as I know Irb has been having health or vision issues and haven't heard him on the air in a while.
     Regards,
                Joe N3IBX

You guys will miss Irb just like W2OY when he is gone. I agree with HUZ sometinng to listen to when working in the shack.

Agree.
I would listen in the shack and if he got to be too much, I have lots of dials and swtches that can instantly fix the problem