When I bought my dob, I shopped around without knowing much about the various manufacturers other than Orion, Meade, and Celestron could be trusted. I counted Meade out because their manufacturing plant is in Mexico. Celestron's bigger scopes were in the really expensive category, and Orion was made in good old Watsonville, in California, in the US of A. So I went with them. After much delay, the UPS man delivered several large cartons from Orion. They all said "Made in China" on them. So much for buying American made products. Just to confuse everyone further, all this reminds me of the time when I was a little kid and, on those rare occasions when I arose early enough to get to school on time, I heard the early morning broadcasts on WGN, the Chicago Tribune radio station. WGN was always bragging about how they were a "clear channel" station. In those days before Clear Channel Communications company was formed to buy up as many radio stations in the nation as they could, "clear channel" meant that the FCC had granted a particular frequency (WGN was at 780kc) to a single station, so that, when atmospheric conditions warranted, there would be no crosstalk between that station and another sharing the same frequency. For people living in rural America, this was most important because radio was the most important means of getting major news out to the hinterlands. Early in the ayem, WGN began the broadcast day with a guy named Aureeyun Samuelson telling the great unwashed multitudes of Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and even downstate Illinois, just how much they could expect that day if they sold their hog bellies, corn, wheat, and kumquats in the financial markets. To farmers, this was extremely important news. Many years later, after television was invented, Mr. Samuelson began to appear on WGN-TV, often telling the same things to the public that he had previously on the radio. He would also fill in occasionally for some right-wing commentator who was on vacation (these guys weren't nearly as right back then as they are today, BTW), and it was a bit disconcerting to hear political babble coming from the same mouth from which I had previously only heard straight news. What really threw me for a loop, though, was the slide that appeared at the beginning of the show that stated Mr. Samuelson's first and last names. It seems that Aureeyun was spelled O-r-i-o-n. I just thought you all needed to know that.
Ray, enjoyed your post. Growing up in very rural Eastern Oregon, I could receive good old KSL from here, KGO from the Bay area, and of course, XERB "The Voice of the West" with Wolfman Jack. Being just across the Mexican border in Rosarita Beach?, it was infamous for it's tremendous power output. No FCC to deal with. Also, on a side note, it furnished the music in the movie American Graffiti... I had a Zenith (not the Trans- oceanic--Drool), but a step down, and I listened to stations all over the West, but those (Clear Channel) above stick out, along w/KFBK from my home town of Sacramento. KFBK was similiar to WGN in that I sometimes went to sleep with the radio on, and it shut down around 1A or 2A and would make me sit up in bed at 5A when a cheery voice would announce "Good Morning, this is your farm report". But, anyway, that was about the time Dad would come in to get me up to do the milking. 73 On 5/21/2013 11:54 AM, Ray Druian wrote:
Just to confuse everyone further, all this reminds me of the time when I was a little kid and, on those rare occasions when I arose early enough to get to school on time, I heard the early morning broadcasts on WGN, the Chicago Tribune radio station. WGN was always bragging about how they were a "clear channel" station. In those days before Clear Channel Communications company was formed to buy up as many radio stations in the nation as they could, "clear channel" meant that the FCC had granted a particular frequency (WGN was at 780kc) to a single station, so that, when atmospheric conditions warranted, there would be no crosstalk between that station and another sharing the same frequency. For people living in rural America, this was most important because radio was the most important means of getting major news out to the hinterlands.
Thanks, Ray. Maybe one of these days all the various "American" makes of telescopes will be made in the same plant in China. ________________________________ From: Ray Druian <raydruian@gmail.com> To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:54 AM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Meade Bought by Chinese When I bought my dob, I shopped around without knowing much about the various manufacturers other than Orion, Meade, and Celestron could be trusted. I counted Meade out because their manufacturing plant is in Mexico. Celestron's bigger scopes were in the really expensive category, and Orion was made in good old Watsonville, in California, in the US of A. So I went with them. After much delay, the UPS man delivered several large cartons from Orion. They all said "Made in China" on them. So much for buying American made products. Just to confuse everyone further, all this reminds me of the time when I was a little kid and, on those rare occasions when I arose early enough to get to school on time, I heard the early morning broadcasts on WGN, the Chicago Tribune radio station. WGN was always bragging about how they were a "clear channel" station. In those days before Clear Channel Communications company was formed to buy up as many radio stations in the nation as they could, "clear channel" meant that the FCC had granted a particular frequency (WGN was at 780kc) to a single station, so that, when atmospheric conditions warranted, there would be no crosstalk between that station and another sharing the same frequency. For people living in rural America, this was most important because radio was the most important means of getting major news out to the hinterlands. Early in the ayem, WGN began the broadcast day with a guy named Aureeyun Samuelson telling the great unwashed multitudes of Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and even downstate Illinois, just how much they could expect that day if they sold their hog bellies, corn, wheat, and kumquats in the financial markets. To farmers, this was extremely important news. Many years later, after television was invented, Mr. Samuelson began to appear on WGN-TV, often telling the same things to the public that he had previously on the radio. He would also fill in occasionally for some right-wing commentator who was on vacation (these guys weren't nearly as right back then as they are today, BTW), and it was a bit disconcerting to hear political babble coming from the same mouth from which I had previously only heard straight news. What really threw me for a loop, though, was the slide that appeared at the beginning of the show that stated Mr. Samuelson's first and last names. It seems that Aureeyun was spelled O-r-i-o-n. I just thought you all needed to know that. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
participants (3)
-
Joe Bauman -
Larry Holmes -
Ray Druian