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McWatts was an electronics-themed
comic that appeared in Popular Electronics magazine back in the 1950s.
Artist Carl Kohler's main character is a stereotypical "Joe Sixpack" type of electronics
hobbyist who dreams up unique ways to deal with situations. This edition shows McWatts
in a scenario where, presciently enough, he experiences having his radio controlled
airplane treated to what modern day "drone" pilots are experiencing on a more and
more frequent basis - being shot down. In this case the hostile fire came from some
kids with slingshots. Fast-forward to 2015 and we are now seeing reports of people
using shotguns and rifles to down the privacy-invading craft being piloted by unqualified
pranksters. Back in the McWatts era, getting "shot down" was much more likely to
occur when non-protected frequency usage (27 MHz band intermixed with the CB
radio band) caused death-inducing interference that resulted in loss of control.
Nearly all modern systems use bullet-proof spread spectrum modulation in the 2.4 GHz
ISM band.
Other Carl Kohler masterpieces: "Live Wire
with a Loot Locator," June 1969, "The
Great Electron-Pedantic Project," "Dig That Reel Flat Response,"
"I Married
a Superheterodyne," "Unpopular Electronics,"
"Operation Chaos,"
"Thin Air, My Foot,"
"High Tide in the
Tweeter," "The
R/C Cloud," "Hi-Fi Guest List,"
"Kool-Keeping Kwiz
," "Boner Box," and "McWatts." Also, be sure
to read "Carl
Kohler's Life & Times per Son, Christoverre."
McWatts Comic Strip
 By Carl Kohler
Posted February 10, 2022
(updated from original post on 3/30/2015)
These Technically-Themed Comics Appeared in Vintage Electronics Magazines.
I personally scanned and posted every one from copies I own (and even colorized
some). 235 pages as of 6/28/2024
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