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October 1962 Popular Electronics
 Table
of Contents
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles
from
Popular Electronics,
published October 1954 - April 1985. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged.
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Here is a little more tech comic artistry from Bill Hutchinson.
Bill created a lot of work for Popular Electronics
over the years in addition to his semi-regular
Hobnobbing with Harbaugh series. One of the comics mentions
an operator being referred to as a 'lid.' In Hamdom, the term
means a person who is incompetent or stupid. The history of
'lid' is apparently uncertain (as is
'Ham')
per many sources I checked, but two explanations seem the most
feasible to me (not that either is necessarily
correct). The first is that in the olden days of land
telegraphy, less skilled Morse code operators supposedly placed
the lid of a tobacco can over the speaker to clarify and amplify
the sound. The second is that 'LID' stood for "License In Doubt,"
meaning the operator was so bad that he likely was not certified.
Enjoy.
Sources:
QRZ Forum,
AC6V's
Amateur Radio & DX Reference Guide,
QSL.net
A Ham in the Making
By Bill Hutchison
"Just because I had a little tough luck with
birdhouses and bookends..."
"Now, for $64,000.00, what operating characteristics
distinguish the electron-coupled type oscillator with regard
to frequency stability?"
"He overheard someone refer to him as a 'lid'!"
"One more 'dit-dah-dit', and I'll let ya
have it!"
"Someone actually answered him."
"I am NOT a toaster-fixer ... I'm a radio technician!"
"No, I'm not after a license ... I want to
know what he's saying on that contraption!"
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