Every now and then, as I troll the forums, I see either a new "Show Us Your Shack Photo" topic, or a new post to an old one that shuffles it back to the top of the listings.

So, I go to take a look at these photos, and, with very few exceptions, I see just what I expected to see. I see a desk with radios and associated equipment on it. Sometimes there is a shelf or two with the gear on it so as to keep the top of the desk clear.

Sometimes there's three or four shelves with all kinds of stuff, sometimes new high-dollar gear, and sometimes homebrew gear. Sometimes it's just "boat anchors". Every now and then there's a nice looking set of rack-mounted gear. But even the great-looking shacks look just like the last great-looking shack I saw.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that a shack is basically a shack is basically a shack. If you've seen one, you've almost seen them all. If you've tracked down enough call signs on one of the popular databases, you've probably seen your share of shack photos there.

One thing I wonder about is the impression some of these photos have on "would be" hams. I wonder if, at the sight of some of these three- and four-shelf shacks, they get the idea that if they have to have all of that stuff just to talk to someone, they may as well stick with their cell phone or VOIP.

I sometimes wonder about what the sight of 100-foot towers has on the "would be" ham crowd also. I wonder if some think that a monster tower is actually required in order to get a "ham radio" signal out. But, so far, I haven't seen any "Show Us Your Tower" topics in the forums. Or maybe I just missed them.

Then, there was the "Show Us Your Computer" topic not long ago. This one really puzzled me. How many different computer configurations could there be? You have either a desktop CPU or a tower. You have a monitor and a keyboard. Or maybe you have a laptop. What is there to "show and tell"? Maybe you have a really cool color for your system. Maybe it's a unique screen saver.

73,

WF5TX