Featuring the new G8BBC shack, exclusive interview with the new publisher of Practical Wireless and Radio User, UK National Hamfest report and a first look at Icom's new radios.
TXfactor is a GREAT show, professional produced, interviews, interesting aspects of ham radio, reviews of new equipment, youth activities. Youth are the future of the hobby. So why are hams so critical of each other and activities that promote the greater interest.............................Kenny, WN8Y
I AM AN AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR TODAY (60 YEARS) AS A RESULT OF THE FRIENDLY GENEROSITY OF SEVERAL ELMERS WHO STIMULATED MY CURIOSITY BY EXPLAINING THINGS TO ME, ANSWERING MY QUESTIONS WITH CIVILITY, AND UNSELFISHLY LOANING ME OR GIFTING ME EQUIPMENT TO GET ME ON THE AIR. I AM FOREVER INDEBTED TO THEM - W9ALI, W9LUO, W9JJF, W9VAG, K9HOQ, W9JO, W9DPI-TO NAME A FEW. I AGREE THAT TODAY TOO MANY OF US (FOR WHAT REASON, I CANNOT UNDERSTAND) LOOK DOWN ON OUR YOUTH AND HOARD EQUIPMENT THAT WE WILL NEVER USE AGAIN THAT COULD PUT YOUNG HAMS, ENGINEERS AND RADIO FRIENDS ON THE AIR.
Hopefully, the "hobby" ( sometimes known as the amateur radio SERVICE) will still be here in the next 10 years. There is a chance that posting and trolling, and shaming on venues such as the zed may take the place of actual on air conversation, contacts, maybe even public service events. Things we used to be able to do with a minimum of rancor. Good luck guys , you need it.
Ham Radio has always been this way. New Transceivers would come out and I had all the old stand alone single conversion receivers that did not work as well as the the newest latest and greatest double conversion with the rit and if shift tools. I would have to work twice as hard using the old heath kit 301 401 set and then making sure they were on the right frequency when the other operator would set there digitally controlled non drifting transceiver up and just pound out the contacts. Just to change frequencies was such a drawn out process compared to the new rigs it could become overwhelming to try and keep up. There is always something better than we have on our desk in the shack. This hobby however is not so much about the rig...as the operator. The operators knowledge and the skill they have obtained as such. How well do you listen and understand. Can you copy some weak station in the noise because you have trained your ear...to understand what is going on. With the amount of bands and modes of operations we have at our fingertips it always should be what have you challenged yourself to learn today. Now that I am retired and have the time to play more with the rigs...I find that there are financial constraints more and more and that I have to hold back and not spend so much on the hobby. This is the side of this hobby that becomes frustrating. I would love to have and play with the newest...latest and greatest rigs, tools, software etc....but the cost of such gets in the way. So there are times that some of us in that position feel left out. At the same time there are operators that still don't have a computer at there operating station and they are living in the dark ages. That does not make them any less knowledgeable than I am. They more than likely better operators than I am by shear time spent as a operator. We need to have a good blend in the hobby. The major issue we all have is a lack of tolerance and willingness to to understand each other. I also find that some of the most knowledgeable are pushed out of the conversations because they don't have the best and most powerful stations. That is the sad part of moving forward. 73 to all Enjoy the hobby
Dare I step in here and say, my post on this forum was merely to announce the release of our newest episode of TX Factor a TV Show devoted to promoting all the many positive things about our amazing hobby. Sadly we live in an increasingly aggressive and confrontational world, something I turn to amateur radio to escape from. My experience of this hobby has been friendship and a great deal of fun over the years. The kind of exchanges going on in this thread make me very sad indeed. Please stop.
Re: my post above it looks like the moderators have removed the part of the thread that got a little out of hand and off subject!
Folks, please keep it friendly with one another and let's stick to discussing the intended subject matter at hand. Also a gentle reminder that turning this thread into a discussion about moderator activities is also off topic discussion. Thanks for your participation and understanding.
Look at the bright side - if all that mess does take the place of on air conversation, it will only be doing so for those who practice that sort of poor behavior, leaving the airwaves a bit cleaner for the rest of us.
My own observation of the UK Hams, formed now over many years and after many enjoyable QSO's: They are very friendly. They are very courteous. This is especially so, when asked to move up or down a bit if a net is going on. You will notice during a roundtable, that they listen much more than they transmit. Furthermore, it appears to me that UK Hams make much less of a distinction between "Ham" and "SWL"... And what I mean is that while hams elsewhere are of course hams, I mean that there is where they spend their majority of time. But UK Hams enjoy the "SWL" part of the hobby as well. And they are interested in EVERYTHING RADIO. They seem (to me) to be more of the kind of a HAM who will belong to a club. And to pool resources in common. And while I don't have statistics to back up my observation, my guess is that per capita, they are more likely to belong to their national society RSGB, I would say almost as a rule. This is different than the situation in the US: They seem to just "get" the concept of the positives as far as representation of their interests on a National Level. We should learn from this. They use actual, real, International Phonetics. This is especially helpful on difficult reception. They are patient with low power contacts, at least mine. They don't fault the Little Pistol who calls them direct, instead of listening "up", or "down"... Elsewhere, hams forget that not all of their fellow hams have dual VFO capability. They know how to build things, and share the knowledge with others as to alternative workarounds in construction. This is especially true with UK QRP ops. While a lot of hams have a cat, Every UK HAM that I have ever had the pleasure of a QSO with has a cat in the shack. Perhaps they have gone the next step, and have their cats trained to watch over the meters for any untoward change in transmitter to antenna match, or to make Probagation and Openings Forecasts. 73 and All the Best! DE W8LV Bill
