The Spirit of Amateur Radio A recurring theme is that in the "yea good ol' days of yore" Amateurs got real licenses and today anyone can get one in the back of a cornflake box. What with the demise of Morse, those pesky multiple-choice questions instead of a written exam, these new Amateurs really are not contributing to the hobby and really should be told in no uncertain terms that their pursuit of the hobby is meaningless until such time as they upgrade and tug their forelock in the process. This week I look at a sad sentiment that looks backwards at our hobby rather than forwards to our future where anything is possible and new members are making contributions to our community every day. Foundations of Amateur Radio is a weekly podcast about the thousand hobbies that Ham-radio represents. You can hear it on-air, on-line and on-demand. Search iTunes for my callsign, VK6FLAB, or check out the website at http://podcasts.itmaze.com.au/ Onno VK6FLAB
K5OGHam Member QRZ Page New I'm one of those relics you just took a subtle (maybe not so subtle) swipe at. And damn proud of it. Yes I agree with your comments. Enough is enough from these podcasts that are all FAKE NEWS. I will post later when I have all the paper work in order. It is becoming a joke on here Cheers
Onno you still continue on your way when you know as they say today your writing and broadcasting FAKE NEWS even on the WIA Net broadcasts. You will learn the syllabus regardless of whether you and others think it's right, wrong or too old to bother to find stuff. I have no problems finding valves (tubes) in any shape or form. I have been following your articles for quite some time and my view are they leave a lot to be desired in the promotion of AR. Novice licences and "K" calls mostly sat an examination of multi choice questions when applying and not a written exam as you claim. The old school hams done the hard work of written exams and I wasn't one of them but have been around over 37 years. We had no problems with the novice or "K" calls being accepted into AR. I was part of the largest net in VK6 the 3.619 net broadcasting on Wednesdays and Sundays. Unrestricted operators accepted everyone with open arms and a net that was meant to run for one hour became a net that was open 24/7 to help any ham. Any day you could just press the PTT button and your questions would be answered so we had a wonderful hobby didn't we. Novice and "K" calls were the main contributors too. I was one of many Unrestricted operators on this net but I will honestly say I learnt a whole lot of life's skills on this net from all hams to do with any subject you could think of. Reason it closed? A lot in a short period of time became SK's and I added to the failure due to illness that lasted 13 years and the net closed. Let's see. Do we dislike the Foundation licence? No we don't, but it is not being used in the way it was issued. You want to be able to do mods etc, run big power, not be restricted in equipment etc and we are not going to allow that. Photos sent here show linear amps old valve equipment etc all in use and on plain view for the world to see. WHY???? 10 WATTS HO HO HO You told me and others to join the WIA but you now know, as we already knew, the operation of this organisation left a lot to be desired. The people you told us to support, the reform groups we had to listen to have all run away, and to my knowledge not one are standing as a director in the election to fix the problems and give us back our hobby. Fake News. You have podcasts explaining to the world some of us have the intellectual knowledge of Morons i.e. brains of 8 to 12 year olds as YOU put it, but when questioned you hide from what you wrote. What use an "F" call EP181. You have podcasts saying we are Bully's and even got a bully register started to name and shame anyone who speaks out against your beliefs in the grand hope our licences would be cancelled. You have podcasts saying we are whinging whining old men on What use is an "F" call EP203 and to get with it. Get with what? You have told us you have been computer literate for 45 years Podcast 028 Foundations of AR , but you only got your first computer in high school 35 years ago so another discrepancy arises. Read your own Podcast EP07 about getting your first Vic-20 in 1982. Need I go on, it's all FAKE NEWS in an effort to overturn the wishes of the majority. A few Geeks as you call yourself are actually trying to run the hobby your way. Not in my life time good readers.
It's come to my attention certain people don't get their facts correct. Z calls and K call let's look at that for a moment. A "Z" call was a person who did the advanced theory but not the CW so he only had access to the 6 mtrs 2mtrs and 70 cms etc. A "K" call was originally a novice station. When he sat for his Advance theory and passed he became a "K" call. Had he upgraded his CW he would have become an advanced operator or back then a Unrestricted operator. When they introduced the F -call license, the Z call got Advanced privileges as did the K calls because the CW was dropped and not needed anymore. Boo. Now the F-call licence was originally intended to get the younger generation into AR like the Boys and Girls in the Scouts or any young person that may have been interested in this hobby. So then what happened was the older people who sat around making all the excuses how they were unable to get a licence because the CW was too hard, and I have heard all the stories about that one. All the excuses they used were unbelievable. They then decided to make it so there was no age limit to sit the F-call Licence to increase the AR numbers here. They have a similar system in the UK and all this was explained to me by a GI4 station who I won't mention , except I have worked him for over 30 years on Amateur Radio. And least but not last the WIA made a Huge mistake removing all the Unrestricted operators and making them Advance operators. That should never have happened and should have been left as it was ,this decision was a mistake as many Unrestricted operators gave the hobby away. And by the way I still have old licence papers to prove I was a Unrestricted operator , and I make it known worldwide how we got screwed and got nothing. Not even 1KW.
I'm a OLD FART also and was a "F" call and UPGRADED. I also learned a lot from the so called RELICS. STUPID QUESTIONS are easier to handle than SILLY MISTAKES!!!!!! '
Sad fact is people have come to expect everything for nothing. The F call is a great idea, get into Amateur radio for very little effort and get small privileges. When you put in the effort as most so called old timers did then you get large privileges. Effort and reward that should be how it works not "its there and I deserve it for free". There is a good side to some of this, the true Amateure Foundation call holders listen to the experienced operators learn from them and do upgrade and become the old timers, the rest mostly just go back to CB!
Just to add to my previous comment Amateur radio is not only a technical hobby it is built on respect, respect for those that have gone before buit up the knowlage and experience, reading some of Onnos comments makes me believe he has no respect for that knowlage and experiance base!
Yes you hit the nail on the head. We all want too much some days. After 37 years I still remember the old operators and I still thank them for allowing the formation of the Novice licence that allowed the door to open just that bit easier for me to enter. I quickly listened and took on board what they wanted and got busy and studied for the upgrades so their faith in the Novice licence would never be compromised. I honestly believe today you can stay on your first licence if that is what you desire, but never, never, ask to be given more privileges just to make your life on AR better. I say thanks to all the operators for what they have given and taught me over my time as an Amateur Radio Operator and when things go bad and they do, I will always have so many people I can communicate with because someone somewhere opened a door to me. Cheers.
im a swl i dont want to to learn cw absolutely hate it part of the reason im not doing the foundation exam i know its not part of the test more a appreciation of it plus i hate exams have not done one since school but hey ho happy to listen spent enough on my radio gear mixed with computer sdr rigs and weather stations keeps me happy!!!
Hi Steve, The shack looks great and I will say the CW was a huge bug to me when I first obtained my licence. My life would have been different if I had been able to read it at 25 wpm but after weeks of listening to it I couldn't get it to sink into the grey matter. First ever CW contact was to "G" land and it made the news as a memorable moment for a ham your way. Think about the licence Steve as even with old grump's like me on the bands it's well worth the effort to try as you will enjoy every second of listening and talking on air. There's no rush it will be around a long time yet regardless of what we read on here. Cheers
hi Lindsay thanks for the reply i do want to do the test i wasnt sort of welcome much at my local club i went to everyone looking at me as if i should not be there if looks could kill i tried asking at different clubs either not running or just finished foundation classes. i was going to another last week about 20 miles from me but fell ill so will try again next month see if i can get going again, i went to another club thinking they ran courses but didnt so gave up that, i want to pass i have the foundation book to learn to help me pass i did try to learn morse got to m or n but if you said play it back wouldnt have a clue took me long enough to learn that just have no interest in cw cant get me head around it but thanks for the encouragement there are many hams who dont like foundation passes older folk they had to work harder to pass which is fine thats there point some wont even speak even though they can hear you we all got to start somewhere !!. i have loads of interest in radio as a casual swl listener i get on when i can i mainly target amateurs for qsl cards not international swl stations anyway im rabbiting on thanks for your message if and when i pass i shall come back to you tell you nice to to know there are some great amateurs out there cheers for now 73 s. steve
Episode 92 has been locked and relies remove By VK6FLAB, please read VK6WIA NEWS WEST 12/03/17 as not locked yet.
