Silence of the Hams

This night op required all hams to communicate without their radios.

 

Over the last year, what has been featured in 'amateur radio news' has degraded, IMO, to vast majority videos and podcasts: some with amateur radio content, others just eye candy of limited sweetness and no ham radio content. This has coincided with the 'new' front page format.

I will invite you to decide what this 'news' items says about amateur radio.

IMO it indicates a vast schism between those who regard amateur radio as a wireless enterprise, with those skilled in the art, and those who do not.

Your opinion may differ, and probably does.

What's next: a video from NU5DE ? ;-) At least they actually get on the air--with RADIOS.

 

Yeah, I don't even know what this one is about, and since it has no introductory or explanatory material, I'm not going to even click to find out. It appears to be classic click-bait, but who knows. A YT with no accompanying text? No thanks.

The "News" section really needs to be renamed to "Featured" or "Mods Favorites" or something like that. Most of it isn't remotely news.

Note to future "News" posters -- if you are going to post a video, post a few sentences about what your video is about. That's what professionals do: they give a little context to the video so people know what they are going to get if they click the video.

 

SPOT ON Chip!

73! Greg

 

Looks like morse code without morse code. Two flashes, two long two short.. no actual CW... sad. I turned it off at that point.

I just assumed it would be flashlight CW which is why I watched the video.

I think the video is well produced.

 

We're not professionals, these are amateur videos, but we will post more text explanation in future posts. Thanks for the feedback. Also, you're right we should have posted in events, but last time the moderator reposted us in the news, but I understand now, that was a different video.

 

Silence of the Hams


Think I'll skip the fava beans for the Labor Day cookout.

 

Sorry bro, I probably complained a little to forcefully there. My bad. But yeah, when you post a video, especially one where the subject is ... unclear ... a little extra text with some explanation helps.

 

It seems to me that maybe some people missed your point. While it certainly might be important for active hams to increase their skills beyond grabbing the handie talkie or grabbing for the CW key, what I got from your post was that anything published in the name of ham radio should 'necessarily' be about ham radio. In a time of extreme political correctness, it seems we're expected to accept an 'anything goes' policy about every thing. I'm sorry, I don't and I think people who are willing to support their own point of view, however unpopular to the masses, should do so, proudly and LOUDLY, if they desire. Your comments were accurate and appreciated.

 

It is a reasonable expectation that 'amateur radio news' should incorporate amateur radio, in at least a tangential form.

Not flashlights.

What,pray, is the tie-in on this 'amateur radio news'?

I admit that I feel very out of place in this 'new' world ofamateur radio, where people don't use radios. Why should I, or anyone else be made to feel that way?

 

I spend most of my QRZ time at work. Due to the policies of my employer, I can't play videos or podcasts. If the Newsline isn't a transcript, I skip it. My time at home is too valuable to watch videos or listen to a podcast. I'm a dumb guy with a smart phone.

73, Larry WB8LBZ
El Paso, TX

 

Why not just use Morse Code with flashlights?

 

My incorrect assumption was that it would be a video about using CW with light, which as you know is nothing new. After all, light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

So from the ham radio point of view it was working for me... that was until I realized they wouldn't be using CW, and then I lost the whole
point of the video.

 

I believe the tie-in to amateur radio is its use as a coordination tool for the two teams while underway via voice and APRS. It demonstrates an adhoc repeater along with simplex in actual use for a purpose outside amateur radio. We need more examples of amateur radio being used as one of many tools in everyday life... such as this four-wheeling outdoor adventure.