67 eh! You're just a young "Whipper Snapper". Just so you know, becoming a curmudgeon is not an overnight situation. Also, you cannot determine its onset. All of a sudden you will find yourself talking to a group of your ham buddies about steroid shots in your left elbow and...... at this exact time you will realize that you've become one of them...A CURMUDGEON! It's then all down hill ... You will be trading your Viking Match Box for a MFJ autotuner, looking at solid state autotune amplifiers and telling people that you just don't trust SDR technology and you will never sell your big box radio.... Oh yes, you will love digital because your hearing is going south and the computer does the listening for you .... One more thing..... You will find yourself conversing in "Old guy". You will be using words like; "in the old days", "60/40 solder", CW, '866 Mercury Vapor Rectifiers", licensing, "great solar cycles", real dx, Space Cadets... and so on. Have fun... corky
I call the alternate phonetics used by DXers (myself included)- Professional Amateur Phonetics. And yes, the US Army Signal Corp taught me the correct ones.. hi.. N6 Sugar Portugal Portugal
Thank you guys for this much needed Elmering installment.. Ref #14- "5x9 in Louisville".. BRAVO. Two additional thoughts on this- If the other guy is 3x7, then sure, one or both of you will likely need to repeat the report. "5" x9: 5 equals perfectly intelligible. Secondly, Rule#1: Confirm Each Other's Call. Try not to send the "Kitchen Sink" info on the first round. The path might be poor in one or both directions. Of course this happens on phone a bit.. But if you really want to experience this- Look at the initial Psk31 handshakes on 14.07015 MHz.
I have heard "nets" where failing to use ITU/NATO standard phonetics would result in a correction. That is all I use since that is what I learned in the Army.
OK... I'm probably considered "old", having been licensed 55 years, going on 56... However, I'm still offended by the curmudgeons (some not so old) who feel they are "better than" and "know more than". We're all different, with different radio -and life- experiences. It's high time to stop perceiving "different from me" as "wrong". Obnoxious behavior is wrong. Belittling others is wrong. People's radio "style" adapts to the group they spend radio time with. Try being welcoming. And how the heck did we get on this old horse? Will it never die? 73
I don't disagree with your comments. But the people you write about aren't curmudgeons, they are jerks. Curmudgeons are old guys who are constantly comparing today's ham radio with yesteryear's ham radio.
Maybe you could cover ops who try to squeeze out the very last watt from their amps? Or perhaps 'tuner uppers' who never I.D.? I've seen some antennas that might also qualify as 'obsessions...' WQ4G
Actually the term "curmudgeon" doesn't have anything to do with ham radio or comparisons of yesteryear... A curmudgeon is a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man. The word curmudgeon doesn't get you banned from QRZ . Calling them by a more accurate term would.
Hi Quin- In addition to a "CQ gap", perhaps add the importance of leaving gaps during an HF qso, and 2 meter simplex Qso's as well (144.2 ssb, 146.52 fm etc). We should all be listening for weak, portable, mobile, relay, and emergency stations that might want, or need to 'get in'. Path condx change, not only on HF, but on VHF(+up). Regarding 146.52 fm- New and experienced hams should remember that they are likely not the only two stations on the channel. I call this the "Two Station- Telephone Quality Circuit Qso" dilemma. ~Let's Get Back the Gap~
