Issue #6 - Four Things Your Elmer Never Told You about Ham Radio

Hi Tom, thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I don't think of anyone as a "lesser" ham. But I certainly do put the high speed CW operators on a pedestal! Those guys are holding down the fort for the rest of us. When that generation is gone, what will we be left with in the CW department? Are there REALLY new HS operators coming on line? I seriously doubt it. Also, I appreciate your note about Audio buying and selling. I'm an audiophile and spent most of my career in the stereo and electronics biz. I've bought and sold used gear, amps, speakers, preamps, tonearms, tables, and more and NEVER had a problem. I agree with you 100%. Strange that you can't really trust much of what you see advertised. But I think that many of these bogus transactions are from those (as you mention) who have hijacked a call and they're not really hams at all. Again, as in my #1 in the article, shows that we are just a microcosm of society in general. If gangs of people feel it's OK to just walk into a store and put stuff in their car and drive away without repercussions, than it's going to get even worse.

 

I just wanted to apologize if my posting on QSL cards was deemed as an attack on those that charge for postage...I was not trying to be offensive to anyone. I realize that yes, postage rates have gone up considerably (16% more than in 1960), and it can cost some serious coin to send out hundreds of QSL cards. LoTW and other electronic logging methods are free, or nearly so. I get that.

The point I was trying to make is that the "glory days" of QSL card trading are long gone, but nobody talks about that or mentions it in the books. Thirty years or more ago, before the advent of electronic logging, everyone HAD to exchange QSL cards in order to get confirmations on QSO's, especially if they were trying for an award or contest. There was no other way, so you just sucked it up and mailed the cards; you mailed one to me, and I mailed one in reply back to you. There was no thought to it, and there was no SASE crap either...just toss your postcard into the mailbox. Maybe if you didn't want the postcard to get dirty, damaged, or unsightly post office cancellation marks on it, you would send the SASE, but then again...how would you know the card was that good looking to warrant it's preservation? No...everyone mailed out and received QSL cards as just another step in the process, without thought of the postal costs (I'm referring strictly to domestic, USA contacts only, not out-of-country or overseas contacts that naturally were going to need "green stamps" or similar for a reply). And so hams of yester-year amassed huge QSL card collections, and are the ones who now claim to no longer chase cards or paper. They don't need to.

My point was also that the allure and excitement of receiving cards in the mail still exists, especially to us noobs that came late to the game in the electronic logging era, but feel kinda jipped that we have to jump through extra hoops to get them (again...domestic card collecting). I completely understand if someone is on a fixed income and can't commit vast sums of money to mailing out cards, or whatever circumstances may exist. I have sent out cards to contacts I have made, and specifically noted that no reply card is necessary. But... it seems really disingenuous to have a QRZ profile page showing photos of all the fabulous pieces of equipment in your shack; a dozen or more different radios and amps; all the latest & greatest equipment; multiple towers out on the property...all that, and then claim the need for a SASE to receive a card. (And yes, I have seen profile pages like that). I guess those hams make SO MANY contacts that sending reply QSL cards without insisting on postage pre-payment, might cause them to have to...I don't know...sell one of their $3000 radios? Reminds me of a line from a song:
"...Got myself a Cadillac...but I can't afford the gasoline..."

So, again, my apologies if I stepped on your toes. I'll just keep doing what I've been doing, and that is to pop a QSL card into the mail to any ham I have a lengthy, enjoyable, or memorable QSO with...and if they send one back in return that's great. You know...the old school way.

 

I didn't get my toes stepped on.
My point was just while many still chase papr - many more do not.

Please check a stn Zed page to see if SASE is requested - that way you will not be disappointed.

 

Yeah...that has been my S.O.P lately. Just to be sure.

73

 

@W8ETD

HI DAVE,

REGARDING THE VIRTUAL BEER............

SEND HIM THIS...........

https://ki1u.weebly.com/the-807-club-of-kokomo-indiana.html

 

Hey Carmen - good idea. By the way, the 807's appear to be a very interesting and different kind of club! Cool -- writing a "club article" soon. I've seen too many sick or dying clubs, and this one looks healthy and interesting Thanks! Dave

 

No need. I was just thinking of folks who live on a restricted budget who MIGHT be one of those who ask for postage. I don't have many costly vices and I don't worry about it. I enjoy this hobby immensely and there is something about opening the mailbox and finding an unsolicited QSL card.

73

 

I got very lucky as a new Amateur Radio Operator; I was invited to a local Ham Club meeting and made to feel welcome.

My First Contact happened to be, yes on a 2 meter FM repeater, with the local Club President. NY2U "Mr. Bill"Eddie now SK.
He said "ahh you are a new Ham, I can tell by your Call Sign. What is your name"

He then invited me to come to the local club meeting, just a few days later, and also asked if I had any Super Glue.

I said, not sure, why do you ask?? Mr Bill said super glue the frequency knob, you don't need to use any other repeaters!!! LOL
I felt very welcome, and my on the job training for the Amateur Hobby had started.

Another one of my Elmers who is still active WA3AFS Bruce, was one of the VE's at my First VE session.
I had asked when I arrived, if I would be allowed to take my General Exam as well as Technician,
and he kindly replied, If you pass Technician we will Encourage you to take your General;
and if you pass General we will ask you to take the Amateur Extra exam too.

I passed Tech and General but had not studied the Amateur Extra exam material and did not pass that exam,
but was told that I had almost passed the Extra, and there is another VE Session in 10 days, study and go take it again!

10 days later I passed my Amateur Extra exam, and still hadn't be assigned my General Class call sign. LOL.
I never got on the Amateur Radio as anything but an Extra.

Still learning and I consider myself as still a fairly new Ham, compared to some of the Amateur's I know.
My Friend N1ZZ Dan who now also lives locally, here in FL; has been on the air since 1957!!!

 

Hi Lee, you have a great story and I've never seen so many plaques and awards. Really done an outstanding job of pushing the boundaries, and wallpapering that shack! Thanks for contributing. Like you, I passed my Tech and General on the same day, and then shortly went back for the Extra Class. Dave

 

Very interesting

Very interesting perspective.
as a ham in my 50s and licensed for about 35 or 36 years and also a high-speed CW operator and also a regular hamfest attendee and vendor, not to mention a buyer …. Plus just a “few” items bought and sold on QRZ, I couldn’t disagree more.

First placing high-speed, CW operators on a pedestal is ridiculous. We are no better than you. The only difference is that we worked hard to learn a skill that used to be essential to amateur radio.

Anyone who thinks they can’t do it won’t do it. Defeatists attitudes get you no where in life.

But those who make an effort cannot only become proficient at CW but become high speed operators at the 35 to 40 words per minute speed over time.

Learning CW simply takes a little bit of work and effort. It’s not instantaneous and you can’t just watch a YouTube video or two and expect a master code. For the average person it takes about three months to master the alphabet and the numbers. And 5WPM. All hams needed that to get a license. Many gave up because they didn’t want to work at it.

It takes another year to get proficient to around 13 to 15 words per minute.

From there it may take three or four or five years to get proficient at a higher speed.

However, there are many useful tools and avenues to help you learn. Long Island, CW club, and The CW ops organization are both excellent ways to get you started learning CW and get your proficient overtime but again it takes work and commitment to do that. I commend everyone who gices it a try. you can do it !

Now as for buying and selling Ham Gear , I can tell you that it’s a big part of our hobby because it’s an excuse to bring people together, socially a.k.a. the hamfest. If there were so many rip offs happening at these event, such as at Dayton , the Hamvention would have long ago disappeared. Over the decades, as a ham, I and many others on zed have bought and sold thousands of pieces of Ham Gear.
who can u trust ? Do a quick search call sign or former call signs. Some of us have been horse trading since the days of Rec.radio.swap. On internet Usenet in the mid 1990s

Literally decades of successful horse trading. I can count on one hand the number of times that I have been taken and most of the time it has been very explainable like the guy I bought a KWM2 from and was hospitalized before he could ship it to me. He was laid up for 9 months. Eventually he made good.

Sure there are bad apples. Some sketchy folks everywhere now days - I would say the rip off phenomenon has increased as the technical proficiencies of licensing have diminished. Like any situation, bad actors enter and one bad apple can spoil the lot. I have personally found hams to be honest and have high integrity, Much more so than just about any other group of individuals that , I’ve come across, including organizations that are tied to charity or religion or other folks who appear “honest” but aren’t.

common sense prevails. Check someone’s email. Ask for photos. Make a phone call. Today there is buyer protection. In the old days you’d send a check and hope you got your gear. Seldom did we hear of a deal going bad. A hams call and name and word still mean something.

I did a quick search on your profile here on QRZ and I saw that one item listed for sale over the last 2 years or so of history that zed stores. Not much of a track record if you ask me .

I think a lot of issue crop up when a new ham doesn’t know what he or she is doing, lacks an Elmer and jumps on something without asking questions first (like an end fed does it all antenna which defies the law of physics). or expecting an item to be new when an item is used. Or not asking if the prior owner smoked etc.

Expectation theory at its finest.

I think the trading activity on ham radio makes it affordable to the masses - that and the $20 baofeng - which allows more hams to enter and to progress to the next level. You don’t need to wind up with a crappy Xiegu G90 for $400 but can get a real used hf rig for that price. It’s a great boost to the hobby too as folks go through this hobby in life phases and stages.

so - In summary. think 2 of the 4 tips are completely misguided. Maybe once you get more experience you’ll change your perspective on those. I sure hope so.

Im Joe K9UR and this is my counter-perspective.

 

Joe, no matter where I post, you are right there behind me. In fact, you were the inspiration for one of my comments in this column -- did you see it?

Perhaps when you "get more experience" (as you have repeatedly said to me) with quality interpersonal communication, you'll realize that many of your comments are barbs and not a part of an actual discussion.

From your QRZ profile, "Basic interpersonal communication is fast becoming a lost capability.... Mentor... don't criticize." or "Be a class act operator." All good advice, Joe. Take it to heart -- it's YOUR advice not mine.

Dave

 

Very informative for newer hams on topics it often takes years to acquire practical "ham wisdom" on. Thanks for putting this out there.

Just a comment on the ethics of hams who sell stuff on line an/or at hamfests... Honesty cannot be assumed. I've been burned to the point where I buy "new" whenever possible. Recent case in point: I purchased an ICOM remote antenna tuner from a guy at the 2022 Dayton hamfest who declared the item was fully operational... "just used it" he said. I was suspicious because the price was way below market, but decided to fork over the $100 cash he asked for. Almost needless to say, I got home and tried it out to discover it was non-operational. Fortunately I have decent tech skills and was able to repair the unit myself for only a few bucks. Same story a few years back when I bought a Green Heron rotor and control box online. The items were sold under the same conditions... "works great, I just have no need for it anymore" the seller told me. Upon receiving the item and bench testing it, I found the rotor to be non operational. Putting several hours into repairs, it cost me approximately $140 for parts and of course my time to get it working again. Inquiries to the seller came back as "It was working fine when I shipped it." Based on the repairs required, this was a straight-out lie of course. The lesson I've learned in my 54 years as a ham is to never pay more for an item from an unknown seller than you're willing to augment with extra funds to fix.

 

Thanks — good examples!

 

Dave -

Your article was on point. About six years ago I had a stroke, and verbal communication was mostly meaningless until I had a few years of speech therapy. Morse code pulled me through that time. The dits and dahs were easier to remember, but for me the most important thing was the structure of communicating with the code. My brain will never be the same; the required mental tasks of Morse code turned out to be the platform on which I could rebuild.

Aside, the low end of the old 40 meter novice band (~7.00 thru 7.20MHz) has a lot of slow-speed code and enough experience operators are around to help.

About the QSL cards I have mixed feelings, but I still send 'em (with SASE).

73 Ric

 

Thanks Ric. I'll keep my "ears" tuned for k5RIX. Thanks for your comments and positive mention! Dave