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

I'm confused, I started out about a couple of years after Dave, although I did not transmit until years later.

Everything Dave has said, I have said 100 times before, but you have to remember my first attempt at college, I only got a 1.0 for my first semester of English 101.

At the same time I can tell you that my brain only comprehends at about 25 wpm which is about as fast as I can send cw. And I can tell you that although there are people out there that claims to be speedsters, most of them does such a terrible job at sending cw that I refuse to work them. Somepeoplewillsluralloftheirwordstomakeitappearthattheyaresendingfasterwheninfacttheyaren'tsendingnothingbutjibberish bt

You will always find hucksters out there that will call you their friends and then rip you off and dump all their broken garbage on you and when it is your turn and you try to be fair and honest with others, the others will insult you and say im not buying anything off you, I will buy brand new. When in fact they are broke as a joke and the only reason they buy anything new is because the vendor takes credit cards and I don't! As I have said before, amateur radio is just a hobby, nothing more. it will not make you rich - unless you devise a scheme to rip people off. It will not make you famous unless someone thinks that what you did was so great that they erect a statue to your memory. As I ate my cereal this morning I couldn't help but think about Mr. Armstrong and how the Radio Corporation of America ripped him off, stole his idea on FM Modulation and made millions of dollars off his invention and did not pay him one thin dime. It wasn't until years later, after he wrote his farewell note and jumped out the window and died that RCA settled up with his widow at 1 cent on the dollar.
Mr. Lou Varney - G5RV probably never made a dime from the junk antenna he built to fit in the garden behind his house - Lou liked working 20 meters and that was all his antenna was designed to operate on, although he did listen to 75 / 80m for his job - working for the RSS, I don't think the queen ever did knight him for his contribution to the radio world or his service during the second world war... Although she did Knight all of the Beatles for making their raucous noise we call pop music.

Is this diatribe a monument to stupidity or is it just a recollection of the way things used to be. It's not against the law to swear on the radio - read the part 97 and you will see that the only illegal transmissions are the ones where you talk about sexual acts or personal private body parts. Too many people tries to include some type of morality to their story. Yes Jesus drank wine and no it was not non alcoholic. Tuska liked making and selling radios and Hiram Piercy Maxium liked promoting his radio club - ARRL. The ARRL is a business - it makes money, for a select few people that are at the top of the totem pole. Most everyone else is volunteer. But it is the only club we have that represents us as a whole. They have sold our frequencies at a profit and we are too dumb to realize that not everything they do is in the best interest of me, but of amateur radio as a whole.

People should not hang out on one frequency, that is why we got rid of our crystal controlled radios and went to a VFO.
So complaining about misconduct on one frequency only tells me that they are not real hams but cb'rs that hangs out and doesn't do anything ham radio related beyond hang out on their favorite frequency, much like the guys on 7.200 or any other watering hole on the HF for the simpleminded. I just turn the big knob and forget about people like that. My life is too short to worry about idiots on the radio misbehaving. Let the people who are paid to enforce the rules enforce the rules - that is their job.

 

Hi Jerry, thanks for reading the column and for commenting. Dave

 

Here is my take on the topics by number:

1) Ham radio is open to all kinds of people, good and bad, just like the general population. Getting your ticket does not instantly make one a saint!
Some discourteous behavior is not malicious, but just plain ignorance of operating procedures or the equipment they are using.

2) Unfortunately ,Technicians are pretty much isolated to VHF other than the small piece of the 10 meter band , unless they do CW.
However, VHF FM opportunity and protocols is a very different experience from operating HF. The ARES/RACES and nets are not for everyone.
If that is all there was, i would not have stayed involved in Ham Radio. iIknow many others who feel the same way. My FT60 gathers dust , except when I want to listen to NOAA.
VHF/UHF also tends to be very "clickish" for some reason. If you aren't going to participate in ARES?RACES, I recommend getting your general as soon a possible

3) CW is what kept me from ham radio for decades! I didn't have the time nor inclination to learn it.
Ironically, when i got my ticket, I joined a club with a high population of CW ops. They showed me the beauty and utility of the mode.
It also annoyed me that I couldn't participate in some of the CW events, so I decided to take the plunge. It wasn't easy, but i managed to learn Morse code and currently do 15 to 18 WPM.
It's a great way to make a QSO, when not much else will work.

4)Dishonest hams:
As I said in item 1, getting your ticket doesn't make one a saint! Deal with Hams with the same caution you would use anywhere else!
You have to know what you are buying and ask pointed questions. If it has screws missing, don't buy it, unless you know how to do the repairs!
However, while some of the complaints I have read are legitimate, some others are just stupid to the point of near slander.
I personally, have never been burned in a radio deal.

 

Hey Jim -- thanks for the comments. Glad to hear you've incorporated CW into your capabilities . . . Agree with you on the "closed" nature of some VHF/UHF, and the need to get that General ASAP. Dave

 

Thanks for the article.

Unfortunately human nature is human nature. Whether an Amateur Radio operator, or not.

I would never be dishonest about a piece of radio gear I am selling. I care about my reputation. Apparently, many do not.

There seems to be more than a few oddballs associated with Amateur Radio, but when you find the good ones, it is golden. I was lucky to have stumbled across a local VHF/UHF net that is on nightly in my area. What a great bunch of people!

And QSL cards...

Postage is getting more and more expensive. I feel that if you really want someone's QSL card, you need to send a SASE, although if someone sends me a card, I will send them one, even without a SASE.

 

Totally right Tom, about human nature. When I spoke about ham radio just being a microcosm of society, I was agreeing with you that we can't get away from human nature just because we're ham radio operators. It's still there behind the curtain, and in my point #1 and point #4 that's evident. I think the reason it comes as a surprise to many newcomers is that on the local level (the clubs you associate with, the ham next door, your Elmer, etc) everyone is so nice and so helpful. You can easily just assume it's this way everywhere, but then human nature comes back, butting its head into radio. Dave

 

I am posting a new issue of Trials and Errors tomorrow morning (Tuesday). I apologize for being a day later than normal; this was due to the holidays. Dave

 

That's really not necessary. What do you consider "high speed"?

There are. Check out CWOps. Listen during the weekly CWT mini-contests (Wednesdays at 1300Z and 1900Z, Thursdays at 0300Z and 0700Z).

There are more and easier ways to learn code today than ever before. Long Island CW Club, CW Academy, various software packages (most of them FREE), and much more. And W1AW still sends code practice.

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There have always been rude folks in Amateur Radio; all one need do is read old QSTs and other mags. The best approach is to simply shun them.

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As for QSL cards - the days when postage and cards were a few pennies are long gone. For many hams, the cost of sending a card for every QSO far exceeds the radio budget. LOTW is free and easy (once you get it set up).

Last year (2022) I had over 13,000 QSOs. Every one was uploaded to LOTW. I couldn't begin to afford to send paper cards to all of them, or even 10% of them.

73 de Jim, N2EY

 

???

Jerry, your QRZ page says you were first licensed in 2011 - about 12 years ago. So you're a relative newcomer.

Please consider the following words, from an old-school Elmer.....

I rarely encounter such folks. Could it be that they're just too fast for you?

Not true.

Yes, for most amateurs, amateur radio is "a hobby". But that's not a bad thing, nor does it mean it should not have standards.

It IS possible to "get rich" by Amateur Radio, without ripping anyone off, but it's not easy. What's needed is to offer goods and/or services of quality for a fair price. Good old true-blue red-blooded All-American free enterprise.

So?

That's a very inaccurate "history". The person to blame for Major Armstrong's troubles was David Sarnoff, who didn't want FM broadcasting to compete with TV.

More inaccuracies.

Varney's antenna is NOT "junk" at all. Nor is it only designed for 20 meters.

The G5RV is a multiband HF antenna system that works about as well as center-fed dipole 100 feet long can be expected to work. Varney authored three articles about the antenna, explaining its strengths and limitations. The Big Problem is that too many people don't understand those strengths and limitations, and expect far more than the antenna can deliver. You appear to not understand the G5RV, Jerry.

Just because something is "legal" doesn't make it OK.

Do you mean Hiram Percy Maxim? If so - he founded the ARRL, got it going, and helped get Amateur Radio reopened in the USA after WW1. Then he and Mrs. Maxim and some others were very important in getting Amateur Radio recognized as a separate radio service by international treaty, in the 1920s.

You say "they have sold our frequencies at a profit" - who do you mean? It can't be "the ARRL". Do you mean the FCC?

There's nothing wrong with "hanging out" on a particular frequency IF someone behaves appropriately while doing so.

Complaining about misconduct on the amateur bands does NOT make one "not a real ham". Not at all. Just complaining is ineffective, though.

That's not how it works, Jerry. Not at all. Enforcement is everyone's job - but people have to understand their roles, and how to do them correctly.

 

Thanks for reading Jim. HS operators impress me . . . race car drivers impress me . . . great hitters or pitchers or catchers impress me . . . I guess I impress easily. I have future CW columns coming . . . check the site tomorrow. Dave

 

May I suggest you flag your Zed page as to the bogus use of your callsign?

 

Will do, Dave.

I'll ask again: What do you consider "high speed"?

Here's why I ask:

I got my Novice license in 1967, just before "incentive licensing" went into effect.

From February 1953 until November 1968, US amateurs with General, Conditional, Advanced or Extra licenses had full operating privileges - all bands and modes, full power, the works. As a result, there were very few Extras - less than 2% were Extras in 1968.

Then the changes happened - it would take an Extra to get full privileges after November 22, 1968.

I recall clearly the doom and gloom that more than a few more-experienced hams were spouting to anyone who would listen. There was a lot of hand-wringing, wailing and gnashing of teeth about "Incentive Licensing". All sorts of stories telling how incredibly difficult the written tests were, and how you pretty much had to be a combination of Ted McElroy and Major Armstrong to pass the Extra, which required 20 WPM CODE! - for a solid MINUTE! 20 wpm was SO FAST!!! that only a few super-talented professionals could even hope to go that fast.

And then...the changes came - and many hams found that 20 wpm wasn't really all that fast. Nor were the written tests all that hard. And they passed the Extra. By the early 1990s, 10% of US hams were Extras.

All ancient history now, of course. Point is, 20 wpm went from being "high speed" to being "not so fast, really".

73 de Jim, N2EY

 

Hi Jim, I don't think it matters what I do. Certainly north of 20 wpm, perhaps approaching 25, but I'm real comfortable not stressing and ragchewing there. The problem is that I was the same speed as WA7VDY, and that was decades ago. The fact of the matter is that I am still struggling with head copy and have to "fix" that before I can hit the next level on speed. That said, when someone sits down at my key and starts putting out between 40 and 50 WPM, that is someone to admire, to emulate. That's what I meant in the article by putting them on a pedestal. It's doable with training, I realize. So is driving a car at 200 mph safely.

 

I wasn't asking what you - or I - or anyone - does.

I was asking what you consider "high speed" to be.

That's all.

Yes and no.

Have you read my "12 Tips" piece?

OK - but I would say that receiving is the real test.

The point of my long story in the previous post is that I remember when 20 wpm was considered "high speed" by many.

73 de Jim N2EY

 

Done. I also learned that all the info on your QRZ bio page is on the open internet and searchable. So all that’s gone off my page now.