Ham Radio is "faintly embarrasing?"

I love how so many people compare amateur radio with cell phones. How many strangers do you call on your cell phone and strike up a conversation about electronic theory, radio, weather etc.? If you did that on a cell phone, the person on the other end would think you were a nut job. It's comparing apples and oranges!

 

Ok people, lets all take a nice, deep, cleansing breath. Let's look at this for what it is worth, and, how it comes to pan out in the cosmic order of things.

Some yutz made what seems to be an off the cuff comment about ham radio as a whole. He said something that is probably not true TO US but maybe it is to him. This IS America and he, like us, has the right to the freedom of HIS expression.

Are we SO into ourselves, SO worried about the political correctness of his statement that and SO put off by this comment that WE, (YOU), cannot function without YEARS of psychotherapy to resolve the issues, damages and indignations of being associated with a hobby that was whimsically referred to as "faintly embarassing" - Oh good Lord somebody get these men (and women too) a Prozac! Call in the nut bus!! ITS TIME FOR AN INTERVENTION!!!

While you are calming down, I will build a campfire and when you are all calmed down, we can sit and sing "Kumbyya" (or however you spell it) and drink hot cocoa. Wouldn't that be nice?

Oye vay.

 

Sent an E-mail:
January 5, 2005

I have just heard of the comments by Lev Grossman in which he stated that blogging is "faintly embarrassing hobby on the order of ham radio ... I I am disappointed that Mr Grossman is so misinformed and I am more disappointed that the editorial staff of Time Magazine would allow this statement to published.
  When the radio stations and police repeaters were destroyed when the Twin Towers fell the communication gap was filled by none other than Ham radio operators. In my part of the country, Chico, California we fill the communication gap when the California Division of Forestry cannot communicate because we have set up relay stations in advance. We have prepared before hand and are ready with portable gear to assist the Red Cross in cases of fire and flood.
  Let Mr. Grossman rely on his cell phone and Internet until the power goes out like it did in New York or the cell towers are destroyed. But we will have the integrity to help Mr. Grossman because we are the kind of people we are helpful to all who are in need. We will let his family know that he is still alive when all other forms of communication are disrupted.

Jeffrey House
AE6JK
229 W 7th Ave.
Chico, CA 95926

 

Come on.

Ask yourself "would I try to pick up a woman in a bar by flaunting ham radio (or stamp collecting) in her face?" Then look up the definition of "faintly".

Some people take themselves way too seriously.

AB8TD

 

Gee, ya think!!??

 

Not in a bar -- but in an "Off-Broadway" theater back in 1969.

Didn't marry her but we dated for about 10 months and even the Saturn 6 Halo on the back of my Mustang didn't phase her. In fact, she would talk 3rd party to the 6 meter AM gang in thr NYC area and later -- when 6 gave way to 2 FM -- to the gang on the WA2SUR machine.

She never became a radio amateur but all her other dreams came true. And even in her late 50's she is still quite a "triple threat" entertainer and choreographer.

OK. So much for that theory.

de
Bill P. / WA6ITF

 

Part of the answer is that nearly everyone wants immediate gratification with cell phones and such, and we now have an easy society where everything comes "now" without effort Nobody wants to put out an effort to study ham radio books and learn the code, only to get a license and then have to know where and when to call to make contacts and to know about propagation, etc.. We hams have PRIDE in our efforts and goals we set whereas the computer/cellphone only type person remain stagnant. I use the cellphone and internet but not to the point that they consume me! Ham radio shaped some of our lives back in the 50s and 60s, and I suggest that some of our society geeks need to go back to basics and do it for "themselves" and the element of pride... Regards to all hams who "took the effort" over the years. San K5YY

 

There are the unmistakable & distinct odors of haughtiness and arrogance in such statements. It's really difficult to see how Time mag. gained 'points' or made friends with such an insulting proclamation...let alone gain subscribers!!

Where is the 'upside' in the magazine having written/published this tripe?

And to think, it was totally uncalled for and unnecessary!

 

Just had to add my two cents worth to the piggy bank....

---

Dear Sirs,

I have happened across a recent article in your magazine by Lev Grossman, "Blogs Have Their Day", December 27, 2004. In this article, Mr. Grossman refers to blogs as "a cult phenomenon, a faintly embarrassing hobby on the order of ham radio and stamp collecting."

I am deeply sadden by the misinformation that you have allowed Mr. Grossman to disseminate to a public that is already so sorely uniformed about so many things. While all three of these hobbies have no embarrassing qualities to them, I, being a ham radio operator, am most moved by the inclusion of ham radio in this comment, as I find absolutely nothing embarrassing about my hobby.

Ham radio is an excellent hobby that, to this day, still remains an fun, educational, family friendly hobby, a true hobby. I am not now, nor have I ever been, embarrassed by my hobby. In fact, I am quite the opposite, eager to tell anyone about my hobby and what I do in my spare time hoping to recruit just one more. Even my wife is ham radio operator.

In fact, I believe if anyone finds these hobbies embarrassing, it's those who have no clue what they are. The number of people who have real hobbies is on a steady decline, which I believe has been a major contributor to higher crime rates and lower test scores in schools. Instead of calling hobbies embarrassing, we should be informing the people about them and enlightening them about things they can do in their spare time.

Ham radio provides so many contributions to public service and modern technology that it's impossible to name them all. Emergency communications, search and rescue, research and development are just a few. New technology is developed, tested, and perfected by hams on regular basis. Ham radio is carried on the International Space Station and every shuttle mission. Ham radio is also providing communications for the tsunami relief efforts in Asia. I don't find that embarrassing in the least.

 

I totally agree with WB9GKZ!  Oh come on people, do you have anything better to do than get mad over a stupid post in Time?...Well, then again, we're amateur radio operations, of course we don't....haha. Our hobby is only interesting to us.  That's why we do it.  Those that do not take part in our hobby most likely view it as strange...and so what?  You guys are acting like babies, oh oh, they made fun of me, I'm gunna cry about it!  Boo Hoo.  It was a sentence, and this aint the first time we got made fun of.  So what!  Get back to operating and forget it, jeese.

 

Face it, we are techno-nerds..and da** proud of it. When the chips are down, we are the best thing since sliced bread...like VU4. I could care less if anyone calls me a nerd. In fact I like it. That means I know something they can't even comprehend...coooooollllll.....plus my XYL is a hot babe...!

 

So ham radio is a embarrasing hobby?

Well tell that to thoes of us who relayed traffic out of NYC on 9/11/01 to the country. Connecting loved ones with their families when everything else was clogged or down from traffic.
I sat in on the ECARS net from 10:00 -15:30 as the Otsego County New York relay.
Ham radio is not just a hobby. We are licensed by the FCC and so the Amateur Radio Service is more than a hobby but a way for individuals to serve their community and country by keeping lines of communication open as well as developing new modes of communication.

Tell Time what a silly hobby they are!

 

Gentelemen, Ladies, and Fellow Hams:
I have read all comments and every one has a wonderful point to make. The topic is dishartening but please consider the source of your anoyance.
To some this up. Twenty years ago Time send me a subscription advertesment and a wonderful price deal on their anual subscription price.
The reply I have sent them at the time was:
Not this TIME.
Please surprise me and let me KNOW if Time will ever reply or offer any mention of an appology to any of the correspondence attempts made to them!
Untill than I consider the matter DEAD and a waste of all of our TIME.
Twenty years ago I considered the TIME content as pure trash, what makes you think they improved TODAY.
Val
KD6ZXT

 

Ham Radio is embarrassing?
No, the printed press along with the electronic media in this country is what can only be described as stunningly and starkly embarrassing! Need I say more?

 

We made fools of ourselves, and none of the rants were printed by TIME.

Now; aren't you proud to be a 'ham'?