Issue #25: Heard on the 2m Band . . .

I don't think there's anything easier about the exams, except the fact that the questions are published and are now ONLY multiple choice. So, as a result its possible to read a book and study only answers. That's easier than the "old way" that included essays.

 

In every group there will be a percentage of bad operators. As any group grows so does the number of bad operators. I found an article written a decade ago. See link below. It seems to me that the problem is not really getting new hams involved. There are plenty of us compared to the 80s. With this increase so increases the bad operators. So has the percentage of bad operators gone up? or is there equally as many per capita? You want to deal with them? There is no one simple answer. I can tell you that when someone posts a negative comment about how I earned my License I am pushed into not bothering to learn the correct ways and just start doing my own thing. I am not the only one that struggles with this. But somehow when I point this out I am being negative. Go figure.

Dave we have a problem in this hobby, and when we refuse to see our own faults and believe that only our individual perspective is what matters, You have already lost the fight. Thankfully as stated in another comment, I have found a group of misfits, some of whom memorized the answers and some that are highly trained in electronics that understand that there are other perspectives and multiple ways of learning. Here are the negative comments that I have seen in the few comments I have read in this thread. I like many of the newer hams out there find these to be negative, degrading, and just plain false.

*They removed CW from the exam and or, the exam has been made too easy.
*Ham radio has moved away from being experimental
* Its all the people that came here from CB radio.

I do not know all the fixes. I do know that when the people like me see these comments and then are told that somehow they are not negative, but my defense is, It turns me off to doing what is right and just doing what I want instead.... Thankfully my method of learning has not stopped me from knowing right from wrong and I understand that my perspective is not the only one.


https://www.npr.org/2010/04/05/1255... Americans have ham,And the number is growing.

 

Do not pay attention to the neigh sayers you encounter. I came from CB radio as well.

I got my No Code Technician in 1994.

I got my General Class in 2007.

I have been A Licensed Ham for 29 years.

I want you to know, that You Are A REAL Ham! If these people that complain, That Is On Them.

I tell these haters to take two Midol and call me in the morning! Lol.

There are those that support you hear, And Don’t You Forget it.

 

https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/is-there-a-2-meter-parks-on-the-air.877058/

 

We call 146.520MHz "Area 52" here in the greater Portland, OR area.

Although it's been a bit quieter in the last couple months, over the last few years you can get a call back at just about any hour, any day. We've counted at least 40 regulars, from high schoolers to retirees, in addition to travelers and new hams testing their gear. I lost count of how many new hams had their first QSO with me on that frequency.

The conversation is usually good, from antennas to good movies, scoops on DX to audio, plus all the mountain toppers, and late at night the "graveyard net" can be entertaining to hear. Yeah, there's been some poor behavior on the frequency, but that's because of its popularity.


Area 52 is our local gathering spot and I've met some very good friends there. If we had treated it as a strict calling frequency the activity would have been diluted. 146.520MHz may be my favorite frequency.


73
James

 

Like Dan, N9WFT, I commend you for doing whatever it is that you did to get licensed in the first place. I haven't seen any posts here that dismiss your methods of getting a ham license! Sure, there have been comments about CW not being on tests any longer (and you'll see those all over the place, and for years) and about people coming from another radio service (that's another classic, repeated zillions of times on forums here and elsewhere). The "experimental" aspect of ham radio is still there, and I admire those guys, but I'm not one personally -- and most of my friends are "plug and play" operators as I mentioned in column #1 here.

I think we're up to 800,000 hams in the USA now if I am not mistaken. Anyway, please read posts carefully before you have a reaction to them, because in some cases I think you might be feeling attacked when they are just normal "old guy gripes." I removed a post that I put up which you reacted to, and removed your negative reaction as well, to clean up the forum and I'd like to please just take it easy here and stay on topic. Thanks Eric, Dave

 

Thanks James. Area 52 sounds like "the 5-2" here in the Phoenix valley, from the old days. I'm monitoring it again now, after reading some of this discussion. I can't ask "what happened" if I dropped out myself, which I did for a time. Hopefully, some of the others will come back and monitor 5-2 again in this area.

 

Dave you are a wise expirenced Ham...And. Personal Perception, what a specific statement or question really means, can make it appear to mean something that was not intended by an individual. The key is not to log on to social media with a case of being paranoid. This does not mean anyone is doing this, so do not take this out of context. Social media sights are very cool in most cases, and can be fun and informative. But when we type, text, what have to communicate, we lose the human connection of communicating. We do not make eye contact, do not hear voice inflection, and are not privy to the body language of the posting individual, that may help us understand the true meaning of statements that are posted on social media. So the key is not jumping to conclusions and being hell bent on being on the defensive all the time....If some one sends me a message, that I am not reasonably sure of how to interpret, I will take it with a grain of salt and not reply to it. No written law says we have to reply to any of the messages we get....And if by chance someone does not like me on social media, I Could Care Less. I will use QRZed as an example of my own personal experience here. For every one person that has disrespected me here, There Have Been At least six, seven, or more, that have lifted me up, and supported me. Not everyone likes me or my point of view, and that is ok....But my point is most people are not looking to dig down anyone. If I encounter individuals that are seeking to impact me negatively, I kick the dirt off the bottom of my feet, and try and finding someone that is worthy of my friendship....Not vain at all just keeping it real

 

See post #57.

 

Oh, no, WFT. I'm not a real Extra. True, I took the exam at the FCC field office BUT I didn't have to SEND 20 wpm, just receive it. Oh, and true, I didn't have the questions and answers disclosed beforehand BUT the exam was multiple choice not essay as it was in the Old Days.

Standards had really fallen by then, you know?

My point is, you take the exam as it is. If you pass you're as real a ham as any ham could be.

 

I like your reply very much In my book you are Indeed A REAL EXTRA. And I am real General....Nusance! Lol. Have a great day!

 

How can we complain on one hand that 2m is dead and there's nobody to talk to then turn around and complain that people are ragchewing or contesting on .52?
The *only* time I hear contention for .52 is either during the VHF contests (and this usually only lasts an hour or three) or when there are a bunch of SOTA activators in a small region all at once (but that two is pretty short lived and we also use .58). Otherwise if you hear two different groups trying to use .52 at the same time that would be considered a good day.

Chris

 

Um. Yeah. What about that? Was it Yogi Berra who said "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded"?

 

Hi Dan, I'm trying to keep the forum on track with the topic, and this one steers way out in another direction. Agree with you about social media. But let's please stay on the topic of 2m use and how it varies from region to region, thanks. I've had so much experience with forums over the years on topics ranging from biotechnology to pet tortoises to ham radio, and sometimes they make me want to leave. (Extremists on both sides of an issue, both sides make me want to vomit). Dave, W7DGJ (forum moderator for this section of QRZ)

 

I guess things are different here in central MA. I've got .520 on right now, and have had the radio tuned to that frequency during the day today off and on. Have not heard much of anything since I started trying to hear something since around the end of May, when I got my license. Maybe 2 or 3 people have replied when I tried to check for a radio check or whatnot probably at least 15-20 times over the past 3 months. The repeater will have traffic, but mostly just the "nets", and some old-timers having a conversation with each other instead of a phone call. At least on the repeater, you've got a slight chance of getting a reply, but in general it is pretty quiet.