"Radiograms" Yahoo Group reaches 100 members!

OUCH!!! I think I need to go get a band-aid to put on my wounds….

WHERE’S THE LOVE, PEOPLE? Sounds to me like someone’s been taking “grumpy” pills.

Being involved in the NTS has been a lot of fun for me. It has given me an opportunity to make some great new friends. It has helped me grow personally by giving me the opportunity to try new things. I have been able to learn new skills… to acquire knowledge in a field that was up ‘till now completely foreign to me. I have enjoyed building my own antennas. Improvising… failing… and trying again. I continue to struggle, but am learning… how to use a soldering iron. I know… all you “perfect” Hams out there are laughing, but sometimes I think that my soldering iron is demon possessed. Amateur Radio in general and the NTS specifically have provided me with some very interesting challenges.

But here are a couple of the really big things that being a Traffic Handler has done for me.

IT HAS HELPED PREVENT ME FROM BECOMING A GRUMPY OLD MAN. I may have to “get” old… BUT, I don’t have to be mean and nasty. I had arrived at a point in my own life where I realized that if I didn’t do something pretty quick… I was going to become something that I didn’t want to be…

However… far more importantly, I found myself needing a way to disconnect from the pressures that I face professionally and personally. I needed something in my life that required me to learn, and study, and think… (instead of becoming some sour-puss know-it-all)… I needed something that would force me to totally focus all of my thoughts and attention on something other than the sadness and sorrow that I deal with professionally each day… WELL, I found something: When I am handling a quad-relay Radiogram on a HF Traffic Net and the band has turned to CR*^^&%!!!… trying to figure out how I am going to get a piece of traffic from MD to MT… when I sit in my garage radio shack with my headphones on and my eyes closed trying to concentrate… trying to pull phonetic fragments out of the noise… YOU KNOW WHAT??? I have forgotten for just a moment about the 10 year old little boy that is dying as his body is rejecting his donor heart… I have forgotten about the little 1 year old girl whose cancerous tumor has split her spine apart leaving her paralyzed and fighting for her life… I’ve forgotten about having to hold a sobbing screaming wife in my arms as an ER Doc has just informed her that all their efforts to save her husband have failed. And… I have likewise forgotten about the misguided and illogical rantings of those who would rail against my method of escape. At those moments, I don’t care a whit whether anyone approves or disapproves of how I use my Amateur Radio License… I love what I’m doing… I love the relief it brings… and I’m not asking for, nor do I need the blessing of those whose only goal in life seems to be “being miserable” and/or making others miserable.

And the really cool part is… It seems that there is a growing number of Hams that feel the same way. Whoooohooooo!!!

 

That's all well and good, but it doesn't justify the practice.

 

I can't speak for others but here in Maine the SET last fall went quite well with most counties participating. This was with the ICS message format as well.
As far as "ham-spam" goes... whats the big issue.. it only takes a few minutes to deal with and in most cases the final recipient appreciates the contact.
Perhaps the voice modes aren't as fast as digi but they require a lot less hardware.
Sure NTS isn't for every one... Enjoy what ever niche of ham radio you find to your liking.
I happen to enjoy helping move the traffic along.. to each his own!!
73..JW

 

Are these "ARES guys" regulars on the NTS nets? Were there any regulars on the NTS nets involved in the exercises?

Then perhaps that's why there were failures.

If I train every day for two years straight to become an astronaut, but never show up on the launchpad, then there's no point in me bragging about my extensive training.

The fact is, far too many in the NTS facet of this hobby are using it simply as a feather in their cap. They never intend to show up on the launchpad, as it were. They simply want the fame of having improved the metrics.

Does it look good on a resume? Because it's hardly useful otherwise.

It sure helps when multiple repeaters are tied up for that same hour.

And I don't know how you figure it would be slower via packet. Using packet, there are NO REPEATS or confirmations. There is very little affecting the copyability of the audio, even from distant stations. You.......................... don't......................... have................................. to............................. read.................................... it....................................... slowly........................................... so....................................... that.................................... one.............................................. can....................................... copy................................... it............................................... well....................................... I spell: Golf......... Oscar......... Oscar......... Delta.............. Well.

One hour of packet will move more than a phone NTS net by a country mile - and using only ONE frequency to boot!

Those "different messages" are still equally useless. Sending a Chess-gram or a Recipe-gram is just as useful as a renewal reminder to a SK. Coating a feces in chocolate doesn't make it anything more than feces.

As for the WILLING participants, how about the recipients you pull out of a hat? Are they all registered in this Yahoo group?? Or doesn't it matter that you're sending messages blindly to ops who don't care for, and did not request, an NTS message? There are no "WILLING" participants in the blind pick off of a list to send a Chess-gram to.

Yet, when the training, or the practices for those "fecal matter" events happen, none of the regulars in the local NTS nets are there.

Again, training every single day for years on end to be an Astronaut means nothing if you never show up at the launch pad.

 

I thought hobbies were suppose to be fun???

According to dictionary.com, a hobby is an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation.

Why can't someone send a fun message? According to some of the complaints here, I should put down my mic and totally stop learning CW. I will just type away on the old dell tuned into 14.070.

I manage a monthly check in net for my club as well as being a net control for the RACES group in our county. Our monthly check in nets don't have "earth shattering" importance, but it has been a great way for me and many others to learn how to operate in a controlled environment and learn from all the other hams in our group. I have checked in once to a NTS net. After reading the postings here, I will be doing so on a regular basis.

BTW, KD8LZB, don't let em spoil your fun!!!!

I'm headed over to yahoo to join your group and look for a list of nets I can check into.

Licensed 2009, enthusiast since 1975.

Amateur Radio is my hobby and totally intend to have FUN practicing my hobby. I look forward to having fun meeting some of you on the bands!

 

I'm with you ! there are so many aspects, modes & frequencies in this hobby as long as it's legal then let them get on with it, even the dreaded Contests it's all part of the "HOBBY" Viva the Electron.

Regards to one & all
Damian

 

Don't let the #######s get you down, KC! Nothing but complaints and belly aching. Nothing constructive. Typical non-participating, non-contributing zeroes.

 

Thanks for this thread. Listening to a local net is what got me into ham radio in the first place, so I have now joined the Yahoo group and hope to learn more about passing traffic.

 

Hobbies are fun.

Spam is not.

Unless you're trying to make sending spam a hobby...

???

Can you quote the post that suggests you should give up learning CW?

 

See, and this is the opposite extreme.

Because one objects to sending spam-o-grams to random hams off of a list, they are "non-participating, non-contributing zeroes?"

I do more volunteer work with my license than you realize, and have been involved in Emergency Communications and Weather Spotting since before you got licensed.

But yeah, I'm a "non-participating, non-contributing zero."

Try using a little logic.

 

This is a good thing. Learning NTS is a great skill to know. I'm glad you're joining this group.

Do the rest of us a favor: don't help the spam along. Practice with the others on the NTS nets. Send your preformatted messages to them, instead of to hams you've never met or conversed with ever in your life. We're already inundated with spam in our email boxes and mail boxes. There's no good reason to add more spam from this hobby to it.

 

Spam is usually sent to multiple recipients. If I'm not mistaken a radiogram is sent to one.

The comment about the mic and CW was in regard to those that stated they saw no use in sending messages by any means other than digital.

My overall point is to lighten up and let KC and his friends have their fun. As long as they are not sending radiograms to you, what is the harm?

BTW, I am learning code and I work digital as well. I take crap for working contests. I don't care, I love this hobby and want to enjoy it all.

Ok enough energy expended in the negative direction.

Peace, love and lots of contacts

 

By definition, "spam" is an unwanted message sent indiscriminately to multiple recipients.

Spam-o-grams are certainly unwanted. I don't think that's arguable.

They are indeed sent indiscriminately, as they end up at the former homes of silent keys; or persons who have decided to give up on the hobby; or persons totally uninterested in this facet of the hobby, and most often, persons completely unfamiliar with the sender.

Your claim that they go to "one" person is totally incorrect. The same preformatted ARRL message is sent by the same NTS regular to various hams, indiscriminately and without their request. Sure, they don't send "ARL50" to every ham in their state on the same net, but each night, they log in, and send a preformatted ARRL common text message to somebody. Wash; rinse; repeat.

Not multiples? It sure is. Each night, a new "victim." Or two. Or three...

And I haven't even mentioned the book traffic...

 

If that is the case, you can count on me to not participate in that activity. I agree that no one that should send messages to someone that they do not know just to send a message. I am sure there are enough interested in the message aspect of the hobby to send to each other and interested parties.

You can count on me not to send "spam" and encourage my fellow operators to not do so as well.

VA3CSS, do you receive radiograms like this often?

 

Without voice, how would you get traffic to a recipient, that is not a ham?