Short Takes! Comments on Short Takes from "Trials and Errors"

As do i. Both programmatically and directly. (My digital modes are logging automatically, my phone contacts are invariably logged manually to qrz and both get cross-logged too lotw at the end of the day.)

That said, my impression is that the Zed tends to get more stateside traffic and LOTW, the rest of the world.

I say that based on my observation that the log that I maintain on qrz gets more contact confirmations from stateside than it does from the outside world, whereas most of the confirmations I'm getting from elsewhere in the world seem to come from lotw.

Which is getting more traffic in raw numbers out of that balance I couldn't say.

 

I hadn't even considered LOTW, as it's only a logbook. But I'm sure you're right on the mix of stateside/DX. I was thinking here about commercial websites with information of some kind for the amateur radio operator, and if QRZ was simply a logbook, I wouldn't have considered it either. Thanks, Dave

 

I've just written a new column with my biggest gripes of the year. Please check it out at this link, and offer me your commentary (for or against my views, doesn't matter) in the forum discussion that follows this post. Thank you! Dave, W7DGJ

 

Sadly some sad hams think that once they get extra they are out of reach of most of us, they fail to understand that we are ambassadors for our hobby.
We follow the rules because it is a condition of our license.
Since its not being enforced the lids think they can do what they want.
That behavior in a nutshell is the first impression a non ham or newbie gets.

Antenna choice?
If you choose to fork out an arseload of money for a name brand hunk of metal, thats your choice.
But it does not give you the right to dump a load of turds on someone else for using something different or homebrewed.

This hobby like any other is rife with the " look at what i got" type of crowd whether its radios or antennas
Myself I will probably never own a commercially made antenna because i find it fascinating to see the response i get with my wire in the trees

 

any antenna is a good antenna, I agree that thread was a bit toxic, but some mighty fine elmers contacted me outside QRZ with some invaluable knowledge on building OCF's, so if nothing else - your article certainly spawned a some knowledge sharing.

 

We seem to have evolved into an exclusive boy's club only accessible to the technically literate.

 

I agree we are headed in that direction, but hopefully we can pull out all the stops to keep this from happening! Thanks for your input, Bob!

 

Accessible only to the technically literate? Well. We DO require license applicants to pass an exam on technical subjects but the level of radio electronics understanding required for the U.S. General Class isn't beyond anyone who puts some effort into it.

 

Thanks Dan. My original OCF article was on the Buckmaster, which is what I was referring to -- that was a long time ago. Then, more recently your comments and more hassles with regards to OCF's. Why can't people just leave a person's choice of antenna alone! Like I say in my gripe, it's almost like Religion or Politics. It's just going to "start something" if you jump in with criticism. I love and respect those operators who offer solid advice, however. Dave

 

Hey Norm, I think by this, the OP might have been going after the fact that some operators routinely beat up on newbies and the non-technical, which would lead to the old boys club for the technically literate.

 

Ah. But these days those "newbies" are likely waaay ahead in the digital world.

 

Well, "Lids All Year" is what I hear, just about every day, on 10 15 17 20 40 and occasionally 80. Had this discussion on the air with several operators stateside and DX and we all know and hear the blowers whistlers, carrier slappers etc. I'm mostly dumbfounded as to why, or what motivates anyone to be such a moron. That is all.

Anyway, I always refer to
47 CFR § 97.1 (e)

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah

 

Norm, I agree but "effort" is the crux word here as in this digital world everthing is seemingly 'effortless', hence the problem...

 

For open source ICOM rig control, you could check this out:

https://wfview.org/

This looks pretty interesting and I am probably going to install it on my shack Linux Mint system to use on a ICOM 7300.

73,
Dan
KW4TI

 

It does appear that way when you read through some of the posts, especially when a question is asked by someone deemed not worthy. I myself have been chastised for asking what I thought was a basic, rudimentary question....but was told by one so-called expert my lack of knowing the answer should disqualify me from even owning a radio.

I've also seen many examples of various hams replying to someone's question, only to have others jump all over that response as being wrong or misinformed. As noted, this situation appears quite often in the Antennas forum: one ham offers an explanation or solution, a second comes along and totally poo-poo's all over that response...#1 replies with their reasoning...#2 counters with "science" and "math" to again prove they're wrong (at this point computer modeling data usually comes into play)....and it goes on back and forth.

One thing I've learned in my relatively short foray into this hobby, in regards to antennas, is: just because the science/math says it shouldn't work, sometimes in practice it actually does. That doesn't mean it's going to work for everyone; heck...it might not even work again if you move it 50 feet...but in that one instance it did work, so maybe cut the person who posts their experiences a bit of slack? Computer modeling can only get you so far.

As for the hate speech and vitriol being spewed on-air: the anonymity of the hobby only fuels the fire. I've inadvertently stumbled across these rants and tirades; I don't hear very many callsigns being given. And I sincerely doubt the ones actually being used are real...or actually assigned to the idiot using it. Same thing happens on the internet: you don't know who I am, so I can act all tough and say things I would never say in public or to someone's face. Bunch of cowards hiding behind their microphones.

You know when you're listening to satellite radio in your car, and the song title & artist is displayed on the dash? Or when you call to order a pizza, and they already know who you are and your address? Now imagine if this same type of embedded information was in every radio broadcast you made? Key up your mic, and on every radio screen within a strong-signal radius certain info is displayed: your callsign perhaps, or grid square number? That might help shut some of these morons up.