OT: Hate the word "ham"

[Cathy James]

W2AGN wrote:
"The term "Ham Radio" has been used at least for 75 years, possibly
more. Most of us "old-timers" are proud to be Hams. But then, we took
"real" exams and even, back in the olden days, had to pass a Morse Code
test. (After walking barefoot in the snow 5 miles to the FCC examiner,
of course).

"Perhaps the term "Ham Radio" has become outmoded, with the new trends in Amateur Radio, no more code test, memorized exams, etc. So maybe we should "repackage" ourselves.

"I know! Why don't we call it "Citizen's Band?"  (CB for short)."

        John, I know you are using some irony here ("barefoot in the snow..."), and I don't offend easily, but I have to same that we "new" hams (first licensed 1991 in my case) get a little tired of the endless litany of "you young whippersnippers ain't as good as us" that is often heard from old-timers on the Net.  (Interesting, I don't think I've ever heard it in person or on the air.  I don't use 75 meters, and it doesn't seem to be common on other bands.)

        I mean, c'mon, I have an engineering degree (albeit not EE), an Extra, routinely ragchew at 16-18 wpm CW, my shack is full of kits I've built, I build complex antennas from scratch (two Moxons so far), and I'm studying RF theory as time permits in hope of eventually designing and building my own rigs.  Yet there is a group of hams that will never consider me their equal because I didn't take the same exam they did in front of an FCC examiner and never passed a CW test higher than 5 wpm.  Give it a rest!

NZ0R wrote:
"In terms of its reputation and usefulness, ham radio seems stuck in the 50's
to me. Technology-wise it's pretty up-to-date but for the most part it's a
quaint throwback to simpler times. The name "ham" may be odd and
embarrassing, but people do know what it means."

        Craig, I fully agree that in many ways ham radio is stuck in the 1950's.  I'm not quite sure why or what to do about it.  The world has changed, the culture has changed, and we have to change with it or we will disappear.  Certainly the ability to talk to someone in Norway or New Zealand is no longer unique with the rise of the Internet, and cellphones have replaced some of the uses of HT's and other VHF operations.  We need to focus on the things that can't be done in consumer-land, such as building and tinkering with hardware and software, experimenting at the edge of today's knowledge, and providing emergency services.

N5IB wrote:
"Our Louisiana call letter plates have the legend "Ham Operator."

        Very interesting!  I've lived in many states and traveled through most, and the vast majority use "Amateur Radio" on their license plates.


Cathy
N5WVR


_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [hidden email]
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
 http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft   

Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com

[Jozef Hand-Boniakowski]

Sorry:

Nonsense.  The ability to talk via ham radio overseas, Norway. etc., is
"indeed unique" when you can consider that no hardware corporate, nor
any other, infrastructure is necessary to achieve the task.  Shut down
the cell-phone infrastructure and/or the Internet and communications
stops.  Ham radio communications cannot be shut down without broad
spectrum high power jamming.  Ham radio communications would continue.  
And that, may I suggest, is what makes "ham radio" so special.  I don't
need anything other than the "ether" between my rig and the other guy/gal.

Jozef WB2MIC

Cathy James wrote:

> W2AGN wrote:
> "The term "Ham Radio" has been used at least for 75 years, possibly
> more. Most of us "old-timers" are proud to be Hams. But then, we took
> "real" exams and even, back in the olden days, had to pass a Morse
> Code test. (After walking barefoot in the snow 5 miles to the FCC
> examiner, of course).
>
> "Perhaps the term "Ham Radio" has become outmoded, with the new trends
> in Amateur Radio, no more code test, memorized exams, etc. So maybe we
> should "repackage" ourselves.
>
> "I know! Why don't we call it "Citizen's Band?"  (CB for short)."
>
>     John, I know you are using some irony here ("barefoot in the
> snow..."), and I don't offend easily, but I have to same that we "new"
> hams (first licensed 1991 in my case) get a little tired of the
> endless litany of "you young whippersnippers ain't as good as us" that
> is often heard from old-timers on the Net.  (Interesting, I don't
> think I've ever heard it in person or on the air.  I don't use 75
> meters, and it doesn't seem to be common on other bands.)
>
>     I mean, c'mon, I have an engineering degree (albeit not EE), an
> Extra, routinely ragchew at 16-18 wpm CW, my shack is full of kits
> I've built, I build complex antennas from scratch (two Moxons so far),
> and I'm studying RF theory as time permits in hope of eventually
> designing and building my own rigs.  Yet there is a group of hams that
> will never consider me their equal because I didn't take the same exam
> they did in front of an FCC examiner and never passed a CW test higher
> than 5 wpm.  Give it a rest!
>
> NZ0R wrote:
> "In terms of its reputation and usefulness, ham radio seems stuck in
> the 50's
> to me. Technology-wise it's pretty up-to-date but for the most part
> it's a
> quaint throwback to simpler times. The name "ham" may be odd and
> embarrassing, but people do know what it means."
>
>     Craig, I fully agree that in many ways ham radio is stuck in the
> 1950's.  I'm not quite sure why or what to do about it.  The world has
> changed, the culture has changed, and we have to change with it or we
> will disappear.  Certainly the ability to talk to someone in Norway or
> New Zealand is no longer unique with the rise of the Internet, and
> cellphones have replaced some of the uses of HT's and other VHF
> operations.  We need to focus on the things that can't be done in
> consumer-land, such as building and tinkering with hardware and
> software, experimenting at the edge of today's knowledge, and
> providing emergency services.
>
> N5IB wrote:
> "Our Louisiana call letter plates have the legend "Ham Operator."
>
>     Very interesting!  I've lived in many states and traveled through
> most, and the vast majority use "Amateur Radio" on their license plates.
>
>
> Cathy
> N5WVR
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: [hidden email]
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft   
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>

_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [hidden email]
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
 http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft   

Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com

[W2AGN-2]

Cathy James wrote:

> W2AGN wrote:
> "The term "Ham Radio" has been used at least for 75 years, possibly
> more. Most of us "old-timers" are proud to be Hams. But then, we took
> "real" exams and even, back in the olden days, had to pass a Morse Code
> test. (After walking barefoot in the snow 5 miles to the FCC examiner,
> of course).
>
> "Perhaps the term "Ham Radio" has become outmoded, with the new trends
> in Amateur Radio, no more code test, memorized exams, etc. So maybe we
> should "repackage" ourselves.
>
> "I know! Why don't we call it "Citizen's Band?"  (CB for short)."
>
>     John, I know you are using some irony here ("barefoot in the
> snow..."), and I don't offend easily, but I have to same that we "new"
> hams (first licensed 1991 in my case) get a little tired of the endless
> litany of "you young whippersnippers ain't as good as us" that is often
> heard from old-timers on the Net.  (Interesting, I don't think I've ever
> heard it in person or on the air.  I don't use 75 meters, and it doesn't
> seem to be common on other bands.)

I always find it interesting that new "Hams" are so defensive. Whenever anything
favorable is mentioned about the "good old days" they immediate spring to the
counter-attack. I believe a good analyst would find symptoms of low self-esteem
in this.

As for your operating and building skills, congratulations. You obviously chose
to go beyond the memorization of simple questions, and improved your knowledge
and skills. I fear you are an exception. For every one truly motivated Ham such
as yourself, there are another 10, of whom at least 5 never get beyond the
Handi-talky on the belt stage, and 5 drop out altogether, after finding that
they were woefully ill-equipped by the memorization of the exam questions.

But, you say, we need MORE HAMS. As the ARRL preaches from the Holy City in
Connecticut, bring in MORE HAMS! Well, this old-timer saith unto ye, we need
BETTER HAMS, not MORE HAMS.


BTW, the term is "whippersnappers."

---
  _    _    _    _    _
 / \  / \  / \  / \  / \   John L. Sielke
( W )( 2 )( A )( G )( N )  http://w2agn.net
 \_/  \_/  \_/  \_/  \_/   http://www.blurty.com/users/w2agn
check out: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/QRPariahs/
_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [hidden email]
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
 http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft   

Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com