Boring Hams Talking About The Weather

[proper4wd]

Perfect example of all stick and no carrot. "Wouldn't be easier just to get your license?" How?

I disagree about the skill and practice necessary to operate under most circumstances... I an an unlicensed Baofeng pirate and From the time my radios arrived on my doorstep, I had them both fully programmed and tested in about 60 minutes of watching youtube videos and using chirp.

I think a lot of this falls back on the fact that the ham community likes having barriers of entry to their society, likes having the secret club atmosphere, likes being able to talk down to non hams. It shows just from the high percentage of ham users that plaster their call sign into their signature... why do you do this? It's the secret handshake. Not interested in being a card carrying member of that society.

KI55MY ***.

 

[brentbba]

Just read thru the locked thread and this one. One...of many comments...particularly caught my attention. Ham nets being boring. LOL - true...to an extent. :iagree: Perhaps a little understanding and I think for the naysayers not understanding some of the history and, yes, legacy of ham radio - that being emergency communications...even in this day and age. Those nets have been and are designed to PRACTICE a skill - emergency comms, checking in, passing along critical info in an emergency, etc. I had the pleasure of listening to CLARA, a particularly strong, well run and respectful repeater in Socal when we had wildfires. That group practices what their motto is - Safety first, Respectful always or something along those lines. During the fires they were in constant communication, helping hospitals, emergency response units, etc. That's some of what HAM is all about, but not all. The national field days, to practice off grid comms is another example. Power goes out, cell towers go down, telephone lines go dead. So long as you've got a battery, your radio will work and you CAN communicate. If someone is unlicensed and doesn't understand 'ham rules of the road' and accidentally and unintentionally interferes or interrupts a true emergency net, then there 'might' be dire consequences. Just saying...

I don't belong to a local club, support any of the local repeaters and generally use my radios for off road comms. I typically just listen to the local repeaters. Tech license only here. I did begin to study for the General and Gordon West's book quickly got into technical info on antennas, etc. and I knew that was more than I was interested in. 2M and 440 with a Tech license is fine for me.

Part of the license is to understand some of what the HAM community is all about. Some don't care and the banned trolls didn't seem to care. So be it. Nuff said before this thread gets locked too and I think this is a useful, and more constructive, discussion. I respect the decision to lock the other thread as it could have gotten much worse than it did.

 

[craig333]

Ignore the reasons for using ham. I'm tired of explaining them. Get an frs and a sat phone and be done with it.

I think what bothers me most is the deabeats wanting something for nothing. You'll use that repeater to call for help but you won't support its operation. They don't magically appear. Hams fork over their hard earned money to purchase the equipment, to maintain it. I'm sure you'll never see an unlicensed operator hauling bricks and cement to a mountain top to build the transmitter building.

Four wheelers and hams built the network up on the rubicon because they saw a need and a way to fill a need. There was no hammer or carrot involved. It saves lives. Thats enough right there but yeah, I'm a bit of a geek. One of these days I'd like to talk to the space shuttle just because I think it'd be cool.

I don't expect the anti ham crowd to be swayed by any argument. Just please, when they ask you to clear the air for a search and rescue please do so.

 

[brentbba]

I don't expect the anti ham crowd to be swayed by any argument. Just please, when they ask you to clear the air for a search and rescue please do so.

Well put!

 

[craig333]

Someone else mentioned Nets. Boring is a pretty apt description yet I've found them enormously useful. For one its when a large number of hams are on the air. I'll wait until they call for the guest check in and say something like "KK6AUI visiting from Sacramento and hoping for some local info on (whatever, usually restaurants or things to see and do)" which never fails to get a response after net traffic concludes. If you want some cheap, maybe even free gear, try an on air swap meet.

Back to the crusty old geezers/boring weather chat. I'm really not sure where the exciting chat is. On the 805 its usually boring stuff like "hey paul, when you come up bring a left handed crescent wrench" or guys telling their wives they won't make it off trail in time for dinner. Hmmm, big storm rolling in, maybe I will listen to the boring weather chat today

 

[SilverMiner]

Let me be very clear that I am not anti-HAM, I'm merely ambivalent and uncertain of the value of joining their secret squirrel club. I never said I was using my Baofeng illegally or that I even intended to. I'm not wearing an eyepatch, cackling maniacally and rubbing my hands while randomly keying the mike indiscriminately across the spectrum.

I'm just a middle aged engineer who bought a $30 radio on sale from Amazon a while back and have been playing with it listening to whatever is available and learning to program with CHIRP. As stated earlier, I've even been taking practice tests at QRZ.com. In the course of educating myself I've been lurking and reading a number of enthusiast forums including HAM specific groups as well as end-users like here. My ill-defined and fuzzy goal has merely been to see if my inexpensive purchase is worth pursuing further, and based upon what I've been reading here and elsewhere I'm not convinced it is a hobby I wish to engage more fully. And that is why I wrote my earlier post - I don't want to see HAM disappear, but given the prevailing attitudes I don't see much of a future for it once the current generation passes along.

I work in an industry that is intensely regulated by the federal government on a daily basis, and the last thing I want to do during my free time is participate in an activity that appears to appeal mostly to wannabe petty bureaucrats and tin badge enforcers. My evaluation may be wrong (and believe it or not I sincerely hope that it is), but thats where I stand. Whether or not I eventually get a license is still undetermined. If I don't, I'm only out $30, and I've still got a useful radio that is much cheaper and handier than my old Rad Shack portable scanner for monitoring law enforcement and EMS.

When I was fourteen, 5 buddies of mine and I all learned Morse Code together during the winter of 79-80 in preparation for becoming licensed ham operators. We were geeky little nerds, and HAM seemed to be the logical progression for us from the CB's our dads were using. Finances of the time prevented all but one of us from actually taking the test, but I remember that winter very fondly. Perhaps my misty nostalgia will finally bring me back into the fold. Or maybe not. We'll see whether or not any circumstances arise that will drive an urge to actually key the mike.

 

[brentbba]

SilverMiner - not going to go down the locked thread route again, but regardless of a $30 or $3000 radio, use of said radio is regulated by law at the present time. Some HRO's won't even sell you a radio unless they can look up your ID on the FCC database. Unfortunately, Amazon and I'm sure other internet retailers will sell you a regulated piece of equipment w/o you having the legally necessary license to operate that equipment.

 

[dwh]

What a load of crap. From A to Z - crap, crap and more crap.

I don't have a license, and I don't use HAM. But I used to have an aircraft radio license. I guess pilots are also in the "secret squirrel club"? And Mariners?

You people DO realize don't you, that everything you are saying about HAMs, is also said by people who hate 4WDs and SUVs?

So just keep in mind (and Chazz, I love ya bro - but this means you) that whatever you say about someone else, there is no doubt somebody somewhere saying the same ******** about YOU.


Geez...just get your license you buncha knuckleheads and be proud of your accomplishment rather making weak lameass excuses for why you don't.


EDIT: And proper4wd - there's your bloody carrot alright? Self-freaking-esteem.

 

[SilverMiner]

SilverMiner - not going to go down the locked thread route again, but regardless of a $30 or $3000 radio, use of said radio is regulated by law at the present time. Some HRO's won't even sell you a radio unless they can look up your ID on the FCC database. Unfortunately, Amazon and I'm sure other internet retailers will sell you a regulated piece of equipment w/o you having the legally necessary license to operate that equipment.

Bingo! We have a winner! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect example of petty bureaucratic excess!

There is absolutely nothing illegal about me owning my Baofeng or Amazon selling it to me, despite the common past practice of HRO's to refuse to accept money from the lower class folk unless the magic words were spoken first. I am on the side of god and the law up until the point I key the mike. And then I agree wholeheartedly that I had better have a license, and I promise I will have one should I ever decide to take that step.

 

[calicamper]

Dwh mariners running SSB have ham licenses. Mariners using basic marine radios are required by law to monitor certain channels for commercial traffic same reason pilots are required to do the same.

Ham operators typically have higher powered systems and those are not critical to safe transportation practices in congested areas. Ham folks also tend to be tinkerers who like to see just how far they can communicate with their set up. The boat I was racing our ham guy had a nice talk with another ham operator 1100 miles from us. We were in the middle of the pacific. It was a fun avand very interesting experience.

 

[brentbba]

. The boat I was racing our ham guy had a nice talk with another ham operator 1100 miles from us. We were in the middle of the pacific. It was a fun avand very interesting experience.

Reminds me of being out in the middle of the Mojave desert and talking to a guy in a private jet at some ungodly altitude I don't remember any longer. He was moving so fast, we didn't get to talk for long but it was nice to do so!

 

[barlowrs]

It shows just from the high percentage of ham users that plaster their call sign into their signature... why do you do this? It's the secret handshake. Not interested in being a card carrying member of that society.

KI55MY ***.

And how is this is different from plastering your rig in your signature?

Just as my name is in my sig for my friends that know me, as is my call sign for my friends that I talk to.

Signature (definition of):

- A person's name written in a distinctive way as a form of identification in authorizing a check or document or concluding a letter.
- something (such as a quality or feature) that is closely associated with someone or something

Could my call sign, that I use (lawfully) to communicate with others, be considered my name (it is directly connected with my name) written in a distinctive way as a form of identification? So technically, I believe that my call sign has more relevance in my signature than the rig I have (though as you can see, I also have my rig in my signature, as another secret handshake I suppose)

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

Gentlemen: I am encouraging everyone here to step away from the thread. This discussion is not worth getting banned over.
And I can state with much certainty that the ban hammer is quivering.

So, please in the spirit of "can't we all just get along", let this one go.

Thanks all
D

 

[RobRed]

I'll step into this...

Where to start?

It's funny to me that we would spend hours fretting and stewing over the most mundane mods for our vehicles making sure things are just right. When it comes to Comms a lot of folks don't want to spend 10 minutes to take the very easy test and two hours ahead to study for it. Priorities I guess. My 7 Year old nephew can pass this test. I dont think its a barrier to entry to the use of a very powerful system. There are lots of activities that society attaches a "license" to for various reasons.

I think there are legit technical reasons as well as social reasons why we see new ham users in the off road community. Simple HAM equipment is far more powerful (not talking watts here though that my play in certain discussions) than our old friend CB Radio and FRS. The clarity and performance are far an above those other options.

From a social perspective I require HAM radio on all my trips. You dont have 2m? You dont go. I've lost count but I'm personally responsible for 25 or so new licensed HAMs. Why do i make trip participants do this? Is it because I want to them to be in my special club? No. It's a safety tool. Plain and simple. Perhaps I shame some of the lazier folks into doing this license thing but they have all thanked me after.

At the onset of this thread there was a tone of us and them. The old guys trying to keep the new guys out. Thats BS. The old guys want to preserve the memorialized and codified protocols that have kept the system useable and relevant. As a new guy if you use the correct protocols for communication the old guys are welcoming. Yeah there are lots of how's the weather in [insert location] conversations but thats a function of mostly uninteresting people just practicing the radio skills.

Theres no need to dumb down the process (study/test) or having a set of free use frequencies (FRS solves that). Just get off your *** and do the Tech test. Simple.

The baofeng radios have made the financial barrier zero so why not? BTW I used to recommend the Baofeng UV5R as a starter (for the very reason just mentioned) but I dont any more. I've had three bad ones in a row.

 

[MIKEYRULES]

I dont get into this forum too often, but was rather surprised about the troll comment made by a moderator in another thread, who went right on to make his own derogatory troll wothy comments regarding hams in general, and then promptly locked the thread. Poor form good sir.

Started a new account. Sorry if I pissed anyone off. I was never trolling. Was that my first post? No. If I was trolling everyone should get banned.

I just wanted to see how everyone felt about the license. Everyone has strong emotions and feelings about it and that's a good thing. After reading all these post that stemmed from me asking a simple question is crazy.

Most of us probably will never be HOMIES in regular life. For example tomorrow I have booth at the HIGH TIMES cannabis cup in San Bernadino. The squad will be using the Baofengs to communicate. We will keep them on legal frequencies. I know how important it is. If your there stop by the LTS booth and I'll bless you. If you have a call sign I'll hook you up even fatter.

Just lock this thread already please. This is outta control. Don't ban me again. I LOVE EXPEDITION PORTAL.

Edit: PS... This whole ham forum was dead until I came and asked that question.