samedi 29 novembre 2014

Hams: we can be our own worst enemies

I was browsing eBay and noticed this ad for an FT-2500. No, it wasn't the rather high buy it now price for a 15+ year old used radio, but the text in the ad that the seller describes about the local ham community causing him to not want to participate:



Yeasu ft 2500M 2 FM Meter Ham Radio 140 to 174 MHz | eBay



It just goes to show that we can be some of our worst enemies at times, on all sides. This is not about making fun of the seller, or his overpriced radio, but more a commentary on how as hams we can be downright snotty to our fellow hams or prospective hams and not even realize it.



How often do we hear new call signs on a repeater or HF and ignore them?

How often do we get frustrated with new operators who don't know all the ropes or use CB lingo like "Roger that" or say "for ID" after giving their call sign? How often do people outside the hobby ask about our radios and we just blow them off or get annoyed when they refer to them as "CBs" or downplay what ham radio really has to offer.



I am just saying I hate to hear it when people exist the hobby with disgust. Sure, it is a personal right to do so, but I cannot help to stop and think how many times this happens, and correlate that with the dead local bands around here.



I watched a movie tonight called "Her" which takes place in the future where a guy falls in love with a computer operating system. It is a great film as it shows how as a society we are moving away from interpersonal relationships and real one to one, and one to many HUMAN contact. It's a great film because it drives home how technology such as smartphones and the Internet are changing our ability to be social animals, which human beings by nature are (with some exceptions).



Ham radio is all about that: human contact. We all should remember this. I would like to think that the stories like the angry eBay seller making a mass exodus are rare, but is it? Ham radio is like the last holdout of bridging technology with good old fashioned human contact. Let us not forget that.





Hams: we can be our own worst enemies

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