KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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Im EXTRA ignorant

Posted: 25 Apr 2016 11:59 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


On Sunday, I received the following e-mail from a reader:

Just wanted to let you know I passed the General exam using your study
guide. Â*It was very helpful. Â*I am now generally ignorant whereas before I
was only technically ignorant. Â*Ha!

My reply to him was:

Well, if youre generally Â*ignorant, I guess that makes me EXTRA ignorant!

This isnt just a joke—being ignorantÂ*isÂ*part ofÂ*the hobby.Â*Amateur radio
operators will always be ignorant about something or other. Even if you
could master every facet of the hobby at some point in time, your mastery
would be short-lived as the technology continued to advance.

Over the course of my amateur radio career, weve gone from equipment that
primarily used vacuum tubes, toÂ*solid-state gear that first used discrete
transistors and then integrated circuits, to software-defined radios. I
could have, at some point, simply given up on the new technology and still
enjoyed amateur radio. Some guys do that, and thats OK. It is only a hobby
after all.

Im not one of those guys, though, and if youre not one of those guys, then
you have to resign yourself to being ignorant. But, thatsÂ*a good thing, as
long as you realize that youre ignorant. Realizing that youre ignorant will
spur you on to learn new things and accept new challenges.

Recently, I realized that Im mostly ignorant about satellite operation. I
know some of the basics from having read articles in QST and writing about
the topic in my study guides, but IÂ*have never made a contact usingÂ*a
satellite. I think that might be one of my next challenges. With the advent
of CubeSat, there are many new satellites up in the air and many more
opportunities to have interesting contacts.

So, what are you ignorant about? By that I mean, of course, whats going to
be your next challenge in amateur radio?

The post Im EXTRA ignorant appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.


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Social media meeting the needs of hams

Posted: 25 Apr 2016 11:27 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email

Roy, AB8RM, BCARC president, presenting me with a certificate of
appreciation and some lovely parting gifts.

Last Tuesday, I headed west onÂ*I-94, then south on I-69 to the middle of
nowhereÂ*Coldwater, MI to speak to the Branch County Amateur Radio
ClubÂ*about ham radio and social media. There really has been an explosion
in social media over the past five years or so, so I thought Id explore
that topic a little.

BelowÂ*are the slides I prepared. As you can see I have a broad definition
of social media.




The key here is that social media should make ham radio more fun.


Ive never been a fan of Facebook, but for many, if not most, thats their
main social media outlet. Twitter is mine. I have more than 3,000 followers
on Twitter.


Some people dont consider mailing lists to be social media, but they are in
my book.


While QRZ.Com and eHam.Net are the big dogs, the reddit forum is much more
civilized. Theres a lot less ego on reddit, and the discussions are a lot
more useful and interesting and tend to not devolve into silly arguments.


There are lots of good blogs out there.


As Ive mentioned previously, Im going to be appearing regularly on the
ICQPodcast and may be appearing on HamRadio360 (formerly FOTime). Appearing
on these podcasts is a win-win. They get a decent guest (at least I think I
am), and I get to be on a podcasts without having to produce one myself.


Social media should enhance, not detract, from our enjoyment of amateur
radio.

The post Social media meeting the needs of hams appeared first on KB6NUs
Ham Radio Blog.