Answer me this, is that an inviting atmosphere? How many people
enter hobbies to be ridiculed?

There's a certain amount of that whatever hobby one gets into
to start. Say in model railroading "You dummy, you shouldn't use
a passenger engine to haul a freight train" (different gearing
and torque in the real things). Or say an AOLer trying to learn
how to be a hacker "Lamer" or "Luser". In ham radio "Lid".
What the thing is in all these things is the people. People
who understand what it's like for a beginner to get started and
trying to figure things out (and sometimes getting it wrong).
Vs someone who think that a non-expert will never learn, that
the beginner is permanently "stupid".


Hams *must* provide a welcoming atmosphere, not inject their own
personal preferences into the mix, and take these new people and show
them they are valued on the air. Then word of mouth will spread among
the technologically inclined, and we won't have to be discussing how to
grow Ham radio.

The Morse code test could disappear tomorrow, and as long as Hams
encouraged a welcoming atmosphere that encouraged quality, we would get
quality. The test could be retained, and as long as newcomers could have
a reasonable expectation that they would have a good experience, then
the hobby would grow.

We must heal ourselves!

- Nickle Extra, Mike KB3EIA -