Mike Coslo wrote:
wrote:
Kardiac Korner wrote:
Previous posters have commented that the HF bands are populated by
Seventy-Somethings who oft compare their surgeries with their fellows. Well,
this is not endemic to the HF bands.
On 'phone, maybe. Not on Morse Code.
Not on Phone either. Of course, I think you knew that already, Jim!
There are some spots on 'phone where such conversations go on. 75
meters is
a common place for them. I've never encountered one on Morse Code even
though
I spend far more time using that mode than all the others put together.
Case in point. This afternoon three of the youth challenged Old Timers tied
up a local repeater as they compared notes and even argued over whose heart
surgery was the worst. They droned on and on about the incisions made in
their legs, their chests, and even went into graphic detail about the
drainage tube that had been implanted in one of their abdomens.
Does sound gross. I tend to get sympathy pains - so my skin would have
been crawling listening to that. But!....
Me too.
How did they "tie up" the repeater? Did they refuse to let others use
it?
Or would it have simply been silent without them?
almost certainly the latter...
And it this was not depressing enough, one of the Codgers went on to regale
the listeners with details of his wife's cancer and chemo treatments and
detailed the prescription drugs his wife uses.
Come on, guys. My heart goes out to you, but MUST you discuss it for hours
on end? On a repeater? Or anywhere? These oldsters are understandably caught
up in their dilemma but someone, some day, is going to have to ask them to
please, please, stop.
Why?
These Oldsters, all Extra licensees, have no idea how depressing it is to
listen to them.
See below.
And, guys. When someone asks you how you are doing, don't go into an hour
long history of your medical trials and health tribulations. Spare us the
details and the resultant depression. Please?
A couple of observations:
First off, with a few exceptions, the subject matter of amateur radio
conversations isn't regulated or restricted by FCC. Unless you can
make a case that the conversations involved violated some provision
of Part 97 or the Communications Act, they're allowed.
Second, I hope no one, including you, ever gets seriously ill or has
a loved one in perilous health. May we all live to very old ages with
all our faculties intact, and go quietly and peacefully in our sleep
when the time comes.
But in reality, many if not most people have to deal with such health
situations. While those conversations may be boring and depressing to
*you*, those involved may find them a source of strength, support and
comfort. Also information. Would you rather those hams go through such
times without the support of fellow amateurs, whom they may have known
for decades?
One of the biggest reasons that some hams have a problem with those
types of conversations is their *own personal* fear of their *own
personal* mortality. And the oldsters with their discussions remind
those fearful ones of that very mortality. And they do not like that.
Understandable, but not a reason to tell folks to shut up.
One of the most gripping conversations I ever heard on the bands was
one fellow talking to another. He was in the last stages of something or
other. But he was wheezing and gurgling on the air. I was fearful that
he was going to pass on right there in the middle of the QSO. Real funny
stuff, that. Let's go make some hilarious jokes, eh? 8^(
Probably emphysema or CHF. Neither is any fun. Two big reasons I never
took
up smoking.
Third, a repeater's owners have the right to shut down a repeater if
they don't like the way it is being used, or who is using it. But that
didn't happen. Are you one of the repeater's owners, or an authorized
control operator for it?
Anyone who would turn off their repeater for *that* is a heartless
*******.
Agreed - but they'd be within their rights as repeater owners. Then
again,
maybe the folks talking *were* the repeater owners.
The Karma buildup would be very bad - and deserved.
Yup.
Fourth, almost all of the ham rigs I've seen have both a frequency
control and an on-off switch. Use them!
Finally! And good advice.
I do know that one thing that is much more annoying than old dudes
talking about their ailments is people that try to control what other
people can or can't say on the air.
What you can't say is pretty well laid out in Part 97 and the
Communications
Act. The rest is pretty much open.
Of course there are folks everywhere who have a hard time gauging their
audience. For example, there are folks on the Internet who can't seem
to
learn to spell, use grammar or punctuation, or even post in the same
style as others in the particular forum. Some haven't even learned that
using all caps is the equivalent of SHOUTING.
And of course there are the folks who will tell you the same story of
their life over and over and over....and over again, even though
there's no point to it and it has nothing to do with the discussion
at hand...
A simply excellent response, Jim.
Thanks!
73 de Jim, N2EY
313