KØHB wrote:
wrote

Amateur radio isn't magical.

I think belief in magic IS a necessary requirement to really enjoy Amateur
Radio.

Ah, yes. You, Jim, and Mike spend the better part of a month dissing
belief systems and then you come up with this gem. Hi! You guys are
too funny.

Of course, you won't see a question concerning magic or metaphysics on
the test you take to obtain your license, but in your heart you will cometo
believe in that powerful, intangible force.

I think in the USN it was taught as "PFM."

All of us in the hobby have felt its influence at one time or another. Some
night when the band is dead as a doornail you'll be tuning aimlessly, not
expecting to hear a single signal because NOTHING could be coming throughat
that hour. But then, rising out of the noise like a ghost,

Prolly scared the bejeesus out of little Billy Beeper.

there will be a faint
call from another stalwart explorer thousands of miles distant. You pounce,
establish contact and both of you marvel at the fact that the conversation is
taking place at all. A few minutes later, however, the signal vanishes as
quickly as it came. Your rational mind will shrug it off as a quirk of
propagation, but that little tingle in your gut will tell you otherwise.

Isn't that how you guys say that God was invented?

If you could travel back in time to, say 500 years to 1505 AD, you'd probably be
burned at the nearest stake for even suggesting that two human beings could
communicate with each other over great distances without a physical connection.
No doubt they would accuse you of dabbling in magic -- and they'd be right!

Hi! Let me scratch a pentagram on the cover of my transceiver.

As Amateur Radio operators, we work feats of magic every day. Many of ushave
become jaded about our powers and we tend to dismiss them as commonplace.We
hardly think twice when we use our equipment to sommon the elemental forces of
the universe. But every so often we need to pause and remind ourselves ofwhat
we are really doing. We need to remember the essence of what drew us to our
unusual avocation in the first place: the wonderful magic of wireless
communications.

(With thanks to WB8IMY)

73, de Hans, K0HB
--
"Hark! I Have Hurled My Words To The Far Corners Of The Earth! What King Of Old
Could Do Thus?"
--AC6V

"Hans the Magi!" Who would've thought it?

I can't wait to read what "Jesus was a cool dude" Mike posted below.