"Dee Flint" wrote in message
...

"KØHB" wrote in message
ink.net...

wrote

Amateur radio isn't magical.

I think belief in magic IS a necessary requirement to really enjoy
Amateur Radio. 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 come to believe in that powerful, intangible force.

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 through at that hour. But then, rising out of the noise like a
ghost, 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.

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!

As Amateur Radio operators, we work feats of magic every day. Many of us
have 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 of what 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


Yes it is the "magic" of wireless that is endlessly fascinating. The part
about "summon elemental forces of the universe" is awesome.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE


Dee,

I remember hearing about years ago when "Ether" was considered the medium of
how radio was propagated. That particular theory ran into trouble when we
started sending space shots up..

Dan/W4NTI