RadioBanter - View Single Post - Is ours the most technical hobby in the world?

September 10th 04, 11:36 AM

On 9 Sep 2004 21:46:11 -0500, (Bob Monaghan)
wrote:

Finally, when the chips are down and ham radio has to prove its value thru
emergency communications or whatever, there are lots of very technically
competent folks who aren't setup or interested or trained in providing
such communications. So the laurels often go to those who some might
deride as "appliance operators" who are able to provide such
communications. Many of those folks are just as elite and capable in
their own areas of ham radio as those with a more technical bent might be
in ours...

I don't see what's so elite about buying a black box off a shelf,
connecting it up and shouting into it, as most of them do, when the
other station is distant - regardless of quality of reception. Sure,
black box operators may save the day in the event of an emergency, but
the degree of study, experimentation and practice they have to undergo
to pull it off is minimal at best and demands zero respect, IMV.
--

"What is now proved was once only imagin'd." - William Blake, 1793.