On 21 Jul 2003 03:54:36 GMT, (Len Over 21) wrote:

[ Coslo-esque behavior mode ON ]

WHAT WERE YOU WAITING FOR? An engraved invitation?!?

US amateur radio has been around since BEFORE 1912.

Jay-suss! I'd say you were a LAZY, good-for-nothing bum for sitting
around SO LONG!

[ Coslo-esque behavior mode off ]

Or Roll-esque, or Carroll-esque, or.....

Some can't get enough pretty, engraved certificates. Those prove you are
SOMEBODY!!!

I'm not an award collector personally - my enjoyment comes from making
the contacts on the radio, and I feel no real need after having done
so to further prove that I can overcome the deficiencies of
international snail-mail in order to get a piece of paper that merely
proves what both I and the other op already know to be true (I'm in
his log, he's in mine).

Nevertheless, I can well understand the attraction to some of these
awards, as they allow an operator to set a goal for himself (or
herself) - working at least one station in all fifty states or
whatever - and then feel a sense of accomplishment when that goal is
achieved. Of course, one can do the same thing without bothering to
obtain the certificate. I've worked about 18 states to date, but the
only QSL cards I have are ones that the other op sent me because he
(or she) needed mine for worked all states - mostly folks I worked on
the Century Club nets on 40m and 80m phone.

You need a Worked All Certificates award.

There are so many awards out there, it would be virtually impossible
to collect all of them in a single lifetime, even if one did nothing
but eat (in the shack), sleep (very little), and operate.

73 DE John, KC2HMZ