For those of you who have the necessary technical
motivation to understand how things work, have become
interested in Ham Radio but are confused by the
attitudes and activities of those who are really no
more than CBers-Masquerading-As-Radio-Hams,
I append a short article explaining the difference.....

What is Ham Radio?

Ham Radio is a technical pursuit for those who
are interested in the science of radio wave
propagation and who are also interested in the
way that their radios function. It has a long-standing
tradition of providing a source of engineers who
are born naturals.

Ham Radio awakens in its aficionados a whole-life
fascination with all things technical and gives
an all-abiding curiosity to improve one's scientific
knowledge. It's a great swimming pool, please dive in!

This excitement causes a wish to share the experience
with ones fellow man, and shows itself in the
gentlemanly traditions of Ham Radio.

Radio Hams are qualified to design, build and then
operate their own pieces of equipment. They do this
with gusto, and also repair and modify their own
equipment.

The excitement that drives a Radio Ham starts with
relatively simple technologies at first, perhaps making
his own Wimshurst machine and primary cells. Small pieces
of test equipment follow, possibly multimeters and signal
generators. Then comes receivers and transmitters. It is with
the latter that communication with like-minded technically
motivated people takes off. The scope for technical
development grows with the years
and now encompasses DSP and DDS. There is also a great deal
of excitement in the areas of computer programming to
be learnt and applied.

The technical excitement motivates Radio Hams to compete
with each other to determine who has designed and manufactured
the best-quality station. This competitiveness is found in DXing,
competitions and fox-hunts.

-----OOOOO----

However, beware! A Ham Radio licence is such a
desirable thing to have that there are large
numbers of people who wish to be thought of
as Radio Hams when, in fact, they are nothing
of the kind! Usually such people are a
variation of the CB Radio hobbyist; they buy their
radios off the shelf and send them back to be
repaired; they are not interested in technical discussion
and sneer at those who are; they have no idea how
their radios work inside and have no wish to find out;
they are free with rather silly personal insults;
they have not satisfied any technical qualification
and their licences prevent the use of
self-designed-and-built equipment.

These CB types engage in the competitive activities
with their Cheque-Book-purchased off-the-shelf radios
in a forlorn effort to prove that they are Radio Hams.

No _REAL_ Radio Hams are deceived by such people!

It has a long-standing
tradition of providing a source of engineers who
are born naturals.

============================

On the contrary. There's a long-standing tradition of born-natural engineers
becoming radio amateurs.

Don't bother quoting a few exceptions to the rule.
---
Reg

"Airy R. Bean" wrote in
:

For those of you who have the necessary technical
motivation to understand how things work, have become
interested in Ham Radio but are confused by the
attitudes and activities of those who are really no
more than CBers-Masquerading-As-Radio-Hams,
I append a short article explaining the difference.....

I offered help with your supposed attempt to design and build
a radio, to host some webpages, etc.

You have until 23:59 21/04/03 and then the offer is removed.

I presume you've ignored my email.

So much for me trying to promote gentlemanly behaviour.

Leigh....

(PS - discovered the eham.net site yet for technical
discussions Gareth?)
--

#!/bin/sh {who;} {last;} {pause;} {grep;} {touch;} {unzip;}
mount /dev/girl -t {wet;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} echo
yes yes yes {yes;} umount {/dev/girl;zip;} rm -rf {wet.spot;}
{sleep;} finger: permission denied

"Airy R. Bean" wrote in
:

For those of you who have the necessary technical
motivation to understand how things work, have become
interested in Ham Radio but are confused by the
attitudes and activities of those who are really no
more than CBers-Masquerading-As-Radio-Hams,
I append a short article explaining the difference.....

How about you widen the circulation of this article to more
rec.radio.amateur groups Gareth.

Tell everyone where they are going wrong.

Or are you too chicken?

Leigh...

In article ,
says...

For those of you who have the necessary technical
motivation to understand how things work, have become
interested in Ham Radio but are confused by the
attitudes and activities of those who are really no
more than CBers-Masquerading-As-Radio-Hams,
I append a short article explaining the difference.....

snip destructive propaganda

For someone who claims such a broad base of knowledge, your
viewpoint is pretty short-sighted.

The Amateur Radio SERVICE has something to offer EVERYone, and
those licensed under its regulations each have the potential to
contribute in ways unique to the individual licensee. Recognizing that
no two people will ever contribute in the same way, and that some will
never contribute more than their presence on the airwaves, is simply
part of the hobby.

There is truth to some of what you're saying, in terms of the
service producing many fine engineers and engineering techs, and of it
being home to those who love to tinker (I know, because that's a big
reason why I got into it). However, it is not required that all of
amateur radio's participants be fully qualified to "design, build, and
operate," as you state.

I suggest you take a good hard look at this link:

http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/reg...s/news/part97/

Pay particular attention to paragraphs a, c, and e.

Amateur radio's real enemy is not those who don't know an
oscilloscope probe from a soldering pencil. No, the real danger to
amateur radio comes from those, like you, who display nothing but
intolerance to newcomers who are interested in the hobby, but who may
never have picked up a multimeter in their lives.

So: Instead of responding to newcomers with elitism and arrogance,
try responding as an "Elmer." Inform them about the purposes behind the
service, and explain about the responsibilities that a license carries.
Also explain that the Amateur Radio service, like any other hobby, is a
mirror: The 'reward' one gets out is directly proportional to what one
puts into it.

Remember: People learn by example.

--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute.
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR,
kyrrin (a/t) bluefeathertech[d=o=t]calm -- www.bluefeathertech.com
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped
with surreal ports?"

No. It is not short-sighted. Ham Radio is a technical
pursuit with technical privileges and I wish it to remain so.
Any sitting-on-the-sidelines while the Mongolian hordes
of turnip-brained CBers pour in is ill-advised because the
powers-that-be will come to perceive Ham Radio to have
become indistinguishable from CB Radio and the technical
privileges will be in danger of being withdrawn.

Far from being short-sighted, the viewpoint that I
express is long-sighted.

"Dr. Anton T. Squeegee" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
For those of you who have the necessary technical
motivation to understand how things work, have become
interested in Ham Radio but are confused by the
attitudes and activities of those who are really no
more than CBers-Masquerading-As-Radio-Hams,
I append a short article explaining the difference.....
For someone who claims such a broad base of knowledge, your
viewpoint is pretty short-sighted.

In article ,
says...

top-posting corrected ... Please don't top-post!

"Dr. Anton T. Squeegee" wrote in message

For someone who claims such a broad base of knowledge, your
viewpoint is pretty short-sighted.

No. It is not short-sighted. Ham Radio is a technical
pursuit with technical privileges and I wish it to remain so.

Well, that's fine. You can, in your own way, make your
participation in amateur radio as technical as you want.

HOWEVER -- Technical pursuits are NOT the only reason the SERVICE
exists. You apparently did not take my advice to read the material at
the links I provided on Part 97 of the FCC regs, more specifically the
section which defines what the amateur service is. Had you done so, you
would have read that there's a lot more than the technical side
involved.

Any sitting-on-the-sidelines while the Mongolian hordes
of turnip-brained CBers pour in is ill-advised because the
powers-that-be will come to perceive Ham Radio to have
become indistinguishable from CB Radio and the technical
privileges will be in danger of being withdrawn.

blink

You know, up until you made that utterly inaccurate and utterly
loony statement, I was under the impression that you could be
reasonable.

Far from being short-sighted, the viewpoint that I
express is long-sighted.

You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. I would, however,
point out that the "Mongolian hordes" (are we being racist now as well?)
have been "pouring in" for the last several decades.

While there has been a noticeable (and, IMO, lamentable) decline
in the number of tinkerers, as it were, amateur radio is still around,
and I think it will continue to be around for many moons to come.

For the sake of avoiding newsgroup clutter, I will no longer
debate these points with you. It is apparent that you do not care enough
to take Part 97 (or whatever its UK equivalent is) seriously.

God help whatever newcomer asks you an 'elmer' type question about
amateur radio...

*PLONK!*


--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute.
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR,
kyrrin (a/t) bluefeathertech[d=o=t]calm -- www.bluefeathertech.com
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped
with surreal ports?"

If you wish to make some point in debate, then make it
yourself. I'm not going to go away and learn up on
your failings, OM!

"Dr. Anton T. Squeegee" wrote in message
...
You apparently did not take my advice to read the material at
the links I provided on Part 97 of the FCC regs, more specifically the
section which defines what the amateur service is. Had you done so, you
would have read that there's a lot more than the technical side
involved.

WRONG!

"Dr. Anton T. Squeegee" wrote in message
...
HOWEVER -- Technical pursuits are NOT the only reason the SERVICE
exists.

"Airy R. Bean" wrote in
:

WRONG!

"Dr. Anton T. Squeegee"
wrote in message
...
HOWEVER -- Technical pursuits are NOT the only reason the
SERVICE exists.


Gareth - do us all a _FAVOUR_ - take your silly little
squabbles to email. Shows true usenet netiquette.

There's a good girl.



--

#!/bin/sh {who;} {last;} {pause;} {grep;} {touch;} {unzip;}
mount /dev/girl -t {wet;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} echo
yes yes yes {yes;} umount {/dev/girl;zip;} rm -rf {wet.spot;}
{sleep;} finger: permission denied