What is Ham Radio?

(Preface)
It is becoming increasingly difficult to fly the flag for
decency and for civilised behaviour in Radio Hammery. Even
the Usenet newsgroups dedicated to the cause have degenerated
into a hotbed of abusive onslaughts by those who ought to know better.
However, there still exists the fundamental basis on which Ham
Radio is based, and that will never die. This FAQ ("What Is
Ham Radio?") will be regularly published and will not be
shouted or bullied down. It is important that those of a
technical bent, who are the natural seed-corn of Radio Hammery
and who gravitate towards us to be the real novitiate, can
still find us, (and know that we are still here), their fellows.

-----ooooo-----

Please remember that this FAQ is a _POSITIVE EXHORTATION_
to you to exert yourselves to join our fraternity! (If you find
otherwise, then perhaps you are already classing yourself in the
mediocre groups of those who are criticised in the FAQ and from
whom we _MUST_ dissociate? If so - it's never too late for
a re-taxonomisation on your part - there's nothing elitist about
us, and we welcome all those who are prepared to put themselves
out in order to join our ranks!)

-----ooooo-----
(Article)
So,.....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 in a unique privileged position in that
they can construct and operate their own equipment! No-one
else has this privilege. Users, such as broadcasters,
the po lice and armed farces, CBers and mobile phone
users have to purchase ready-made gear. Manufacturers
are not licensed to operate their gear. 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. This is a privilege well worth the effort
to gain, and one to be jealously guarded.

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!

-----ooooo-----

One such CB type is the so-called "Not-Ham". Otherwise
known as the CBer-Masquerading-As-A-Radio-Ham, this type
had their background in the hobby that is CB Radio and not
in the technical pursuits that lead up to a coveted Ham licence.
Easily recognised by their boasts of the criminal activity of
11 metre SSB operation, one wonders why they don't go back to
the CB Bands if such bands are dearer in their hearts than are the Ham
Bands? No _REAL Radio Hams associate with those who made an
illegal installation of transmitting equipment before being
in possession of an appropriate licence.

-----ooooo-----

One infallible way to disambiguate the CB Radio Hobbyist
from the _REAL_ Radio Ham is to solicit their view of the
difference between CB Radio and Ham Radio. A Radio Ham will
perceive Ham Radio to be a technical pursuit and will
perceive CB Radio to be a social communications facility
no different in essence to a land-line telephone or a
GSM mobile in the hands of a 6-year-old. Thus a Radio Ham
could also hold a CB licence safe in the knowledge that
such a licence says no more about him than having a land-line
telephone, whilst continuing to regard Ham Radio as a separate
technical pursuit.

A CB Radio hobbyist, on the other hand, sees no difference between
a Ham Radio licence and a CB Radio licence. To him, they are
sisters-under-the-skin. Wrongly, the CB Radio Hobbyist then
tries to classify himself as the equal of the Radio
Ham when, in fact, he is nothing of the kind. A sure sign of
a CB Radio hobbyist is if he holds, or has ever held, a licence
issued under the gangrenous degeneration that is the
M3/CB Fools' Licence scheme.

-----ooooo-----

One group of people who claim to be of the standard of
Radio Hams but who are in reality nothing more than an
apology for the failure of a CBer are those class B
licensees who falsely proclaimed that they were against
the use of a Morse Test to control access to the HF
bands, until, that is, a test was introduced at their
intellectual level, the intellectual level of 6-year-olds.

6 year-olds simply lack the mathematical tool kit to
enable them to handle even the simplest algebraic manipulation
for Ohm's Law and thus, the disgraceful Class Ber's in
the aforementioned category are not Radio Hams by any stretch
of the imagination!

Remember - A sure sign of a CB Radio hobbyist is if he holds,
or has ever held, a licence issued under the gangrenous
degeneration that is the M3/CB Fools' Licence scheme!

Orator For Decency wrote:
What is Ham Radio?
stop cross posting this **** to the mnayly us gruop your english
license system wether flawed or not is not subject the FCC so whing
about it to us is sueless

Parlais-vous Anglais?

an_old_friend wrote:
stop cross posting this **** to the mnayly us gruop your english
license system wether flawed or not is not subject the FCC so whing
about it to us is sueless

This guy cannot help himself ! The constant BULLSHI* he posts is just a
pile of nonsense. It must have been that course he attended in the
evening at the local school !

an_old_friend wrote:
Orator For Decency wrote:

What is Ham Radio?

stop cross posting this **** to the mnayly us gruop your english
license system wether flawed or not is not subject the FCC so whing
about it to us is sueless

Have you considered a spell checker? You are an embarrassment to the
"mnayly us gruop."

"Orator For Decency" wrote:


What is Ham Radio?


excellent posting.

well done.

W2AGN wrote:

Have you considered a spell checker? You are an embarrassment to the
"mnayly us gruop."


confucius he say,

he who pull-up someone for spelling mistakes
will soon fall over their own spelling mistakes.

an_old_friend wrote:
Orator For Decency wrote:
What is Ham Radio?
stop cross posting this #### to the mnayly us gruop your english
license system wether flawed or not is not subject the FCC so whing
about it to us is sueless

Dear Chaps in the UK:

The hate and discontent just spewed upon you per the nickname of
"an_old_friend" is none other than Mark C. Morgan, KB9RQZ.

Mark is quick to call others "bigot", among other things, however
as it turns out he is the most aggrevious example of what a bigot
really is. In this case, suggesting that those of you posting from the
UK about license issues (a policy matter if ever I heard one) was
somehow inapproprate on RRAP.

There is no prohibition in the RRAP "charter" about such messages
being ONLY related to FCC (ie: "United States") jurisdiciton. I for
one am interested in seeing how y'all perceive such issues and handle
them.

Furthermore, he certainly does NOT hold any "moderator" status
that would permit him to direct ANY discussion in this forum.

As for Mark...well...Mark is an enigma even here in the States.
"Mark" is what happens when you spend more on one B-2 than you do on
your entire nationwide in-patient mental healthcare system...A system
that he'd be in if it were better funded.

Mark's tales started with his insistance that he was a drafted
colonel in the US Army "chemical corps" (we was 8 years old when the
draft ended in the States). He's recently been responsible for
spamming RRAP with over 1000 messages and using the names of deceased
family members of this respondant's family in order to "get a point
across".

I am sure you know what "point" got across! ; )

So, please accept one Yank's apologies for the discourtesy and
incivility exercised against you by one of my (less well cultured)
countrymen.

73

Steve, K4YZ

K4YZ wrote:
an_old_friend wrote:
Orator For Decency wrote:
What is Ham Radio?
stop cross posting this #### to the mnayly us gruop your english
license system wether flawed or not is not subject the FCC so whing
about it to us is sueless

Dear Chaps in the UK:

The hate and discontent just spewed upon you per the nickname of
"an_old_friend" is none other than Mark C. Morgan, KB9RQZ.
no hate spewed stve just caling **** ****

K4YZ wrote:
an_old_friend wrote:

Orator For Decency wrote:

What is Ham Radio?

stop cross posting this #### to the mnayly us gruop your english
license system wether flawed or not is not subject the FCC so whing
about it to us is sueless


Dear Chaps in the UK:

The hate and discontent just spewed upon you per the nickname of
"an_old_friend" is none other than Mark C. Morgan, KB9RQZ.



Incidentally a "Technician" class which is similar to your reviled "M3."
(ie, basically a CB license).