In article , Robert Casey
writes:

Yes, new hams may make some operating errors and they may need
a little coaching and immersion in the "culture" of ham radio to get to
the point where they sound experienced. We ALL made such mistakes



I didn't.

Sure....

That's right.

Even the best operators made errors when they first got on.

How do you know?

I don't mean malicious intent errors, but the traditional way of IDing and
such. "N2EY, WA2ISE and the group, 73s."

Was that meant to be an example of how I would operate? Never happened. One of
the first operating rules I learned was that the transmitting station gives
his/her own call last. Learned that long before I was a ham.

What you will hear from me would be

"WA2ISE and the group, this is N2EY"

although usually on sign-off I'll give the call of everyone in the group.

Also things like not tying up a contest op to get his call right as I
can listen to subsequent other contacts to get his call right.

That's sloppy operating. Suppose the station you just work QSYs or experiences
equipment failure right after your QSO? Then he thinks he worked you and knows
your call, but you don't know his, and so didn't work him. And if the
logcheckers catch it, you can cost him a QSO and maybe even a multiplier.

The time to get the info of a contest station who's running them is during the
QSO or *before*.

when we first got on the air - learning by doing is the best way to learn.
Not for everything.

Well , this ain't rocket science, and botching the first few contacts
doesn't create a hazardous condition. Not like learning to fly 747s.

The problem is that too many folks want to just wing it rather than taking
a little time to learn the right way. Or worse, they think it doesn't matter
what the right way is.

73 de Jim, N2EY

extra credit trivia question: where does the term "wing it" come from? Hint:
Has nothing to do with aviation.