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!

Pierian Spring wrote:
What is Ham Radio?

informed for repeated spamming.

Gareth uses a fixed IP of 212.21.118.235 incase anyone else feels the need
for a Christmas break from this loony.

--
huLLy
Mobile phone 07976 123278
ICQ 136-987-925

Gareth Alun Evans (G4SDW) loosened his restraints for long enough to
scrawl:
It has a long-standing
tradition of providing a source of engineers who
are born naturals.

And, more recently, of harbouring sociopaths like the clown featured in
the following press article:
http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk.../10/91923.html

The callsign of the subject of this article, which is a source of
embarrassment to all real radio amateurs, is G4SDW. Mr Evans is not a
newcomer to this hobby, but an old-timer licensee of more than 30
years!

73
Mike G4KFK

Pierian Spring wrote:
What is Ham Radio...

You can hear Mongolian CB'ers? What kind of antenna are you using?

-W8LNA

Pierian Spring wrote:
What...

You can hear Mongolian CB'ers? What kind of antenna are you using?

-W8LNA

bigamps wrote:
You can hear Mongolian CB'ers? What kind of antenna are you using?

None at all. He forgot to put on his aluminium foil helmet this morning
:-)

wrote:
Gareth Alun Evans (G4SDW) loosened his restraints for long enough to
scrawl:
It has a long-standing
tradition of providing a source of engineers who
are born naturals.

And, more recently, of harbouring sociopaths like the clown featured
in the following press article:
http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk.../10/91923.html

The callsign of the subject of this article, which is a source of
embarrassment to all real radio amateurs, is G4SDW. Mr Evans is not a
newcomer to this hobby, but an old-timer licensee of more than 30
years!


G4SDW's behaviour here and away is, indeed, shameful, and has done much
damage to the hobby that was amateur radio. Shameful!
--
huLLy
Mobile phone 07976 123278
ICQ 136-987-925

For as long as you are prepared to illustrate so graphically
the difference between a CBer, an M3/CB Fools' Licensee, a
CBer-Masquerading-As-A-Radio-Ham and a _REAL_ Radio
Ham with his gentlemanly traditions, I am prepared to
watch you bemusedly from the sidelines and to chastise
you for your ridiculous outbursts.

It is important that we as Radio Hams make a stand for
civilised behaviour and decency against the vile CBer,
no matter how he might have slipped into our midst.

Don't you realise how silly and ridiculous you make yourself
look, by indulging in what are essentially very infantile
abusive tirades in an international forum that is broadcast to
the whole world?

However, if you wish to be perceived as a Childish Broadcaster (CBer)
then just carry on as you are with your Childish Broadcasting (CB).

You, coming as you do from a background as a ship's radio
"officer", really ought to know better. Shame on you.

Grow up, Mike Gathergood!

Stupid boy.

wrote:
Gareth Alun Evans (G4SDW) loosened his restraints for long enough to
scrawl:
It has a long-standing
tradition of providing a source of engineers who
are born naturals.
And, more recently, of harbouring sociopaths like the clown featured in
the following press article:
http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk.../10/91923.html
The callsign of the subject of this article, which is a source of
embarrassment to all real radio amateurs, is G4SDW. Mr Evans is not a
newcomer to this hobby, but an old-timer licensee of more than 30
years!

For as long as you are prepared to illustrate so graphically
the difference between a CBer, an M3/CB Fools' Licensee, a
CBer-Masquerading-As-A-Radio-Ham and a _REAL_ Radio
Ham with his gentlemanly traditions, I am prepared to
watch you bemusedly from the sidelines and to chastise
you for your ridiculous outbursts.

It is important that we as Radio Hams make a stand for
civilised behaviour and decency against the vile CBer,
no matter how he might have slipped into our midst.

Don't you realise how silly and ridiculous you make yourself
look, by indulging in what are essentially very infantile
abusive tirades in an international forum that is broadcast to
the whole world?

However, if you wish to be perceived as a Childish Broadcaster (CBer)
then just carry on as you are with your Childish Broadcasting (CB).

You, coming as you do from a background as a ship's radio
"officer", really ought to know better. Shame on you.

Grow up, Mike Gathergood!

Stupid boy.

wrote:
bigamps wrote:
You can hear Mongolian CB'ers? What kind of antenna are you using?

None at all. He forgot to put on his aluminium foil helmet this morning
:-)

wrote in message
oups.com...


The callsign of the subject of this article, which is a source of
embarrassment to all real radio amateurs, is G4SDW. Mr Evans is not a
newcomer to this hobby, but an old-timer licensee of more than 30
years!

AIUI, he certainly has not held a class A licence for thirty years. Did it
not take him 10 years to pass the "simple" Morse test?

Regards
tox