In case there are those who got a CB-type rig such as the 817
in their stockings and were misled by
those-who-ought-to-have-known-better
into thinking that they were Radio Hams, the weekly
FAQ is posted a couple of days early to enable the parents to take
the CB gear back to the shop before the shops close for
another Bank Holiday.....

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-----

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:
In case there are those who got a CB-type rig such as the 817
hmm in the USA the rig is aham rig one I would not have minded geting
but it is too pricey for what you get IMO

Orator For Decency wrote:

and we welcome all those who are prepared to put themselves
out in order to join our ranks!)

You might want to re-word that.... do you know what 'putting out' means
to youngsters these days?


--

I fully support the Know Code debate.

Know Code wrote:
Orator For Decency wrote:

and we welcome all those who are prepared to put themselves
out in order to join our ranks!)

You might want to re-word that.... do you know what 'putting out' means
to youngsters these days?

good one pity is wasted on bile


--

I fully support the Know Code debate.

Know Code wrote:

Orator For Decency wrote:

and we welcome all those who are prepared to put themselves
out in order to join our ranks!)

You might want to re-word that.... do you know what 'putting out' means
to youngsters these days?

It is to be noted that the OP also said, elsewhere, that "I wouldn't
recommend anyone whose background is in transistorised QRP
to tackle the neutralising of a compact PA stage with 600 VDC on the
anodes after replacing the antenna coupling capacitor ".

So, take warning that the so-called FAQ is not to be taken literally;
there are safety criteria that limit its generality. The author has
yet to publish these.

It is, for example quite unclear what the difference between a compact
PA with 600VDC on the anodes, and a non-compact PA that is otherwise
the same.

In that context, it is best ignored.

from
Aero Spike

Gareth Alun Evans (G4SDW) wrote:
Remember - A sure sign of a CB Radio hobbyist is if he holds...

Gareth - I'm not sure if anybody has suggested this in the past, but
you could save everybody's bandwidth by posting this tedious drivel on
a website, with a weekly (or even daily) link to it instead.

For example: http://www.g4kfk.co.uk/html/g4sdw_faq.html

73
Mike G4KFK

wrote:
Gareth Alun Evans (G4SDW) wrote:
Remember - A sure sign of a CB Radio hobbyist is if he holds...

Gareth - I'm not sure if anybody has suggested this in the past, but
you could save everybody's bandwidth by posting this tedious drivel on
a website, with a weekly (or even daily) link to it instead.

For example: http://www.g4kfk.co.uk/html/g4sdw_faq.html

73
Mike G4KFK

And who could forget:

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk....75a40789763dfc

I have photos taken from the newspaper report if you'd like them.

--
huLLy
Tel: 07976 123278
ICQ 136-987-925

huLLy wrote:
I have photos taken from the newspaper report if you'd like them.

Yes, please email them to and I'll add them to the
anti-FAQ

73
Mike G4KFK