It is funny how radios become a part of the family. I sold my FT-897D and shipped it off yesterday. It was a trusted and well functioning radio. It served as a great backup and only the day before I received the e-mail from an interested ham to purchase the radio I had it on the air making QSO’s. It will be missed, but by all accounts, it is going to a great home.
There are no plans to fill the backup radio slot any time soon. The thought was to use my quirky little QRP radios as a backup. However, I already feel the void on the operating desk. Oh well!!
Do I have a story to tell about the do’s and don’ts about downsizing and Ham Radio? Would it be too much about mistakes made rather than what was done right? Could my story be told well enough that others could learn from my mistakes? Would anyone care to read it? Would anyone publish it?
I have never been much of a social media person. The only logon I have is with YouTube. Several years ago, I posted a few radio videos, but they did not stay up very long. I have found several radio videos informative. The best posts I viewed have been from newer younger hams and have discussed interesting topics. Of course, I have some negative thoughts also. It appears as the number of YouTubers increases the amount of not so valuable content increases as well. A new radio is announced, and all are posting videos many without firsthand knowledge of the product. Equipped with only what they read from the published literature a video is posted to what appears to not be left out of the fray. Also, at times videos meant to instruct will be posted by individuals without full knowledge of the topic. I watched one recently where the publisher admitted he did not know much about CW, but non the less went on to describe a radio’s CW functions. He went as far as sending CQ and he did not know the letter Q. My concern here is that those looking to gain knowledge may be misled by inaccurate videos. Many new hams I am sure look to social media to grow their knowledge of the hobby and may be sent down the wrong path.
I am beginning to think that SKCC activity is just a 24/7 contest. All too often when I make a general CQ call (not CQ SXCC – I think I only did this once during WES) and get an answer from another SKCC member, they just want to exchange numbers. If a CQ SKCC call is answered there is no hope that more than RST, state, name and SKCC number will be exchanged. (I am not referencing CQ calls during a scheduled SKCC contest.) It looks like an SKCC contact is only a little more than monitoring the Reverse Beacon.
First: I was an early user of LOTW, FT8 and FT4 and still am a user.
Function = LOTW gives contact confirmation.
Form = Paper QSL cards gives contact confirmation with a personality
Function = FT8 and FT4 result in a contact
Form = Conversation modes result in a contact with a personality and exchange of thought
I am not much of a podcast listener, but it is nice to listen while on my walks. I heard one podcast the other day whose guest was saying how ham radio brings people from around the country and world together while at the same time saying how exciting FT8 is. I could not reconcile the two statements.
As the singer-songwriter Bob Dylan wrote a long time ago, “The Times They Are A-Changin'”. This certainly applies to Ham Radio. We went from substantial effort to accomplish getting a station up and running to snapping one’s fingers and it is all before us. I am not saying which is better and in fact somewhere in the middle sounds about right to me. Fantastic radios, great antennas and even quality coax with the connectors already attached are only a credit card away. As for a license, the test questions are even available for the download. The ARRL during my tenure in the hobby went from Incentive licensing (their way of raising the quality of the operators) to just numbers matter. Okay I am old, so I am just not keeping up with the times. For example, I operate FT8 and FT4, but I just prefer operating a mode that requires a little more participation and skill by the operator. Therefore, I spend most of my operating time on CW. See I am old because I operate Morse Code.
Is a contact conformation more than a few KB’s in a data file? I have been a member of LOTW since its beginning and upload my QSO’s on a regular basis. But, there is something about a paper QSL card. It is not only an extension of the QSO, but also an extension of the operator on the other end. QSL cards add personality to the confirmation.