My statement that ham radio is stupid is really my way of telling people not to take themselves too seriously. There's way too much of that in ham radio, especially when it comes to the ARES/RACES types. Oh you've seen these guys (and some gals) at hamfests and marathons, they're the ones with all the patches and pseudo military gear adorning their bodies.
Crossed bandoliers loaded with extra batteries for their HT's, special portable antenna systems on tripods, and speaking of HT's, they probably have 6 or 7 of them turned up to maximum volume on several frequencies at one time all clipped to their pants, held in each hand and possibly on the epaulettes of their shirt.
These are the people who always wanted to be a cop (or a fireman, or member of Seal Team 6) but either never pursued those careers or weren't mentally stable enough to get accepted.
They love rules and regulations and can usually quote from FCC Part 97 and the Patriot Act when necessary to try and make a point. Basically they really, really miss being in charge of the film strip/movie projector duty they had in Jr. High School (and don't get me started on the ones who were also in School Safety Patrol).
Well guess what. We play with radios. I like to ask them "what's the difference between CB and ham radio?" and tell them 1495 watts! This really makes them mad. They are MUCH more important than CB'ers, they have a license!
That said I do have to say that hams play a very important role in emergency and public service communications. When power goes out and there's no cell service local ARES and RACES groups provide much needed communications infrastructure support to many agencies. Many marathons and other events aren't able to implement the type of nets we can provide with such a large pool of trained communicators who all have their own equipment and provide their services for FREE!
So, ham radio really isn't stupid, just some of the people. :-)
73, Kevin AB2ZI
Amen!
ReplyDeleteI'm as excited about being on air just for the fun of it, as I am looking forward to being helpful in the case of any weather-related (or other-related) emergency in the future. But I'm not suiting up in anything military-style, sorry. Besides, I don't even LIKE khaki......