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View Full Version : A post on the zed got me thinking (this has nothing to do with the zed itself)



KB3LAZ
05-28-2011, 05:47 PM
It amuses me each time I see something of a negative manner posted in regards to new hams. Aside from the rare occurrence on the zed I have never had this issue. Not once on the air, a meeting of any form, or at a ham fest have I ever received words of negativity in regards to my being a ham or the period in which I was licensed. If anything I have always been encouraged by hams of all genre to continue my pursuit of knowledge through my curiosity no matter the particular area of interest.

On the flip side I have noticed some animosity among hams and of no particular genre due to their attitude, particular the "ease of access" attitude which I like to refer to as the "king nothing attitude". For example, a lack of basic comprehension of their equipment and zero drive to learn. Wanting only for someone else to hand them everything when it is done and then reap the benefits. And I am not talking about a lack of ability to construct your own gear or the knowledge of the particular theory behind a set concept but rather the inability to operate or even setup their station. Furthermore it goes beyond this to the point of not wanting help because one thinks they know everything and if they dont know something then they want it done for them and have no desire to do it for themselves or even a desire to learn from the one teaching them how to be self efficient.

This however is not unique to amateur radio or even a single generation for that matter but rather is a type of person, simply those that are either lazy or self involved to the point of narcissism. With the ease of access people will ofc lose the ability of simple comprehension. For example computers. In this day and age the average person is on the computer in one form or another about 3/4 of their day. Whether it be computer, tablet, game system, or cell phone they are using a pc of some form. At this point you would assume that one would have basic computing skills but the sad reality is that they know nothing about the equipment that they operate.

I host and run a magnitude of game servers and online social networks linked to these systems. At times it upsets me when I get questions about how to extract a self extracting zip file. Then I realize that people dont really give a damn about such things they just want to play their game. However the lack of basic computing skills still irritates me to no avail.

Idk as I grow older I notice my opinion of a lot of things ever changing. One day I will be irritated to no avail and another I have the attitude that people want one thing where as I want another from my hobby.

Does it make me a bitter old man to want people to have a basic understanding of their hobbies, their interests, and the tools they use on a daily basis? I mean I have no ill feeling toward those that have dissimilar interests or less of a drive than me to understand something that they enjoy to the fullest but I still wish that people would have just a basic understanding of what they are doing when they do something. Again in all forms of life not just in amateur radio.

Sigh then again maybe that is why I seek out hobbies of a technical nature to be surrounded by people with a drive that is similar to mine. ...each day I realize I do not connect with my own generation lol.

KG4CGC
05-28-2011, 05:54 PM
Dude, that was totally emo.

KB3LAZ
05-28-2011, 06:03 PM
Dude, that was totally emo.
LOL. My days of self loathing are long gone. It seems as we grow older we change significantly yet stay exactly the same.

KG4CGC
05-28-2011, 06:52 PM
Wise words my tribal brother.

KJ3N
05-29-2011, 12:04 AM
It amuses me each time I see something of a negative manner posted in regards to new hams. Aside from the rare occurrence on the zed I have never had this issue. Not once on the air, a meeting of any form, or at a ham fest have I ever received words of negativity in regards to my being a ham or the period in which I was licensed. If anything I have always been encouraged by hams of all genre to continue my pursuit of knowledge through my curiosity no matter the particular area of interest.

As has been mentioned elsewhere, internet ham radio forums are not ham radio. This especially applies to QRDead.


On the flip side I have noticed some animosity among hams and of no particular genre due to their attitude, particular the "ease of access" attitude which I like to refer to as the "king nothing attitude". For example, a lack of basic comprehension of their equipment and zero drive to learn. Wanting only for someone else to hand them everything when it is done and then reap the benefits. And I am not talking about a lack of ability to construct your own gear or the knowledge of the particular theory behind a set concept but rather the inability to operate or even setup their station. Furthermore it goes beyond this to the point of not wanting help because one thinks they know everything and if they dont know something then they want it done for them and have no desire to do it for themselves or even a desire to learn from the one teaching them how to be self efficient.

If you want me to do it for you, you've got a long wait on your hands. If you want to argue with me about what I'm trying to explain to you, I'm not going to waste my time.


.... or self involved to the point of narcissism.

Twitter and FB come to mind. :roll: :roll:


In this day and age the average person is on the computer in one form or another about 3/4 of their day. Whether it be computer, tablet, game system, or cell phone they are using a pc of some form. At this point you would assume that one would have basic computing skills but the sad reality is that they know nothing about the equipment that they operate.

Computers and ham radio share a common problem these days. Pity....


However the lack of basic computing skills still irritates me to no avail.

As it does me when it comes to ham radio. Welcome to my world, young apprentice. ;)


Does it make me a bitter old man to want people to have a basic understanding of their hobbies, their interests, and the tools they use on a daily basis? I mean I have no ill feeling toward those that have dissimilar interests or less of a drive than me to understand something that they enjoy to the fullest but I still wish that people would have just a basic understanding of what they are doing when they do something. Again in all forms of life not just in amateur radio.

Bitter old man at 24? Please..... :roll:

You suffer from the same thing that I do. An extremely low tolerance of stupidity and what I like to refer to as a lack of intellectual curiosity.

KB3LAZ
05-29-2011, 12:15 AM
xD Seems valid as always.

KI6LWI
05-29-2011, 02:02 AM
On your first point, the only places I've seen animosity towards new hams have been QRZ and to a lesser extent, Eham. I'm rather young compared to most hams (I'm 28 ), and got licensed in 2007, and got a great welcome from the VEs when I tested (they even sent me a "radiogram" over the phone to congratulate me on getting my license) and the local hams I've spoken to on the air. As for people not knowing even the basics about the equipment they're operating, I probably saw some of the worst examples when I worked as a mechanic. Had an F150 come into the shop one time with the front brakes worn down to the point that there was no rotor surface left, and the vent ribs were showing. Driver said it had been making a metal on metal noise for MONTHS... More recently, just last week one of my wife's friends came by to pick her up to see a movie while I was at work. When my wife's friend started the car to leave, my wife said "that doesn't sound good...we should take my car." The friend said she had called her husband earlier about the noise and he said "it's normal." They took my wife's car to see the movie, and later my wife's friend took her car back home. The next day my wife's friend said the car died on her, and I offered to go to her house to take a look at it. No oil in the pan. Added oil, started car, made the most godawful sound ever. Time for a new engine *headdesk*...

KI6LWI
05-29-2011, 02:04 AM
You suffer from the same thing that I do. An extremely low tolerance of stupidity and what I like to refer to as a lack of intellectual curiosity.
That makes three of us...

PA5COR
05-29-2011, 03:13 AM
^some very good points there...
The people i helped privately to get their license were picked by me, part of the lesssons was not to learn the question pool and answers, but to really understand the questions/answers and theoretical and PRACTICAL lessons on the workbench, a few lessons/hours making a simple schematic diagram picking the parts and actually soldering the project, testing it, fault searching if it didn't work, 10 hours behind the radio making actual qso's ( allowed here under supervision) bulding a simple wire dipole etc.
I'm here for them if they have questions but my help is mostly nudging them to solve it themselves with my aid.

Computers? started out with the Sinclair ZX 81 with 16 kb memory module, CoCo from Tandy, ( good machine for RTTY) and from the 286 i had all systems running here, i'm not a computer geek, but 99% of the problems i solve myself.
Some eople just want to use stuff without needing a look under the engnehood i suppose.
I just want to know why and how things work... looks you aare the same and you met the user kind of people.

KB3LAZ
05-29-2011, 05:38 PM
That reminds me. I came across an add that says. "The hard drive you have been waiting for. Boasting a huge 10mbs and at a fair price of 3879.99$." LOL

PA5COR
05-29-2011, 06:12 PM
Might have one for you from an old 286 machine all 20 Mb of it and 60 miliseconds accces time WOW...



That reminds me. I came across an add that says. "The hard drive you have been waiting for. Boasting a huge 10mbs and at a fair price of 3879.99$." LOL

KB3LAZ
05-29-2011, 06:14 PM
Might have one for you from an old 286 machine all 20 Mb of it and 60 miliseconds accces time WOW...
ROFL

W7XF
05-30-2011, 12:59 AM
Could be a.Commodore 1541 single-sided 5.25" floppy....