Hams in the Scheme of Things to Come

[WØTKX]

I've always thought if civilization has a downturn, Ham Radio folks could help it keep together. Like "The Postman". And many of us do have a pretty extensive library. Mine is mostly Science Fiction, the best of which does show a certain philosophy.

There have been some nights on 75 where a group gathers and we talk for hours about technical coolness and deeper forbidden subjects.

Unfortunately it gets QRM'd a lot. But I get it. As a participant of good nights on the Possum Net, Elite Hams (Art Bell and the Gang LOL), The Ol' Mike dudes on 20, etc... it does happen. Falls apart because of those "usual suspects" though.

The best foil for this is having an online real time chat (sometimes video) where we can hide out from shit storms.

As I get back on the air in the next few weeks/months, it would be fun to promote these discussions again. Best to stay cheeky about it all, IMHO.

[Jeff K1NSS]

I'll have to check those nets out. BTW, love the Franklin avatar. Been thinking lately about those Jack-of-All gentlemen of the Englightment and beyond, partly because I've just applied for a tour guide job at the Morse Mansion, Locust Grove http://www.lgny.org in Poughkeepsie NY. Hope my Morse fluency counts for something. Morse bought a Federal Style house and had it done over into this McTuscan villa , after he hit the telegraph jackpot. Well into adulthood, his ambition was to be a rock star painter, and while he made something of a mark after studying in London and Paris, his stuff was not a commercial success back home, which at the time involved displaying very large, dramatic canvases and charging admission. Like so many of his sort, Franklin with this Leyden jars, Jefferson with his folding chairs and pantographs, Morse tinkered with this and that on the side and got inspired by the French semaphore tower communications system while he was painting in France circa 1830s. He caught a break in the patent fight, and hit it big at last, albeit not as a painter. That Englightenment DIY ethos carried on, I think, in the technical self improvement boom in the trade unions through the industrial revolution and went thermonuclear as radio freaks began to bubble up in basements and attics,as the breadboard tsunami washed past Marconi and wasn't damped until the government/military/corporate Death Star put the clamp down in WWI. One of these centuries the individual will triumph, free will trumps all. Like the Modern Lovers' song says, Radio On!