Do You Wear Your Ham Radio Badge on The Street?

[Jeff K1NSS]

Taking kind of an informal poll about golden ham radio badges.

FB badges.jpg

For my part, I usually wear my badge only in the shack. It kind of puts me in the mood to call CQ. That said, without it, I would feel under-dressed on the air.

After couple of days polling on a number of ham Facebook groups , ham radio badges have received quite a beat-down. As one might expect, current and retired public safety operatives generally frown on ham shields. Amateur operators are also widely dismissive, with a few curious about how to obtain one, probably as a joke.

Sure, they're funny as the dickens. But on the other hand, there's something elusively trainwreck-ish about these shiny things that fascinated me from the moment I saw them advertised, something that puts them in the realm of ruby-eyed skull rings, key-chained Day-Glo rabbits' feet, and Theme Mudflaps. Something primal is going on here, straight out of the Crocodile Brain, from which your Better Judgement knows nothing good will come. And yet...and yet...

Well, we passed along our observations to our corporate partner Deluxe Luxury Laboratories, and after a bit of a brainstorm, we're proud to announce the rollout of a next-generation ham radio badge module, AKA the personalized B4 Big Boss Body Badge.


Further details now at www.dashtoons.com.

BadgeboyREV650.jpg

[NQ6U]

"This is the city, Los Angeles, California. It was Thursday, September 12. It was hot in Los Angeles. We were working the Day Watch out of Emcomm Whacker Division. My partner's Bill Gannon. My name's Friday."

[NA4BH]

"This is the city, Los Angeles, California. It was Thursday, September 12. It was hot in Los Angeles. We were working the Day Watch out of Emmcomm Whacker Division. My partner's Bill Gannon. My name's Friday."

So we gotta wait a day until you tell us your name?

[NQ6U]

So we gotta wait a day until you tell us your name?

"The story you are about to read is true. Only the call signs have been changed to protect the stoopid."

[K7SGJ]

"The story you are about to read is true. Only the call signs have been changed to protect the stoopid."

MARK VII

[KB3LAZ]

I don't wear one at all.

[KG4CGC]

Doesn't the mainland have an amateur radio related thong for purchase?

[VE7MGF]

badges? we don't need no stinken badges.

[W3WN]

badges? we don't need no stinken badges.

Dayum. I knew someone would beat me to it.

I don't wear a badge (thank ghu) but I do occasionaly wear one of the embroidered "golf" shirts, with my name & call, in public. Sometimes someone will stop and ask me about ham radio, almost always in a positive way.

[wa6mhz]

I wear my ARRL HQ Red badge on my Callsign hat at Ham Radio events where my callsign is relevant. Swapmeets, Ham Conventions, some radio club meetings. But never on the street or where I meet the non-ham public. All they would do is give a WTF?