This is what comes from the present methodology of recruitment and then
teaching classes. The organizations are looking for numbers. When most old
timers learned about ham radio, it was because they searched out a
neighborhood ham when they heard noises coming from his shack, saw his
antennas sticking out behind the house, or even thru perusal thru electronic
magazines. They were INTERESTED and had DRIVE. It was a challenge, for
which they spent numerous hours reading on the subject, visiting with ELMER,
and learning first hand what to do, and what NOT to do as they went along.
They got part time jobs in order to have money to buy a (very) used S38E and
then listened to the bands and attempted to copy the code they heard on the
air. They continued with odd jobs, plus study with the Elmer, and out of
books. They may have listened to W1AW code sessions, or the Elmer sent code
by hand for them.
Eventually, Elmer sent off an envelope asking for a application and when it
came in, they filled it out and mailed it back. Along came the test paper
to Elmer, he called the kid up, and made an appointment. They got together.
One last quick verbal quiz, a couple of Hartley drawings, maybe a question
about forward or reverse bias, a demonstration of keying, a drawing
demonstrating voltage versus current on a half wave dipole: and now they
were ready. Gather a couple of pencils, a scratch pad and away he went. He
had already demonstrated both sending and receiving code. (Probably Elmer
just started and stopped sending practice a couple of times, started again,
sent for 5 minutes, checked the kids paper, and told him "Congratulations
you just passed 5 word per minute.) He finished off the written test.
Elmer took a quick look and said "You Passed" then he sent the application
in. In 6 or 8 weeks the kid got an odd envelope containing a bunch of
strange postcards with Callsigns and other information - he recognized as
QSL cards (Elmer had shown him some, and made sure he understood what they
were and why and that they were the end result and the final step in a good
QSO). There was a slip of paper in there, telling him he could buy 100 of
these cards for $3.98, with his call WN5QMX printed right on them. DAWN OF
A NEW GENERATION! He had just been advised, by a third party no less, HE IS
A HAM. Now anticipation of every new days mail. He insures HE is the one
running out to the mail box to get the mail. GLORY BE! There is an
envelope- with an Address from Gettysburg Pa. FROM THE FCC. HE IS A HAM!
He runs in the house shouting. Mom hushes him down a bit and reminds him he
DOES have to go to school today. He reluctantly goes to his room and tacks
the brand new license on the wall, just above the desk where there is a
transmitter (and 3 crystals) a receiver, a knife switch leading to an
antenna run out the window over to a tree and across the back yard to
another tree. He is ready to go - but first he has to get on his bike and
hurry to school. Its a looooooong day. Finally, its out the school door on
the run, on his bike and straight home. He drops the bike at the front
door, slams into the house, straight to the room and............HIS AMATEUR
RADIO STATION. Shakes, breathing in gasps, he flips on switches, tunes
around and hears slow CQ (remember Elmer has already had him listening to
the proper freqs) and a touch of the key. He calls CQ, and he calls CQ on
and on - and their is no answer. He tunes up and down the band, listening
to see if someone is coming back to his call, but no one is there.
Disappointed, he finally has to go down to dinner. After that, he calls
Elmer (or Elmer calls him after hearing him on 20 meters). Seems he forgot
the old World Radio Lab transmitter can tune several bands from one crystal,
and if he gets the settings wrong, HE IS ON THE GENERAL BAND. Back to the
rig, retune, CQ and GLORY!
There is another shaky fist saying "WN5QMX de WN5XXX. Then he responds and
they take another half hour to give each other their names, their QTH
(address- how unusual- and they spell it completely out too) and a signal
report: 568C . They politely thank each other and he finds out its the
other guys 3rd QSO since he got his license 2 weeks ago.
HE IS A HAM!
Now you see the difference. Those two are still hams - at least one is.
The other may already be a silent key, but his call lives, and the log book
he was in lives, and his sons and grandsons may still even still have that
old S38e, and the spirit of hamming still lives.
Those were the days of "Wanting" to be a ham, and success in doing so.
I hope that even 50 percent of todays new ham generation stick with it,
given that most of them dont have that history of learning and doing, in
getting there. Todays are mostly going to be 2 meter FM ops. I can only
hope that they do upgrade and get on the HF bands - as I believe that is
where hamming really takes hold. Once you are there, you are likely to
never let go.
Danny Douglas N7DC
ex WN5QMX ET2US WA5UKR ET3USA
SV0WPP VS6DD N7DC/YV5 G5CTB all
DX 2-6 years each
.
QSL LOTW-buro- direct
As courtesy I upload to eQSL but if you
use that - also pls upload to LOTW
or hard card.
moderator [EMAIL PROTECTED]
moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DXandTalk
----- Original Message -----
From: "larry allen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: [digitalradio] US Hams Codeless Feb 23
> Hi Danny..
> The problem we are having is that most of our new hams don't seem to get
> on the air...
> We have more hams now than ever before yet our bands are quieter than they
> have ever been, since the 60's at least....
> Larry ve3fxq
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Danny Douglas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 2:42 PM
> Subject: Re: [digitalradio] US Hams Codeless Feb 23
>
>
> > If you can find it. there is a bit about the National Scout Jamboree,
> > (think
> > it was 85) where I taught a handful of kids the entire Novice license
> > (including the code) in about 7 days, 2 hours each day. And that was
> > back
> > in the day you had to KNOW the subject, not just memorize the questions.
> > With todays, (and worse- tomorrows) testing, its simply if you have a
> > good
> > memory or not.
> >
> > As far as the code goes, I had one 11 or 12 year old Boy Scout sit down
> > with
> > me, my hand key and a code oscillator, and he learned AND PASSED the
> > code in
> > one session of 1 HOUR. It took him a couple of weeks of study to pass
> > Novice. That was back in the mid 60s.
> >
> > So - yes, you CAN take a weekend course and easily pass todays license
> > requirements. The ARRL has something, I think its called Radio
> > University,
> > where they do just that at W1AW. Think it is also copied elsewhere.
> >
> > The question you asked, though, is can you learn about Electronics and
> > ham
> > radio in one weekend - I would say you CAN learn ABOUT it, but am
> > not
> > sure you KNOW much about it at the end.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Danny Douglas N7DC
> > ex WN5QMX ET2US WA5UKR ET3USA
> > SV0WPP VS6DD N7DC/YV5 G5CTB all
> > DX 2-6 years each
> > .
> > QSL LOTW-buro- direct
> > As courtesy I upload to eQSL but if you
> > use that - also pls upload to LOTW
> > or hard card.
> >
> > moderator [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DXandTalk
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "larry allen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: <[email protected]>
> > Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 2:27 PM
> > Subject: Re: [digitalradio] US Hams Codeless Feb 23
> >
> >
> >> Hi Buddy
> >>
> >> Way back in the mid 60's people had to write paragraph style answers..
> >> There were no answer banks..
> >> I have even heard now, in my country of canada, that you can pass the
> >> exam
> >> after a weekend course....
> >> My question.. how can someone learn about electronics and ham radio in
> >> one
> >> weekend?....
> >> Larry ve3fxq
> >>
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "F.R. Ashley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >> To: <[email protected]>
> >> Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 12:19 PM
> >> Subject: Re: [digitalradio] US Hams Codeless Feb 23
> >>
> >>
> >> >I have always felt the "CW issue" was not really about CW. Guess that
> >> > sounds a bit odd. It seems to me most see it as a reduction of
> >> > standards,
> >> > "dumbing down" so to speak. I think CW did act as a filter of some
> >> > sort
> >> > because it did indeed keep some people from getting their license,
> >> > whether
> >> > or not they would have been "good hams". But love it or hate it,
> >> > the
> >> > requirement is gone, so deal with it however you can. Personally, I
> >> > have
> >> > always been in favor of keeping the requirement, along with tests
> >> > that
> >> > require you to learn something. However I won't throw up my hands in
> >> > despair, at least not yet. None of us knows what the future of ham
> >> > radio
> >> > is or how this CW issue will pan out. Let's just hope for the best,
> >> > encourage new people, and elmer them to be good hams. Have fun.
> >> >
> >> > Buddy WB4M
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Announce your digital presence via our DX Cluster
> > telnet://cluster.dynalias.org
> >>
> >> Our other groups:
> >>
> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxlist/
> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themixwgroup
> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/contesting
> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wnyar
> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Omnibus97
> >>
> >>
> >> Yahoo! Groups Links
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> No virus found in this incoming message.
> >> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> >> Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.17.0/639 - Release Date:
> >> 1/18/2007
> > 6:47 PM
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
> Announce your digital presence via our DX Cluster
telnet://cluster.dynalias.org
>
> Our other groups:
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxlist/
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themixwgroup
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/contesting
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wnyar
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Omnibus97
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.17.0/639 - Release Date: 1/18/2007
6:47 PM
>
>
