On Jul 25, 2008, at 8:40 AM, Jason Greene wrote: > --- In [email protected], Nate Duehr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> No point in extending the pointless "license class wars" on a club >> website though. >> >> Nate WY0X > > I understood that caption as a reference their abilities. If you were > familiar with the club up here you would know this isn't a problem- no > ego's to deal with.
I was a little nervous about saying anything for that reason -- different areas, different people. Not much overt "class war" going on here either, but a recent e-mail exchange with a grumpy old fuddy duddy who posted to a local VHF+ mailing list that people who use repeaters are nothing more than "pickle pushers" -- made me react badly to the caption. You know, (and I told him this too)... if he were putting on CW classes, RF engineering classes, and helping people learn, it'd be one thing. But he acts like he came out of his momma knowing CW and how to read Smith charts. That just chaps me to no end. We have plenty of nice folks who have come into the hobby through the use of our repeaters *first* who then learn about simplex, and then SSB, and then digital modes, and then weak-signal optimization techniques and antennas, and DX and... the list goes on, of course. What a great hobby. Repeaters are often the "gateway" to a lifetime of learning and camaraderie for many new hams. Treating them like crap does nothing to further any useful "cause". Sorry had to rant there -- hopefully that's on-topic enough for RB... about repeaters, but not really about building them... unless you consider that they're often the place where the local ham community gets "built" these days... -- Nate Duehr, WY0X [EMAIL PROTECTED]
