No, I don't think that's the point, Gary. To me, to a ham, his callsign is
the best identifier he has -- among hams it's generally more helpful than
the name. Now, I can appreciate that a lot of people in this crazy world of
ours, these days, seem to want more anonymity, not less, don't want to
reveal any more of their identity than they have to. That's the gist of
some of the responses I'm getting off-line. Still, I see it as kind of
ironic that in ham radio we, at least on the air, chat away including
callsigns, but here on the internet we draw more into a shell, at least to
the extent that some are nervous about giving their callsign here, or don't
do it unless they perceive "some good reason" to do so.
To me, the "good reason" to give your callsign is that, as I understand it,
Towertalk is by hams for hams (but not excluded to just hams), and in this
context the callsign is the best identifier of who we are talking to, who is
talking to us.
Reasons I can think of why someone would not want to:
1. embarrassed to have a 2X3 callsign (as an example), among 1X2 and 2X1
guys. I don't mean this as an insult; I personally know some guys, friends
of mine, who feel this way about their callsign.
2. They want greater anonymity so they can flame away without "besmirching"
their callsign.
3. They're nervous about people abusing "the power of the internet" to find
out more about them than they want known.
4. They don't have a ham callsign -- and there's nothing wrong with that
either.
Anyway, interesting. 73 - Rich, KE3Q
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary" <mcduffie@actcom.net>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 9:57 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] non-hams on Towertalk
On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 01:38:18 -0000, <kk9a@arrl.net> wrote:
> Gary, your callsign is at the bottom of all of your posts. I'm not sure
> why any ham would intentionally omit their call from a post.
As I said 'offline' to the same question, I have no problem with it, but
I don't happen to choose to sign my call unless it serves a specific
purpose. My call appears on some of my posts, depending on which sig
file is selected (or none like this one). I guess what you are saying
is that I have no right to express an opinion or otherwise post to a ham
group unless I sign with my callsign. Hmm... I'm done.
gm
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
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