On 6/25/2012 10:09 AM, Robert Mcgraw wrote:
> There's two kinds of folks, "those that know what they are doing" and
> "those that think they know what they are doing".
Field Day is one of those ham events where folks who haven't done
anything but rag chew on 75M since Field Day a couple of years ago come
out to hang out, picnic, down some 807s, and try to work Field Day the
way they did 30 years ago. Naturally, they expect to sit down in front
of a radio that looks and acts like the one they used 30 years ago too.
And since they're old timers, they don't need no stinkin' manual, and
they sure don't want to ask anyone how to use the radio (or the computer).
FWIW, I'm an OT too, a very active contester, and I've used a lot of
different rigs over the years, but any time I sit down to someone else's
station I ALWAYS study what's there, ask questions, and ask them to sit
with me for a while if I don't know the rig, the antenna switching, or
the computer software.
If you think they're bad trying to figure out the radio, you oughtta
hear them on the air. A NORMAL FD exchange on CW goes something like this.
Me: CQ FD K6MI (that's where I was)
Him: K9OR
Me: K9OR 1A SCV
Him: 3A IL
Me: TU K6MI
That takes about 15 seconds.
With the guy who hasn't been on the air much, it goes more like this.
Me: CQ FD K6MI
Him: K6MI DE K9XYZ K9XYZ (at 15 wpm)
Me: K9XYZ 1A SCV
Him: K6MI DE K9XYZ PSE COPY 3A 3A IL IL DE K9XYZ 73 GL (at 15wpm)
Me: TU K6MI
And I'm gritting my teeth through 45 seconds when I could have made two
more QSOs with someone who knew what they were doing.
I've gotten to the point where I'm almost ready to delete any contact
that includes "Please copy" from my log. Where do people come up with
lid-isms like this?
73, Jim K9YC.
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