Hi!
This particular thread seems to be staying at an intelligent level
:-) It's nice to have a discussion without name calling or degrading comments.
But, my experience contradicts the last set of comments ..... to wit:
>Ham:
>Have call signs, identify themselves and do so proudly
SOMETIMES - sometimes, not. We *regularly* have problems with jammers,
malicious QRM'ers and others who do NOT identify at any time. Happens all
the time. I have recordings of same.
>Have standards of operation and rules that must be followed
Well, they certainly don't HAVE to be followed :-) - otherwise we wouldn't
have the interference and jamming problems. In fact, one of these guys
called me ON THE PHONE and threatened to "punch my face" at the next
hamfest. Real adult behaviour. I called the police and reported the
incident. Nothing foul ever came of it, but it was certanly a felony.
>Have system of monitoring and reporting problems with behavior or
>equipment problems (Official Observers)
>Are licensed ( which is a contract that states that they will abide by the
>rules and regulations set by FCC
>Do not have problem with illegal sales of drugs or prostitution on their
>bands.
Oh, I have to say this is just not true. Ok, I've never heard a ham
looking for tricks, but I certainly have heard drug deals set up over the
air. Not recently, but during the '70s :-)
>Do not promote the use of vulgar language
Well, this is just not so. When these guys get drunk, it really flies.
>illegal CB operators:
>Disguise their identity
>have no concern to follow any standard of conduct, operations
>Have no way to maintain quality standards in their ranks.
>The bands are full of vulgar speaking operators and illegal solicitations.
>etc etc
Illegal ham operators do the same thing, and I have certainly seen all of
this happen. Happens frequently, unfortunately - at least on 75
meters. Sometimes on 160, too - which used to be the "gentleman's band".
>Building and experimenting is returning mostly in the form of QRP.
Oh no, don't believe it! There is PLENTY of experimenting, and real
designing and invention happening on ham radio every day. And, it's high
power, modern technology. I can, off the top of my head, produce a list of
probably 50 amateurs who I know of who are experimenting and
building. And these are just folks *I* know about, and I'm just one
person, in the New England region.
Seriously, there is a lot of building and experimenting happening. Here's
one place to check it out: http://www.netway.com/~stevec/ham/classe.htm
There are more examples. Some of the work is real cutting edge, too!
Regards,
Steve WA1QIX
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