Topband: *****SPAM***** Re: Brave New World

[Gary Smith]

Doug, that's a bit excessive. You're talking about a death from a 
thousand cuts and this is the final one. I'm somewhat in agreement 
with RHR being not such a great idea but I'm not 100% that way:

Someone mentioned Hams having to go to a retirement home and being 
able to stay on the air after they leave their QTH. I remember my Dad 
who was first licensed in 1937 and died last year, I did my damnedest 
to keep him on the air as long as I possibly could because he dearly 
loved his nightly group. There were zero places I could find where he 
could be in a Nursing home and have his radio and antenna.

My dad was lucky to have someone help him to stay in his home till 
the end but if he would have been in a Nursing home & using RHR, that 
would have saved me from ripping a muscle in my forearm where I had 
to catch him as he fell as there was nobody to help me. I'm a 
musician and haven't been able to overcome that damage in the last 
year.

The idea of Hams in Nursing homes remaining on the air aside, I like 
to contest: In my mind I'm a damned good contender but in reality I'm 
not, I'm just another guy who enjoys making as many contacts as I 
can. This last ARRL contest I worked around 1/27th of all the people 
I have ever contacted since 1979, I scored 1,068,528 points (before 
they penalize me for busted calls & whatnot).

This was an awesome score to me, but nothing like these superstations 
with awesome Rx & Tx antennas in RFI quiet locations on the tops of 
mountains get. So with the huge numbers these superstations generate, 
what care do I have about a RHR station making more points than me? I 
have zero chance of the getting more points than them. The only 
contestant I have is me, using my wire antennas. Truth is I'll never, 
ever be a win, place or show, the game is me against me.

I'm not using RHR but it's not going to hurt me any and someday I 
will probably use it because I have no kid to take care of me at the 
end & I'll be in a home somewhere. If I still have my wits, I'll 
still want to get on the air.

my 2 centavos,

Gary
KA1J


> Eddy, Ham Radio is dead, extinct.  It has been replaced with 
Internet Radio.
> I once held an amateur radio licence; it now belongs in a museum.  
Some how
> good things don't last forever.  I have had a lot of fun when the 
hobby was
> amateur radio.  I guess it is time to move on and find another fun 
hobby.
> And to those who enjoy internet radio; try and have some fun 
knowing you
> just killed amateur radio.
>
> Doug
>
> I wasn't born in Saskatchewan, but I got here as soon as I could.
> -----Original Message-----
>
> Hi Guys,
>
> Is the day very far off in the distant future when the physical 
human
> element won't even be needed at a radio station on the eve of a 
contest...?
>
> Just programme the event into the computer, hook it up to the 
rig...and then
> go off to bed. The next day you meander down to the shack, coffee 
in hand &
> rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, to learn that in your absence, 
your
> station made some 5,000 QSOs, AND DXCC, twice over!
>
> Remember "Dr. DX" of the 1980's...? Shades of days yet to come---if 
,
> indeed, those days are not here already.
>
> At the risk of sounding like a dinosaur---on second thought, who 
cares? The
> dinosaurs ruled the earth for untold millions of years, to man's 
single
> million---just as insurance companies & lawyers are spelling the 
demise of
> kids' playground toys and group get-togethers, computers will spell 
the end
> of the very essence that makes Ham radio fun. At least to dinosaurs 
like
> yours truly, anyway.
>
> ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
>
>
> ---
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