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Snotty Hams

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NJQA:

--- Quote from: MDK2 on November 12, 2022, 1823 UTC ---As far as the second part goes, speaking as someone who's only relatively recently licensed, I find that though there are clubs around and folks say they want to welcome more to the hobby, they still often (perhaps subconsciously) have a standoffishness about them as if it's more up to us to try to show we belong than it is on old hands to welcome new blood.

--- End quote ---

I’ve been in clubs where no one talks to you until you have been there for 6 months, and I have been in clubs where they purposefully station people at the door to grab the new faces, say hello, and welcome them aboard.  My current club has a reputation for welcoming newcomers, both at the meetings and on the repeater.  We have one old timer in particular who never lets a new callsign on the repeater pass by without greeting them and telling them about the club.

I wouldn’t read too much into a “standoffishness” being because they don’t want new blood.  It may be as simple as they are introverts and uncomfortable with any new faces until they get to know them.  I would wager there are more introverts than extroverts in ham radio.  Odd for a hobby where the major activity is meeting strangers on the air.  Maybe that is why so many like FT8 —- QSOs with no personal interaction!

Unless the club/members exhibit outright hostility, the right answer is to be friendly, approachable, and be patient.  You will know soon enough whether that group is a good match for you.  They may very well not be.  Every club is a bit different and there may be another nearby club that is a better match.

NJQA:

--- Quote from: MDK2 on November 12, 2022, 1823 UTC ---
--- Quote from: NJQA on November 12, 2022, 1704 UTC ---My point is this:  you value the things that you work for.  If something comes too easily you won’t value it the same as something you had to work for.  You see this exhibited a lot on the air with “hams behaving badly.”

--- End quote ---

The first part is a rather harmful stereotype, as many of the confirmed bad actors on ham radio have been licensed for decades. I see very few younger newer hams doing that. Why would they? If a younger person wants to be a troll, social media offers an almost infinite amount of opportunities which all have greater reach than ham radio.

--- End quote ---

The code requirement went away in 2006, so the very first “no-code” hams have been licensed for 16 years.  I would argue that was the last hurdle that required significant effort.  Whether you like the changes or not is immaterial.  This is the world we live in and it isn’t going to change back.

My point was that hams that value their license are maybe less inclined to engage in activities that might jeopardize it.  I wasn’t implying that the bad actors were new hams.  No stereotype intended.

Josh:
There's a bunch of guys on 80m I've listened to for decades that sometimes show that "no newbs or outsiders or no code extras" characteristic. So one time when they were ignoring someone who kept calling in, I keyed up and simply said "go ahead, breaker" and the guy asked for a signal quality report, all he wanted. The gang went wild and I was persona non grata but smiling, and years later it still makes me smile to think of.

MDK2:

--- Quote from: NJQA on November 13, 2022, 1317 UTC ---My point was that hams that value their license are maybe less inclined to engage in activities that might jeopardize it.  I wasn’t implying that the bad actors were new hams.  No stereotype intended.

--- End quote ---

Understood. But just to be clear, I did mean hams who go way back. Enforcement is a joke, as anyone following the W6WBJ case can attest. It took well over a decade of him operating under a revoked license he was allowed to keep using during appeals (from 2007, which I'm certain of, to 2020 or 2021, which I don't exactly recall) before he finally lost, and last I checked he or his buddies were still jamming the WARF net with vile recordings. I didn't see that his station was seized so he might still be operating. There's no jeopardy when there's no enforcement. (Honestly, the seizure of equipment ought to be something that would make hams of every ability less inclined to engage is stuff - nobody wants to forfeit thousands or tens of thousand of dollars worth of equipment if that were a real risk one takes when breaking the rules.)

Polar Bear:

--- Quote from: MDK2 on November 14, 2022, 1732 UTC ---
--- Quote from: NJQA on November 13, 2022, 1317 UTC ---My point was that hams that value their license are maybe less inclined to engage in activities that might jeopardize it.  I wasn’t implying that the bad actors were new hams.  No stereotype intended.

--- End quote ---

Understood. But just to be clear, I did mean hams who go way back. Enforcement is a joke, as anyone following the W6WBJ case can attest. It took well over a decade of him operating under a revoked license he was allowed to keep using during appeals (from 2007, which I'm certain of, to 2020 or 2021, which I don't exactly recall) before he finally lost, and last I checked he or his buddies were still jamming the WARF net with vile recordings. I didn't see that his station was seized so he might still be operating. There's no jeopardy when there's no enforcement. (Honestly, the seizure of equipment ought to be something that would make hams of every ability less inclined to engage is stuff - nobody wants to forfeit thousands or tens of thousand of dollars worth of equipment if that were a real risk one takes when breaking the rules.)

--- End quote ---

Mike and I worked diligently with the FCC to try to get them to enforce the rules and remove the rule breakers.
In return, I had a nasty email or two from Laura about my own behavior - trying to get my electric co-op to fix their lines - noise which I believe was from the auto reporting meters - not arcing noise from a bad insulator.  She threatened my license also.
Big business takes precedence over amateur radio - which was - up and until a couple of years ago - free.
The ARRL made a few dollars on the license exam and the books, but the renewal and the license was free.
Now we pay for the license too - I guess that is all a part of - if you want enforcement, you must pay for enforcement.

Once W6WBJ was removed - the WARFA people told MIKE - AA8KB - now our problem is solved and we don't need you anymore and since you are not colored - please go away!  Since then I have not heard Mike on the air - I was told that he sometimes frequents a net in the early hours of the morning on 80 meters - since that is what his rhombic antenna was built to do.

( BREAK ) - Breaker - is a telegraphy term that is used to denote an EMERGENCY.  It is in poor taste to use the term BREAK unless there is an actual emergency.

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