Where have you heard this before?

[k4kyv]

One may well pause these days to observe the rapid growth of amateur radio.  About 600,000 amateurs in the U.S. these days.  Mr. Sumner in QST tells us this is cool stuff, but we don't agree.  We have been on the air enough lately--on nine different bands--to know that good operators are counted in the dozens and the lids in the hundreds, at any moment.

This means that we are increasingly becoming a group of novices, still "wet behind the ears."  Being an old-timer, and having an honest concern for the future, we are somewhat apprehensive of this condition.  Not that we don't like newcomers--for we started in this game twenty-five years ago--but we don't like to have good standards of conduct forgotten, as they certainly are today.

Of course--as anybody can observe--it is advantageous to the paid officers of the League to have as many amateurs as the game will hold. For, the more amateurs, the more QST subscriptions, the more Handbooks sold, and the more money for high salaries.  It's a good racket, financially.  Our commercial "friends" like it, too, for they will find it that much easier to prove that we aren't doing anything worthwhile, when they get ready to take over our frequency bands.

There are two ways to stop this unwanted increase in "lids"--get the A.R.R.L. to cut out the profit motive, and get the F.C.C. to administer a different kind of examination to amateurs: an examination that would test ability, and not memory.


Now where do you suppose I found this commentary?  In CQ Magazine?  In a posting on QRZ.com or e-Ham?  Scroll down the page to see.

*

*

*

*

*

You will note that I made a few editorial changes in the text.  Here is the original, highlighting the words in the text that I changed:


"One may well pause these days to observe the rapid growth of amateur radio.  About 33,000 amateurs in the U.S. these days.  Mr. Budlong in QST tells us this is swell stuff, but we don't agree.  We have been on the air enough lately--on three different bands--to know that good operators are counted in the dozens and the lids in the hundreds, at any moment.

This means that we are increasingly becoming a group of novices, still "wet behind the ears."  Being an old-timer, and having an honest concern for the future, we are somewhat apprehensive of this condition.  Not that we don't like youngsters--for we started in this game at the age of 11--but we don't like to have good standards of conduct forgotten, as they certainly are today.

Of course--as anybody can observe--it is advantageous to the paid officers of the League to have as many amateurs as the game will hold. For, the more amateurs, the more QST subscriptions, the more Handbooks sold, and the more money for high salaries.  It's a good racket, financially.  Our commercial "friends" like it, too, for they will find it that much easier to prove that we aren't doing anything worthwhile, when they get ready to take over our frequency bands.

There are two ways to stop this unwanted increase in "lids"--get the A.R.R.L. to cut out the profit motive, and get the F.R.C. to administer a different kind of examination to amateurs: an examination that would test ability, and not memory."


As you can see, I changed a total of seven words or phrases to update the text to make it appear contemporary.

The original appeared in R-9 magazine, March, 1933 (page 6).
 
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Reading those old mags is fun and educational. It's amazing how some things never change. We're discussing and complaining about many of the same issues the hambones were 80 years ago!

[W1UJR]

We're discussing and complaining about many of the same issues the hambones were 80 years ago!

Yep, same stuff, different century.
People are people, and that is the only thing that never changes!

[WA3VJB]

It's easy to read something like this and say tut-tut no big deal since it's been the same for years.

But does anyone question that the hobby of "radio"  has changed quite a lot, both in the public's mind and among those of us who take part?

The group in Newington envisions our chief role for the future as one of emergency communications within government and non-government agencies. This role has always been there, but there are some fundamental shifts, including the licensing of local government workers solely to qualify for ham radio grant money from the federal government.

In the past, hobbyist radio was in the same category as home workshops, photographic darkrooms, and shade-tree mechanics. All enjoyed a vague but favorable awareness in the public's mind.

I'm not so sure "ham radio" still gives off that kind of impression, when it is known about at all.

[WD8BIL]

I'm not so sure "ham radio" still gives off that kind of impression, when it is known about at all.

Oh.... you mean CB

[k4kyv]

No doubt CB knocked the public's opinion of ham radio down a few notches.  The average uninterested Joe Bloe hasn't a clue of the difference between ham radio and CB, but has picked up a negative image of CB from the trucker flicks and perhaps personal observation of CB'er behaviour.  And the TVI era didn't help our image, either. Nor do the shack-on-a-belt types who waddle around in public with multiple HT's dangling from their clothing. So now hams and CB'ers are often lumped into the same category, of some idiot yelling nonsense into a microphone.

I could understand the sense of that comment that appeared in the media a couple of years ago about ham radio being "faintly embarrassing".  Once upon a time the lay public looked up, with an impression of mystique, to a ham radio operator as being a technically-minded tinkerer of above average intelligence.  Now I suspect the image is all too often one of a pathetic loser who needs to get a life.

I recall reading posted in a thread on another message board in which a CW operator said that he never tells anyone that he is a ham radio operator.  Rather, he describes himself as an "amateur telegrapher".

[WA3VJB]

So now hams and CB'ers are often lumped into the same category, of some idiot yelling nonsense into a microphone.

Really ?
What is "CB?"

It's been years since CB would probably come to mind and be confused with ham radio.

Sure, people have heard of "CB" but it's been 30 years and a lot of technology since Smokey and the Bandit.

Even in a major metropolitan area there is very little activity on 11 meters, and when was the last time you saw a CB antenna on a car? I doubt most people today have even heard what CB sounds like, even if they know truckers use it. It's more of a characteristic of truck driving, and limited to that.

My point is that when it comes to public awareness, comparisons between two unknown hobby radio services are not a likely way for anyone to effectively illustrate with, or to already have an impression from.

You're on the right track pointing out the profile of having a bunch of little consumer grade handhelds clipped on the belt of an overweight, under-socialized nerd.

That image is easier to grasp, it is far more prevalent in today's ham radio, and it's why people more typically seem to lump a "ham radio operator" in with the whackers, you know, the police wanna-bes who show up at car wrecks and fires and have little blinking flashlights to indicate there's an emergency underway.

Yes, I seldom use "ham radio" as a descriptive term anymore, unless it's in the pejorative. The part I'm involved with has nothing to do with what the League is pushing, what the typical operator may be, nor what people may have a perception of, if they've heard of the concept of amateur radio at all.

Faintly embarrassing indeed. If I remember right, the reference was used as part of the utility industry response to the ARRL's method of opposing powerline distribution of internet access. We collectively were portrayed as a bunch of Luddites opposed to new technology as we defend a "faintly embarrassing" pasttime. Wasn't it in the celebrated Wall Street FoxNews Journal article?

One time, in relation to my appointment to the Board of the Directors of the Radio History Society, one of the others summed up my "ham radio" credentials as "Oh you have a bunch of antennas and talk all over the world." I replied, no, that's a group of people in the same hobby, but my part of it is ...(and I went on and explained the vintage thing).

I tend to use hobbyist. Value neutral, a fairly fresh term (not chronically used) and gets the idea across. I have no problem being considered a tinkerer (your word).

There are certain terms I just don't like. "HAM" radio, as some sort of acronym, is just as useless as "ham radio," "elmer" is stupid, "boat anchor" is an insult, "Silent Key" is stupid, I can probably think of more, hi hi FB.

I'd rather use Irb-isms or TimTron vernacular if I want some slang.

[WD8BIL]

Even in a major metropolitan area there is very little activity on 11 meters, and when was the last time you saw a CB antenna on a car? I doubt most people today have even heard what CB sounds like, even if they know truckers use it. It's more of a characteristic of truck driving, and limited to that.

Wow Paul.... I didn't realize you were so couped-up. Here in the midwest and down south CB is still very much alive and well. You wanna see mobile antennas, look here in any factory or mall parking lot. Take your pick !! In my 'hood alone there are 6 "base station" antennas. 4 1/2 wave GPs, 1 Astroplane and a 4 element Moonraker. I know. I've helped their neighbors get'em outta their TVs ect.

Then there's the ever popular Super Bowl Ch. 6. Kaw-man !!

[WA3VJB]

OK fine, Buddly, but I wouldn't have believed it.

I've got an old hooptie with a Motorola dual-receive CB, and I've cruised throughout DC and Baltimore with it, and down south at least to Virginia Beach.  That includes two "beltways," Interstates 95, 81 64 and 70.

Channel 9 and a loose squelch has NEVER revealed an emergency call the past 12 years, and the other channels have been S3 noise, no signals (with open squelch) most of the time.

Yes the antenna and radio are hi hi FB working well.

Cab drivers speaking unknown languages, and truckers on 19 are what I hear daytime.

Nighttime, on the lower channels I'll catch the occasional Caw Maw station with a likely high power setup, holding court with followers who cannot be heard.

I maintain if there's awareness of CB at all, it has been a long time since any automatic association or insinuation with "ham radio."

Based on what you're saying, if there's some local base station activity, they already know the difference. The general public won't make the link.

[WD8BIL]

I maintain if there's awareness of CB at all, it has been a long time since any automatic association or insinuation with "ham radio."

I get it more than not here Paul. I guess it's a regional thing. Somedays here it sounds like the 70's again.

My neighbor Dan is always going to CB gatherings around the Cleveland/Akron/Lorain area. Must be an industrial area past time.

[Bill, KD0HG]

Paul:

CB is alive and well out here in the west.

A *lot* of folks, truckers and otherwise, now shut off their CB rigs while traveling in the more congested metro areas, they've been fed up with the crap, too, and only turn the rigs on when they need to.

So in that respect, you're absolutely correct.

Also, a lot of truckers have moved off of CH 19 AM and on to SSB and 'freeband' channels.

Satellite radio and mobile internet access has cut down on CB use as well. Although I sometimes worry about someone with an 80,000 pound rig surfing the 'net on their laptop...

[W7SOE]

Just found this thread...   That is great!  A real lesson for us Curmudgeons or Curmudgeons in training.  Things are never as bad as they seem nor is there anything new under the sun.

Rich

W7SOE

[W2JTD]

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Tish! That's French!

[Pete, WA2CWA]

CB is alive and well all over the place.

REACT International is headquartered in MD.
http://www.reactintl.org/about_us.htm

- Public Service Through Communications -

Quote from their web site: Since 1962, REACT has been the leader in public service radio. We have earned the U.S. Presidential Volunteer Action Award.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Interesting, Don - I seem to recall this same column being recycled through here a while back in a 'doom and gloom' thread about the future of amateur radio, except with references to digital and so on. Maybe it was the 'new-old buzzard' thread?

Like anything else, it's always been easier to bitch than it is to make a difference. The Internet makes it even easier, also making things seem far worse. Not at all surprising, really. It would even be a good lesson for the 'new' experts, if they were at all inclined to think they could be wrong.

And I'll agree that I still here the comparisons/confusion between amateur radio and CB, though not as often. In this neck of the woods, it's certainly gone back to more of what it was: a trucker/traveler's tool. Apparently still quite active around larger metro areas, and also includes a nostalgia attraction to the old tube gear.

[k4kyv]

Faintly embarrassing indeed. If I remember right, the reference was used as part of the utility industry response to the ARRL's method of opposing powerline distribution of internet access. We collectively were portrayed as a bunch of Luddites opposed to new technology as we defend a "faintly embarrassing" pasttime. Wasn't it in the celebrated Wall Street FoxNews Journal article?

It wasn't in reference to BPL, but to "blogging" over the internet.  The TIME magazine article proposed that blogging was catching on more and more with the general public, and was being looked upon less and less as a "nerdy" activity, or something "faintly embarrassing" like "ham radio" and "stamp collecting".  The phrase "power line" was in reference to the name of the award-winning blog.

New York � �Power Line� (www.powerlineblog.com) has been named Blog of the Year by TIME magazine, in this week's Person of the Year issue.

Before this year, blogs were a curiosity, a cult phenomenon, a faintly embarrassing hobby on the order of ham radio and stamp collecting. But in 2004 blogs unexpectedly vaulted into the pantheon of major media, alongside TV, radio and, yes, magazines, and it was Power Line, more than any other blog, that got them there, writes TIME's Lev Grossman.

http://www.time.com/time/press_releases/article/0,8599,1009851,00.html

There are certain terms I just don't like. "HAM" radio, as some sort of acronym, is just as useless as "ham radio," "elmer" is stupid, "boat anchor" is an insult, "Silent Key" is stupid

I have come to feel "faintly embarrassed" to call my radio activities "ham radio" for reasons already mentioned.  Something that trashes my nerves, and I find "faintly nauseating" is the revised use of the term "ham".  As Paul mentioned, spelling it "HAM" as an acronym, plus using it as a stand alone word.  Instead of saying "I'm into ham radio"  I often hear someone over the air tell how long they have "been into ham", or "I just got my ham" instead of saying "I just got my ham licence".  I feel  like replying, "I haven't got my ham yet, but I plan to go to Kroger's this evening and get one before they are all sold out".

I agree that "elmer" sounds more than "faintly" dumb or retarded.  We have a perfectly good English word, "mentor".  I recall there was a long thread on that exact subject on QRZ.com recently.

I also find "boat anchor" insulting, and never use it.  I remember hearing it used as a derisive term back in the early 70's hamfests when someone would be lugging a massive goodie like a piece of mod iron, or a large heavy piece of equipment like an R-390, and I could hear jokers off to the side making snide remarks like "Oh look!  Somebody just found himself a boat anchor, yuk yuk yuk"

I don't find "silent key" particular offensive, but it seems to belong more with the CW crowd.  I recall when I published The AM Press/Exchange, I coined the phrase "silent modulator" to refer to AM'ers.  I always found an interesting connection between "silent key" and SK, which is also used to refer to amateurs who have passed away.  SK could be an abbreviation for "silent key" or the CW prosign that means "end of contact", which would also be appropriately symbolic.  But since "silent key" has been in use as long as I remember, and I see it in old radio publications that date to the late 20's or earlier, I suppose I accept it more.

With non-amateurs, I try to avoid ham radio jargon altogether and use plain English.

I'd rather use Irb-isms or TimTron vernacular if I want some slang.

I do sometimes use Irb-isms and Timtron-isms when I think the other party would catch the meaning.  Most people find them hilarious.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I also find "boat anchor" insulting, and never use it.  I remember hearing it used as a derisive term back in the early 70's hamfests when someone would be lugging a massive goodie like a piece of mod iron, or a large heavy piece of equipment like an R-390, and I could hear jokers off to the side making snide remarks like "Oh look!  Somebody just found himself a boat anchor, yuk yuk yuk"

With non-amateurs, I try to avoid ham radio jargon altogether and use plain English.

You should've been laughing all the way to your car, Don. It was likely their myopic views that allowed you to get that stuff so cheap. Had the vast majority of folks seen any of it as a source of value, future or otherwise, you can bet things would have been different. When the radio bug bit me back in the 70s, it benefited me immensely. There was a time when I felt the need to correct and instruct my radio-superiors to the error of their ways, but I soon saw the futility in it and instead remained 'that crazy kid'. As in "call that crazy kid, what's his name? He's always dragging something heavy home with him" and "If it's got tubes, he'll take it".

Considering that many of these terms are a part of our history, the terms don't bother me. The misuse does, like being into 'ham' for x number of years. As opposed to...roast beef?

But you also have to keep in mind that the amateurs of the past were the geeks of their time. Think of the sensibility of pocket protectors then, and how they're looked at today. Sure, radio was more "respectable" then as a new(er) technology, but it was still considered weird and even troublesome by many.

Here's the proof.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKd5hupXJVo

[k4kyv]

You should've been laughing all the way to your car, Don. It was likely their myopic views that allowed you to get that stuff so cheap. Had the vast majority of folks seen any of it as a source of value, future or otherwise, you can bet things would have been different.

Don't worry, I always did.  It was their loss and my gain.  Of course, it usually wasn't the sellers of the stuff who made the wisecracks, but the appliance ops standing around on the side admiring the "slopbucket for the masses" transceivers. If everyone else had valued the stuff to the extent that I did, it would have been selling at e-Pay, not give-away prices.  Now that the stuff is rare, collectable and the price is high, I figured I got the last laugh.

The ham in the video must have been running 2m AM, for the looks of the antenna.  That daughter was a hottie, wasn't she?

[WA3VJB]

Aw, c'mon Mack, everyone knows how it ends, and why.

[k4kyv]

Aw, c'mon Mack, everyone knows how it ends, and why.

Here's another hottie from about the same era.  She used to make me drool, back in 1959.  And she has a voice to boot!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lEY0HXLhWO8&mode=related&search=

[WA3VJB]

Aye !
French women are great.

Merci encore une fois Voltali!! Dali est superbe comme toujours!!

(what he said)

But Don, and I caution you, there's a profile interview ca. 1961 where she shows leg, makes eyes at the camera, and SINGS to you !!! Note where she plays footsie with the high heeled french shoe that has dropped to the floor.

But despite all that going on, I still noticed the Ampex 300, one of the earliest slide pot mixing desks I've ever seen in a recording studio, and the two frogs trying to figure out how to get her down to tape.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ODv2zEYIIqs&mode=related&search=

Did you catch that she was still holding it together 20+ years later ?
That same full voice, more refined than your 1959 clip, sounding excellent despite the insipid music.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fZfc7lExkkI&mode=related&search=


(she is to be forgiven, because in another stage interview she describes how show tunes and disco both satisfy her ...)

--Courçon/VJB

[k4kyv]

Unfortunately, life in the fast lane caught up with her, and she committed suicide in 1987.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3685

[k4kyv]

So now hams and CB'ers are often lumped into the same category, of some idiot yelling nonsense into a microphone.

Really ?
What is "CB?"

It's been years since CB would probably come to mind and be confused with ham radio.

Not necessarily.  Listen carefully to the words of the narrator starting at 00:46
The amateur airwaves of CB radio

[WA3VJB]

Fascinating clip, Don.

The tag line called for any witnesses of the argument monitoring on a local repeater.

That's not 11 meters CB as we know it in the U.S.

The shots of the equipment table were inconclusive as to where all this was going on, but the rooftop antennae appeared to be UHF.

Even if that news story does not directly convert to references and perceptions here stateside, I remain surprised to learn that that there still is crossover between "amateur radio" and "CB" among people in the U.S. (and Australia, where that news clip took place).

NOW we wouldn't have this problem if Riley Hollingsworth were the Special Enforcement Counsel of Citizen Band Radio. Here's how it would work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjsvFnxg4bM&mode=related&search=

[Ed-VA3ES]

Don,  maybe post a  query on the AM Reflector?  Maybe some of our Aussie  friends might shed some light on this Aussie "CB" operation and how CB works  down there?

I know there is a UHF CB band in the UK.

Not necessarily.  Listen carefully to the words of the narrator starting at 00:46
The amateur airwaves of CB radio