Yesterday, in my "weekend" post, I mentioned the upcoming solar weather conditions for the weekend. No big deal, right?
Well, if you went on the internet yesterday you got treated to apocalyptical, end-of-the world-as-we know-it warnings and messages.
"Worst geomagnetic storm to hit the Earth in 20 years!" - You know what we said 20 years ago?? "Boy, the bands sure sucked today!".
While CNN was calling for the breakdown of civilization as we know it, what was even more disturbing to me was the number of Hams who were freaking out.
One in particular - "Boy! This is NOT good!" - Why? Were you planning a POTA activation or rove? I mean, really, it's not like we're having another Carrington event. Now THAT would be newsworthy! Wake me up for THAT!
Color me disappointed that this storm has generated more clickbait than aurora, while at the same time shutting the bands down for a period of time. But I'll let you in on a little secret ......... THEY RECOVER! In the meantime melt some solder, or get caught up on QSLing, or re-organizing that portable ops bag, or something! Sheesh!
Dude ..... why the heck are you even telling them you're running QRP? That is the biggest mistake you can make, especially in a contest. Don't wear a "QRP Badge of Honor". It's not going to get you much, if anything. You are just another station in an ocean of stations. Maybe a dolphin swimming in a pod of Humpback whales, but you're just another sea creature. Don't obsess about your signal or project to yourself how you're going to be heard at the other end.
For all you know, propagation may be such that you're 59 or 599 at the receiving end. I once worked a station in Madison, WI with a Rockmite at 250 milliWatts. He would not believe me when I told him what my rig was, and told me I was 599+++. Other times you may be 55 or 559, or worse, at the other end. YOU DON'T KNOW, YOU'RE NOT THERE!
So if you hear a station you want to work .......call them! If they hear you, fine. Work them and move on. If they don't hear you after a number of tries, move on and work someone else and come back at a later time. Propagation may change and maybe you stand a better shot later. As Kenny Rogers famously sang, "You've got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em!" Don't frustrate yourself needlessly just because that 30 over 9 station can't hear you.
Telling the world you're running QRP is not going to give you an edge or win you any friends or influence people. Be happy with your accomplishments AFTER you've made them and just keep plugging away.
which will get me mixed, or maybe mostly negative reviews. But that's OK, it's just me cogitating.
Yesterday we had our monthly VE session. We had five candidates and all were successful. Five new Technicians, one of which was a young man of about 10 -12 years of age. We also had one Tech come in and upgrade to General - but this post is not about that.
With the question pool for the Amateur Extra class license changing in July, I've gotten a lot of questions about it and a lot of people convinced they should upgrade to Extra by the end of June. Not only that, but I am seeing so many people upgrade so quickly. Some will come in successive three months in a row in order to go from Tech to Extra.
By now you might be thinking "Where is this going?" or "How can this be a bad thing?" or maybe even "OK, pudding brain, what's got you going now?"
This rush to upgrade is a product of the VE System, IMHO. It's never been easier to get a license or upgrade your license class than ever before. No more going to the FCC, and in many cases, having to set time aside and travel long distances to do so. A good thing, right? YES! But maybe too good of a thing?
Here's what I mean. Back when I took my Novice test in November of 1978, I had to wait until January 1979 to get my call sign from the FCC. Even though the Novice license became a renewable thing, I was of the old mindset of the need to upgrade to General within a year. I did that six months later in June of 1979. But here's the catch ....... I remained a General for the next four years! I did not upgrade to Advanced until some time in 1983. I spent those years operating, learning, making friends and in general, just enjoying the hobby. After I upgraded to Advanced, I remained in that license class for another eleven years until I eventually became an Extra in 1994 - some fifteen years after I was originally licensed. And my Extra Class exam was the only one taken under the VE System, which I am not knocking, obviously. My point it was the first time that I did not have to travel to Manhattan or Langhorne, PA to enter an FCC office.
Let's face it, going to the FCC was a royal pain in the butt. But in its own way it kind of forced many Hams to slow down, smell the roses and enjoy your license class privileges for what they were. I'm sure for not all of us, but for most of us, there was no self imposed deadline to upgrade as fast or quickly as was possible.
And in that time, if you were active, you learned a lot. Either through an Elmer, if you were lucky enough to have one, or through trial and error as I did. Looking back on it, when I was a Novice and even a new General, I didn't know jack. I knew the theory and I knew the basics, but I still had a lot to learn. And I did, by joining a club and watching other Hams and talking with other Hams and always listening, listening and more listening. And by building Heathkits - learning how to solder, identify and measure components, how to read a schematic and all that other fun stuff.
These days, it seems like so many candidates are more consumed with upgrading, and only learning answers to questions without even bothering to learn the reasoning and why and wherefore behind the question. As a result, I see this with a lot, certainly not all, but a lot of new Extras who, if asked, could not build a dipole if you gave them a supply of wire, feed line and insulators. And even worse, some who wouldn't even know where to go and look up the procedure for doing so.
The purpose of this post is not to condemn upgrading your license class. Far from it, upgrading is a fantastic and noble thing, However, don't make it your end all and be all in Amateur Radio, just so you can flaunt your credentials that you're an Amateur Extra. To put it another way, you can purchase and own the latest "smart" refrigerator that does everything for you, including walking the dog. But if there's nothing inside of it, what good is it? Take the time to stuff that fridge with food, so that you can enjoy fantastic and delicious meals for years to come.
The Right and the Left both think someone would have to be SO STUPID to think the way the other side thinks. OK, let’s set that thought aside for a moment. We’ll come back to this.
There’s this guy I was following and often interacting with on Twitter. Seems like a really nice dude, posted about woodworking, retweeted funny memes about the Former Criminal In Chief, etc. We were aligned in a lot of ways. If he lived within 3 houses of me, he’d probably be the one neighbor I’d actually spend some time chatting with. Maybe even help him with a woodworking project, or vice-versa. Possibly even go fishing together.
Then, yesterday, he posted an obvious-tongue-in-cheek admonition about people who choose to back into parking spots. Had to wait a moment for someone to back into a spot. Made a funny little dig. It’s fine. This is fine. But then the replies… oh my god, the replies.
ALL THE IDIOTS noticed that someone had popped the bung out of the bunghole, and came gushing out of the barrel to pile on. Not with anything clever or amusing – no – just to say how much they hate “backer-inners“.
None of these people also complain about waiting for someone to back OUT of a parking spot. No, of course not. They probably stop, wave the backer-outer out, possibly even flash their headlights to let the person know “I see you, come on out.”
Look, ya twits, it’s approximately the same amount of waiting whether the other person is backing IN, or backing OUT. Either way, you’ve sometimes had to wait. But because someone does it not in your preferred way, you’re pissed off, and making moral judgements?!
Well let me clue you in on a little something. IT IS DEMONSTRABLY SAFER to back into a parking spot than it is to back out. Here’s why: Your vehicle (and your head) isn’t designed for greatest visibility backing up. You’ve got blind spots anyway, but they’re much worse behind. So, when is it that you can see the MOST things around the vehicle, MORE about the situation, and BEST determine that it’s safe to proceed backing up?
a. While you’re out in the parking lot aisle, with no vehicles within a few feet of your side windows? or b. While you’re in a parking spot, with enormous black-tinted-windowed SUVs on either side of you?
Basically, what you’ve come right out and admitted publicly is that you hate people because they’re smarter than you, wiser than you, more skilled/experienced than you, or some combination of those three. Now – take a step back – isn’t this exactly how we wound up with #IQ45 and a horribly RWNJ-stacked SCOTUS? Because all the stupidest people came pouring out the ol’ bunghole, all excited for their long-awaited chance to be part of a mob of people shouting gleefully about how fucking stupid they are? Finally, someone appreciates them for their ignorance – they could vote for someone who is stupid “just like me are”?
So yeah… I blocked a bunch of those folks who replied negatively about backer-inners. After a while, I also blocked the nice guy who posted the original tweet.
Yeah, I despise all and block most on the Right. I reluctantly tolerate and endure dumb people from anywhere on the socio-political spectrum. Half of the people are of below-average intelligence, after all, and it should be noted that “wise” and “smart” do not always correlate. But HOLY SHIT, I will not tolerate for a minute those who are stubbornly ignorant, proud of it, and hate anyone smarter than them. Whence come all the most wretched ills of the modern age.
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