First HF Contact and other stuff

Over 54 years ago, when I first realized someone was actually answering my CQ, I was too excited to return his call. In fact, I couldn't copy his call….I panicked. I forgot the Morse code, my own call and my name. My impulse was to run screaming through the house for my parents (who knew nothing about ham radio) to tell me what to do.

The Old Timer who had answered my call must have understood, because he persisted and called me twice again. I finally calmed down enough to begin remembering a few of the things I had gleaned from listening. That turned into a very nice chat with a gentleman from South Carolina, and thus began my first few steps in a long learning experience about Amateur Radio.

Nowadays, it's much more likely that a first contact will be in voice rather than code, and given the experiences and observations over the past few years, here's how I'd go about a first HF phone contact:

I'd refrain from calling CQ right off the bat. A general call removes your ability to pick and choose someone with whom you feel comfortable. Save CQ for later.

Tune around and find a couple of stations engaged in a conversation. This should be done on a lower frequency band, or at least, under conditions where both sides of the conversation can be plainly heard. Small groups of two or three people are best for these purposes. Make sure they aren't deeply involved in a technical problem or working on something that shouldn't be interrupted, or that the topic isn't something either volatile or tedious. Make sure they're loud, because that improves the chances-- although it doesn't assure-- that they'll hear you OK.

At an appropriate lull, say, “Gentlemen, do you mind if I join you?” and give your call.

I absolutely would NOT say: 1) QSK! 2) BREAK BREAK BREAK!!! 3) CQ! or 4) CONTACT!! These aren't just inappropriate; they set the stage for criticism. By the way, make sure you`re in the correct band segment for your license class before you transmit.

Assuming the folks you've chosen to engage aren't complete social abortions, they'll probably invite you to join them.

(Let me say right here, I know a couple of semi-OTs whom I've heard tell people to “go away if they couldn't be any louder than that”. Ham radio has no place for that sort of behavior, and these people need to be banished.)

Now…..

At that point, you should tell them up front they are among your first contacts, and you'd appreciate a few pointers. Tell them your name and where you're located.

With any luck at all, they'll take it from there.

Be careful not to start right in with terms you've heard other hams use. You'll find there's a vast difference in terminology between HF and VHF operators, and use of some phrases in the wrong arena might create a mistaken impression of irreparable “newness”. The use of “Personal” instead of name, or words like “Destinate” or any of the ten-codes is sure to draw fire on HF.

Use plain conversational language, and you can pick up suitable jargon along the way. Just relax and start meeting people. Listen to how conversations go, and you'll quickly see how it all works.

Like my hero Yogi Berra said, you can see a lot by observing.

When I first got my ham ticket, I came to understand fairly soon that if I was going to learn anything about my new (what I called then, but have since re-thought) hobby, I would learn it from the old guys.

What did I have to trade? My energy!

Whenever a tree needed climbing, I was there. Want to run a cable under your house? Hand it here. Stuff like that. Invariably, when I came down from the tree or up from digging a hole, there was a glass of iced tea and a lesson waiting. More often than not, when I left, I was the new owner of some new prize like a capacitor, or a roll of wire.

But most importantly, the OTs took an interest and taught me the things I would need to know. Why did they have an interest in helping me? Because I was interested in helping them.

Now the shoe is on another foot.

A couple of years ago, I got a phone call from a young man who would later become a very good friend. He told me his name and his call, and he said he had been referred to me by another ham. He had an intense interest in learning, while building, a linear amplifier. We made plans to begin on a trial basis, but it only took a little while for me to realize this young guy had “the fire” in him.

For the next three weeks, that young man wrote in his notebook every word I said, formulas, explanations, everything. And he did all the work. At the end of that time he had two things that he couldn't possibly have bought from e-bay or anywhere else: The satisfaction of having built something that worked well, and the knowledge and understanding required to repair or replace it if the time came.

I don't know why, but I see (more on e-ham than anywhere else) a lot of complaints by relatively new hams that the older hams are disrespectful, discourteous troublesome old codgers that are the source of all of ham radios' problems. As mentioned earlier, it's a good idea just to steer clear of these guys.

There's no doubt there are some older hams whose patience is thin or exhausted altogether, and these should do what they can to recover. I for one, am impatient with the criticism of “73s”…..I've been hearing and saying that for over fifty years…What's the problem?

At the same time, although it is rarely mentioned in these forums, there are many, many new operators committing such basic blunders as operating out of band, interrupting a conversation in the midst of a technical discussion, well, the list goes on.

Some in both groups behave like angry spiders, rushing to fight when their web is disturbed.

There's a lot of room for introspection in both groups. We old guys need to accept, teach and accommodate, and the less experienced should observe, adapt and, sometimes, tolerate. Once we begin doing that, we'll find there really is only one group…us.

I've been afflicted with the love of electronic communication since I was a very small child, and I've always winced when someone referred to ham radio as a hobby. I've said (not really joking) that collecting bugs in a jar is a hobby—ham radio is a lifestyle.

We each need to realize that ham radio can be a many-faceted life-long learning experience that has rewards for us all. We can reap those benefits more efficiently if we spend less time bickering and more time educating ourselves.

I've written this in the hope that it will help someone, and if it does, I will be pleased.

If it does not, or if you find it disagreeable, I wish you well in your pursuits.

73s

Phil C. Sr.

K4DPK