Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
Andrew C. Palm (N1KSN)
on
December 13, 2002
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I've just experienced my best weekend on the radio and also my worst. Maybe it sheds some light on how different ham radio can seem depending on one's experiences.
Actually, the heaven part started earlier this week with a contact with Pete, W6JFR. I was using a little Small Wonder Labs WM-20 3 watt 20-meter SSB transceiver and had a contact with Pete. He owned the same rig and we got to chatting about it. Before I knew it, he was emailing me suggested mods and followed up by sending me a microphone to try! (Which worked great.)
Then Saturday morning I got on 20 meters, now with my FT-817 and small amp, to try a new microphone. My first contact was with Murf, WV4R, who proceeded to tell me all about how to modify the mic and correct its design deficiencies, in complete detail (and which I later carried out).
This was followed by several nice ragchews on 20 meters, including Bill, N1WL, twice. Bill and I got to talking and he emailed me pictures of his private getaway up north - a swell guy to talk to, as well.
I've heard stories about how rough 20 meter phone can be, but all I experienced were friendly, helpful people.
Now for the bad part… On Sunday I had a few more QRP SSB contacts on 20 and then switched to digital. I found an RTTY station calling CQ in the clear in the middle of the digital sub-band about 14.083 and answered him. Scott, N4ZOU, and I got cranked up and he started to tell me about digital before the soundcard era. Then I started to notice deliberate interference. It started as little wise guy comments stuck in between our transmissions (in RTTY), but then this station started sending a carrier on our frequency to deliberately disrupt our RTTY signals. Scott called him a "troll" and seemed familiar with this behavior, but I was floored (and appalled).
What on Earth could possibly lead someone to behave this way? There was plenty of spectrum on either side of us. There was a big CW contest going on, but we were far from any stations I could see on my spectrum display when we started. I'd hate to think a contester would stoop to such tactics to gain a frequency and I've always thought contesters were good ops.
What kind of person would do this? I hope I never find out, as the farther away from them I can stay, the better. I don't mean to dwell on the negative, either. I just found it interesting that I could have such very positive and very negative experiences so close together in time.
Who else out there has experienced Ham Heaven and Ham Hell so close together?
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by K8AG on December 13, 2002
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Purposeful intereference seems worse than it ever was in my early era in ham radio. I have had people wipe out a QSO and try to pass themselves off as the station I had been talking with, on CW. Funny how a station can be Bob from North Carolina one minute then suddenly change to Carol from Hawaii with the same call. Of course QRZ said that Bob was the ham, but it amazes me that people actually have the free time to interfere on purpose. I don't have the free time to get on the air as much as I would like. If they are that bored with ham radio, they should get a different passtime like testing electric chairs, or perhaps offer themselves for radical medical experiments.
John Pawlicki, K8AG
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by K0EX on December 13, 2002
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Look at how the nation (and, world) as a whole has declined in morality, decency, honesty, etc over the last few decades.
Behaviour in HAM radio has followed a similar direction, wouldn't you say? From my perspective, it has degraded significantly from time when I earned my Novice ticket.
I'm convinced a large part of this general trend is attributable to the home... and look at in what sad shape IT is these days!
-Mark K0EX
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by K1RDD on December 13, 2002
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Maybe I look at this all from a different perspective. You list Pete W6JFR, Murf WV4R, "Several contacts on 20", Bill N1WL and Scott N4ZOU, all as great, helpful people. Then one troll. I'd say the percentages are still in our favor. I guess I'm a "glass half full" kind of HAM ;-)
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by WA9BXE on December 13, 2002
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IMHO, I would say things are worst today then ever, in my 40 years of being a ham. I think our bands are suffering from the same lack of civility we are seeing in society.
Deliberate interference, QSO's started on top of an existing QSO, name calling and even racial insults all seem to be the norm these days (I am an African-American ham and have been the object of some of this behavior, as others have been).
I don't have a cure nor will I venture a guess. I will just commit to treating my fellow hams in a civil, courteous and friendly manner. I do hope, and know for that matter, that there are others who feel like me and are willing to do the same.
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by N6TGK on December 13, 2002
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What it comes down to is that the people causing the interference or intentional jamming are individuals who are unhappy with their home life...or their life in general and only find happiness (or the false sense thereof) by making others miserable. I heard some gentleman operating on 7.255 the other day. While some of their conversation probably pushed the boundry, I found it interesting so I decided to listen for a while. Then someone decided to try disrupting their QSO by blowing in their microphone. One of the stations in the QSO would just keep keying is microphone and telling the would be "jammer" that he needed a better signal if he wanted to disrupt their QSO. I thought that was kind of dumb. I found long ago the best way to defeat these individuals is to pretend they aren't there. By acknowledging their behavior you give them what they desire...attention and the knowledge that they're bothering you. When I'm in a QSO with a friend and someone interrupts our QSO, I call my friend on the phone and we talk back and forth on the phone while also using the mics on our radio so it appears as if the "jammer" isn't succeeding.
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by N4ZOU on December 13, 2002
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It was a very nice QSO we had even with the Troll! Back before Sound card modems you never had this problem. RTTY equipment cost a lot of money that a Troll would never buy. Now you can get on the Digital modes cheap with equipment that comes with your computer. This does have both a positive side and negative side. You have a lot more digital operators on the good old RTTY mode and the new Sound card modes like PSK-31, SSTV, and countless new modes comeing out all the time now. It just makes for mode fun! The negative side is that now the Troll's have access to the digital modes also. One way around this is to keep your TNC available for use if you have one along with your sound card setup. The Troll will have no way to stop a linked QSO in Pactor or Amtor. He might slow it down a little but with full error correction and resend request you can have a nice QSO even with a Troll trying to stop your fun. I built my own interface box for both my TNC modem and the Sound card. You can get the information from my Web page at...
http://www.geocities.com/n4zou/
All files are in PDF format and will work with any PDF file reader like Adobie Acrobat and GSview. My interface is cheap and easy to build and the audio from the transceiver goes to both the TNC audio in and the sound card line in connections. This way you can run a terminal program for your TNC and have a sound card program running at the same time. I use Hamscope in full screen mode so the very nice display is shown at the bottom of the screen and I use Logger and the TNC modem terminal in the window on top of Hamscope.
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by N0AH on December 13, 2002
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Troll................reminds me of a few topband operators who constantly police that band- Then ignore all requests to stay out of the DX window by CQ'ing over any possible weak signal contacts- Why? Because they are Gods- Maybe this RTTY op is a topband cop?
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by WN3VAW on December 13, 2002
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Trolls... hmmm. That may be a good term for them, but let's hope a real (ok, mythological) troll doesn't show up objecting to be associated with this type of individual...
Sadly, you run into these mentally ill individuals on the air from time to time. Best you can do is just ignore them; and yes, it is easier said than done, and I must admit to losing my temper once in a while at some of the antics.
But you can't let them stop you from enjoying the air waves.
For example, a few weeks ago, I was answering an SSB CQ from a VU2 station, when someone jumped right on top of the DX and started calling me, playing "dumb" as to what I was doing. His goal was to prevent me from working the VU2, which sadly occurred because the other guy gave up and changed frequency.
But that has not and will not stop me from chasing DX -- so don't let the trolls keep you off QRP and/or the digital modes. Just remember, they are mentally ill and should be pitied.
73, ron wn3vaw
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by N3HKN on December 13, 2002
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Maybe it is the powerless becoming powerful. If you look at the activities of the world's publicized nuts they are, for the most part, seeking power. This is a very personal activity. Those that do it within the rules of civilized behavior we tolerate, and many times applaud. They are ambitious, but good.
Others are simply evil to many degrees. The minor offences are the ones who tail gate on the highway demonstrating their power, or showing anger in not having control of the situation. The other extreme is our good buddy Saddam.
In Hamdom we have the powerless little person sitting behind his radio, unknown to most. What can they do to achieve a moment of power. Well they usually like to QRM some QSOs to see what impact they have. Big impact-big fun. The more dangerous, find that the fun of QRMing a QSO is becoming dull so they drool at the thought of blocking something serious such as the Hurricane Net, or the Maritime net with a sinking boat incident. Now they are in the big leagues and they actually get mentioned in magazines - WOW.
So next time you are almost run off of the road by some nut, he may be a ham (troll)!
Dick N3HKN
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Another "The Sky is Falling" article.
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by AC0X on December 13, 2002
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You had a number of fun ragchews, did some QRP contacts, even some digital contacts. Sounds like you had fun. Yet you're ready to write an article because of *ONE* crank? A crank who was so insignificant that you wound up having a nice QSO in spite of it? And what's worse, people who responded to your article aren't talking about all the fun you had that day, they dwell on that ONE CRANK and use it as an example of the "failure of society". Guys, if you hate the hobby so much that you'll ignore all the fun this guy had that day and instead dwell on some QRMing goofball (and please don't tell me that these sorts of guys didn't exist years ago. I know they did), then please sell your radios, take up golf, and leave us alone.
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by N7KKR on December 13, 2002
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Interesting topic. I recall handling traffic during the day of the Nisqually earthquake. In essense, the land lines were down, cells were jammed, and it was difficult for people outside the Puget Sound area to find out if their loved ones were OK.
I'd say about 80% if the air time was in response to hams who were just trying to find out if a particular geographic location was affected. A "no" answer sufficed and that was it. I had some outbound which related to a family about 3 miles from the epicenter having the chimney come through the house and into the wife. She was at the hospital and OK but the husband just wanted to get word to family in the L.A. area of the basics, not to worry, and he'd call whenever the land lines opened back up.
That is when the deliberate jamming occurred. I was attempting to pass telephone number information and status to a considerate ham in the L.A. area who had no problem making a LA/long distance phone call on his nickel. What could have taken 2 minutes took about 10.
What strikes me is the jamming normally viewed as a minor violation could easily be a serious criminal act if the activity endangered life. What really bothers me is my conclusion that the jammer wouldn't care. That's how bad the "Trolls" become.
The only certainty is if the Troll problem gets big enough, it won't be fixed. The problem will just be removed... along with all ham radio priveleges, licenses, permission to use the airwaves, etc. If the ham community isn't perceived as a value added insurance policy capable of reliable and positive response to life threatening events, why have it and why spend tax money managing something not worthwhile.
I've been in strange places doing my military duty over the past 30 years. It's stuff like this that can really discourage our patriots. For what are we risking ourselves for?
Regards, Kevin N7KKR
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by N6AJR on December 14, 2002
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Thats real life these days. enjoy the good ones and ignore the ******* types. It doesn't pay to worry about it. I'm a viet nam vet, and help with everything from habitat for humanity to second harvest, put in 8 years in the military, say grace occasionally, and try to do the right thing all the time.. but I still have to put up with jerks on the air, driving and at the store.. thats life, my friend, ignore or turn the channel.. 73 tom N6AJR
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by KE4MOB on December 14, 2002
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I've been a RTTY'er and PACTOR/AMTOR person for about 4 years now, and this is really the first time I've heard of deliberate interference on the RTTY band. Say it ain't so!!
I'll echo the comments of N4ZOU...keep a TNC handy and run PACTOR or AMTOR every once in a while. It's a real blast--the link might slow down, but the error free text just keeps on comin'.
Steve, KE4MOB
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by WZ5PM on December 14, 2002
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Its a sad fact, but true that some 3% of our population has a substance problem.
The bandscope on my 756 Pro has painted a bleak picture on 15 meters a number of times. I have seen some one deliberatly and carefully go up and down the band and jam all the active stations - briefly.
Another problem that occurs on 15 meters that few understand is that there is splatter that comes up from the CB bands in which people are running power with huge overmodulation. Unfortunitly they do not cut out the bandpass filter for 15 meters when they "mod" the amps and the noise splatters across 15 meters.
I wish there were more OO's then are active. So too DFing crews. The power of technology is that 1 goof ball can make things horrible for 100 hams in an instant.
Pete
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by N8FVJ on December 14, 2002
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How/why would someone 'do this'? Simple, the person is mentality sick. I am pleased most all hams are healthy.
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by KC2KMA on December 14, 2002
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It amazes me as a new Ham that radios could be bought so easily. Maybe if suppliers would not be so quick to sell them without proof of a ticket that there would not be so much malicious interference on the bands.
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by K8UPA on December 14, 2002
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I'm not so sure that it's so much of a troll as someone who is inexperienced. I have run into this behavior on the ssb freq's and more times than not it is an operator without much hf time under his belt. We all make mistakes when trying something new. Call me a fool, (no flames please :) but I still think the vast majority of ham ops are intelligent and respectful operators. My two cents, for what its worth anyway. 73 and Happy Holidays from Michigan's U.P.
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by K8UPA on December 14, 2002
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It's too bad that someone would intentionally cause interferance during a qso, but it happens. I was thinking at first that possibly it could have been someone without much psk experience, but obviously that doesn't seem to be the case. I agree with some of the other posts that the vast majoriy of hams are respectful and considerate ops, unfortunately like most other things in life all it takes is a handfull to screw things up. If someone gets there jollies off by making chaos, I feel somewhat sorry for them. O.K. maybe just a little. 73 and Happy Holidays from Michigans U.P.
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by KE3GK on December 14, 2002
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Did someone say "I wish there were more OOs that were active"?
ARRL Offical Observers are not the answer to malicious interference. It is the job of the whole HAM community, we are all official observers since we are all licensed. In my opinion, having been an OO from 1992 - 1994, the ARRL OO program is a joke. The OO program is useless without proper enforcement. How long did it take to get Herbie off the air ?
OOs are ridiculed and generally looked upon by the general HAM community as wannabe cops. The OOC that I worked with was constantly threatened, had nice little messages sent to him, and once had his car spray painted. All this for trying to uphold some decency and regulation in what we all agreed to when becoming HAMs.
But I have come to the conclusion that it doesn't take the ARRL, FCC, or OOs to make HAM radio clean, educational and fun. It takes us. I am proud to be an Amatuer Radio Operator. I follow the rules and treat all others with respect. The 'trolls' I ignore.
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by W5MIT on December 15, 2002
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"by K0EX on December 13, 2002 Mail this to a friend!
Look at how the nation (and, world) as a whole has declined in morality, decency, honesty, etc over the last few decades."
No kidding! Just look who is our president!
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by KD7KGX on December 15, 2002
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W5MIT sez: "No kidding! Just look who is our president!"
I sez... geez this would have been true a couple of years ago, but at least we can't blame our current President for the lack of morals we see in our country.
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by NB6Z on December 16, 2002
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Try having a QSO on that prime 20 meter frequency on a contest weekend and you will eventually experience the same behavior. (This goes for RTTY contests as well.) CW contest are the worst! Many ops only use 500 Hz IF filters and when you decode by ear, you can not tolerate any other signal inside your bandwidth. So they spread themselves all over the sub bands with no regard for other modes and activities. There was another major CW contest this last weekend that prevented me from enjoying my hobby on the digital bands. (Apparently the WARC bands are not a good option for most digi ops, but I did find one contact on 17 meters ;-) I had Christmas shopping to do that weekend anyway...
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by N2XE on December 16, 2002
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I've been licensed since 1990. I've always worked QRP CW and some occasional VHF/UHF FM. I could never understand these complaints about behaviour. Every now and then you'd run across intentional jamming on the local repeater but that was about it.
I've never ever had a bad experience on CW period. Every ham I've ever had a QSO with has been friendly, intelligent, respectful and decent. The type of person you would welcome into your home.
I recently bought an all mode/all band HF rig so obviously had a reason to listen on the phone portions of the bands.
13 years of a god-like reverence toward Amateur Radio was shattered in just one day.
I would split the hams I hear into three broad catagories:
The first being the kind of ham I experienced on CW.
The second group is a little rough around the edges but more like the CW group. Decent folks, good sense of humor, a tad saucy but fun. They have great knowledge and experience but you have to use a pry bar to get at it. 3865KHz is a good place to find this type.
The third type are CBers with a license(real or imagined)
IQ seems to be inversely proportional to the wavelength with the exception of 3865KHz.
By my back-of-the-envelop calculation we have about 35% of hams on the air using CW--so they're all good eggs. Another 40% on SSB and 2/3 of them are good or 26.6% (2/3 of 40%) of the total on-the-air hams. 80% of the remaining 25% of hams are off playing with satellites, microwaves, moonbounce/meteorbounce/godknowswhatbounce, spread spectrum and other strange digital modes. All of those guys have to be good because there's no such thing as a mean nerd. The last 5% are sending porn back and forth on SSTV so by definition, they're bad. That makes 81.6% of hams on the air, decent dudes.
Roughly the same as life in general.
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by N8CH on December 17, 2002
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The way I see it is you have three choices.
Change Frequency
Change Band
Change Hobbies
They have been jamming for a long time and will continue as long as you complain and give them their glory.
Just my 2 cents
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by N1KSN on December 17, 2002
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Wow, folks, I didn't expect such a large response. Thanks to all for taking the time to read and comment. Clearly some buttons have been pushed!
I would like to say that my first experience with deliberate interferance has in no way changed my positive view of ham radio or my fun in doing it (or my somewhat mixed opinion of human nature for that matter). My main point was the contrast between the best and the worst in one weekend and how different experiences can shape our views of hamdom.
My own response tends toward ignoring the offender in the hope that they will go away. I refuse to let one bad experience ruin it for me, although I realize that to some folks this is another sign of "The End of Civilization As We Know It." ;-> I think that offensive behavior on the bands is worthy of punishment of some sort, but at the same time the offenders should be pitied as miserable people with an unhappy life.
Well, thanks again for all the responses. I'm sorry if some of you interpreted my article as a complaint. It wasn't intended as such. Rather, just some interesting observations on a new experience.
73 to all,
Andy N1KSN
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by W9WHE on December 17, 2002
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There is an old saying on how to handle intentional QRM:
"Don't feed the animals".
If you allow the jammer to know he/she is successful, he/she will be encouraged, and continue. Better to ignore them, and when they can't get the desired reaction, they will eventually get bored and eiher stop or go elsewhere. Part of the allure of jamming is the "bad boy" reaction. Don't give it to them!
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by W5HTW on December 19, 2002
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I suppose some final comments are OK.
In 47 years of hamming I have never been jammed myself. Well, OK, if I was, I didn't hear it! That includes operation on CW, AM, FM, SSB, and RTTY. I'm talking, of course, about intentional jamming or interference.
I wonder why that is? Food for thought, huh? And that includes operating as recently as earlier this evening.
Today I operate mostly CW, but I spend a small amount of time on 20 meter SSB, and a bit on 75 meter SSB, and even rarely, on 40 SSB. Altogether that is about 10 percent of my operating time.
In that same amount of time, I have never intentionally interfered with anyone. I've heard a few folk that would definitely draw my ire and if I were a bit more mean-spirited (it probably wouldn't take much!) I'd hop on there and "do it." But I came into ham radio in fear of the big bad FCC, and that is ingrained into my soul. "Hey, they are listening and waiting to pounce on ME if I do something wrong!" Fear of authority, though, disappeared a few years ago. Those of us who were raised on it have found it hard to let go. Those of us who came along in the "do it your way and the hell with others" age, never learned that fear/respect.
I hang out on 75 a lot when I am on SSB, or when I am on the computer and "just listening." I admit, when I get ready to actually operate, I tend to slide down to 80 meters, or up to 40 CW. But now and then I get on SSB on 75. Haven't heard any malicious interference in a long time, and I've found almost all of the roundtables on the band are open to anyone, at least in my experience, who listens a bit, learns of the subject matter, has something to say, and then wants in. It is true a lot of these friendly groups of hams don't want people just hopping in with "what am I throwing ya?" for a signal report. But if they are talking about boats, and you like boats, you will almost certainly be welcomed, even if they never heard of you before.
Respect the situation - you are, in effect, walking up to a group of men standing on the corner chatting with each other, forget about radio. They have something to talk about. You are a stranger, just passing by. Do you have a good reason to join their conversation? If so, they'll be happy to let you. If not, they may definitely be stand-offish. Or worse. Then put that situation into the ham radio world. It's the same thing.
There are many horror stories up on the repeaters. I don't use the repeaters much, mostly in inclement weather or emergencies, but I do monitor - I just don't talk. I very rarely hear for myself any of those "cliquish" situations. I know of one or two exceptions, but for the most part, the repeaters I hear are open to anyone, and when a stranger wants to join a group discussion, he has, in my experience in listening, been welcomed.
In other words, this appears to be an extremely minor problem in the hobby, and one that, possibly just due to our numbers increasing, has increased dramatically in the last 8-10 years or so. I see that as a reflection of society itself, and not just a ham radio factor.
Much good advice on here already. Like: If you stay in such a situation and push, it will only escalate. Just go away. Turn the dial, change the channel, the way you would do if the TV program didn't please you. Do something else. No reason to leave ham radio, though, as there is another frequency, and another group, or another channel, or another repeater. Move. From what I have heard on the infamous 14313 (which is markedly more tame these days) and the infamous 3950, which is almost totally tamed, is the victims of interference are inviting it, begging for it, by staying on the freq and goading on the interferers. I've even heard, on 14313, back in its nasty days, two guys get on there and discuss a ham who was NOT on there, and how bad he was, etc., until the ham in question finally just HAD to get on there and fight it out. They spent nearly an hour "begging" him (by talking about him) to get on and cause trouble. But they are the ones causing the trouble. So don't instigate.
IF the hobby gets too much for you, though, well try something else.
73
Ed
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by KE2IV on December 19, 2002
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For the life of me, I cannot understand why you posted this.
First of all, the clown you encountered thrives on attention. Not only did you give it to him on the air - now you've carried it on to the internet! Didn't it occur to you that maybe he reads these posts - after all, he does know digital modes so it is not beyond the realm of possibility that he uses the web and the ham radio websites.
So now you've just gone and fed his sick ego further.
Second, the only other thing these kinds of posts accomplish is to get the ham hounds baying about the decline of ham radio and civilization ad nauseum.
Been there, done that, heard it all before. I've been a ham for nearly 40 years. Yes, I go back to the 1960's. When I was a kid back then they considered us to be the end of civilization.
It just goes on and on, cranky old men complaining about how things aren't what they used to be. Of course they're not. The kids then have become old men now and they just keep cranking on.
Please do like we do on the 2M repeaters. Ignore the wingnuts and loose cannons and don't give them the time of day or spotlight they crave!
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by WB6AEA on December 20, 2002
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If you ask me, neither one of them are up to the standard of a "moral leader". Clinton practiced "situational ethics" with his zipper and Bush pratices "situational ethics" with his wallet.
Neither are worthy of defending.
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by WB4FUR on December 21, 2002
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Ham radio is a nice hobby. It led me to the profession I enjoy (RF engineer for a "wireless" company [hey, guys, it's always and forever RADIO!]}. Jammers are part and parcel of the experience, as are foul-mouthed idiots, nice folks, etc., etc., etc. All that illustrates that, as some wise person pointed out early in the discussion, HAM RADIO REFLECTS LIFE!
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by N8DOE on December 25, 2002
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I ditto the remarks by WB9BXE and others. It's quite appalling that ham radio has sunk this low. The immorality and lack of civility we see in society is reflected here in ham radio as well.
I too am a Black American and have been a ham for over forty years. I have ham friends from all kinds of racial, and ethnic backgrounds. Some of us have good friends for years. But they represent a small minority when you consider the number of hams here in the US. I have been insulted,cursed at, QSO's interfered with, and verbally spat on.
Did I get angry? You bet I did! But then a cool head prevailed when I figured that these morons were obviously raised by a wild animal or something. Their behaviour was not that of a rational and thoughtful human being. The milk of human kindness is unknow to them. To prove my point, give a listen sometime to 75 Meters or even 20 meters.(a gentleman's band?)
I am a retired Telecommuncations engineer with over thirty years on the job. Now I have time to really enjoy my passion, ham radio and computers. But I'll be damm if I'll let the creeps stop me from enjoying my hobby. I'll do whatever I can to let the world know that all americam hams are not like these jerks.
I just don't want to hear the crying and gnashing of teeth when commerical interests start taking some of our valuable frequencies away.
Hank Dean
N8DOE
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RE: Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by N2MG on December 30, 2002
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The author wrote:
<< I'd hate to think a contester would stoop to such tactics to gain a frequency and I've always thought contesters were good ops. >>
Well, some are and some are not. A "real" contester would not waste his time jamming someone. However, I've heard RTTY and SSTV guys do that to contesters - seemingly in defense of *their* respective calling frequencies.
Mike N2MG
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by N8ZUX on January 3, 2003
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Well let us look at it this way... I found FM 2 M. Jammers all it is is some GONZO who probably was or is still active as a 11M Cb Operator, gets his jollies out of keying up and just irritate the living daylights out of ya ! Of course the Kerchunkers are on the repeaters, and the nonsense is on HF either SSB or whatever mode GONZO may bought at the hamfest, or someplace else.
I decided at a CB ( claims to be ham shop ) Shop buy this 2 meter rig for $15.00 good deal alright but I have a part to replace and adjust it, knowing now some CB operator did not buy to operate illeagally.
Food for thought Packet AMTOR or whatever will drive these clowns crazy, but are you fueling the Fire for retalliation ? I think ignore them like they cannot XMIT unless you want to countergame them and tell them they are ..
1) off frequency, and they have a poor signal, ask them what that Buzzing noise a filter choke, Filter cap blown, diode bridge just went south.
2) that their audio is choppy, ask for a resend, maybe 7 times say uncopyable, etc..
3) ask them to check their audio control and VOX maybe they are clipping and you still cannot copy them.
4) just drive the little buggers crazy with bad reports.
5) wanna blow up that amp of theirs tell them more power attained if they crank up ( their neutralizer pot so their Amp tube will fry ) CB operators are always cranking power and audio pots to the max, also tell them that if they have a tuner that to turn it up til the needle on the meter swings full right ( MISMATCH VSWR idea ) ( nothing like Heat, Light & Smoke and a Bang from a cap. ) if they destroy their transmitter you just caused some dirty fun.
6) real self destruct tell them to find the regulator pot ( volt output ) and crank it up may blow up their rig tell em more watts buddy ..
Nasty isn't it ?!?!?
if they are CB STUPID they may just try it who cares if that rig blew a $80.00 part by the way this is for educational purposes anyway I blew up stuff myself years ago, even shoot 12 ga. pellets in a Soup can , beats pins in the coax trick anytime ( I was given a peice only to find it had 30 holes in it, prior owner had that happened to someone or himself wasn't me thats the safe way worst way I knew of vigiliante bunch made enforcement unreal ) .
or maybe get you to react somehow ..
Laugh or just get mad , QSY anyway..
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Ham Heaven and Ham Hell on the Same Weekend
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by ON4MGY on January 21, 2004
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Hi
The author wrote:
<< I'd hate to think a contester would stoop to such tactics to gain a frequency and I've always thought contesters were good ops. >>
I'm sure 99% of the contesters would not do this. 99% of non-hams would do this. I don't think jamming is related to contesting. On every band and every mode you'll find some idiots who are using their radio just to spoil the fun of other people.
I think most of them are non-hams who are thinking they are funny, or some of the new-generation-idiots.
By that I mean some people who just got a license (the easiest license possible, no more study or learning morse code, just the easiest way possible)and are thinking ham-radio is just like CB. They get frustrated that real hams aren't talking to them and start jamming, just to spoil the others hobby.
I think with making all the tests easier and easier and now the dropping of morse-code as a required test for allowance on HF, we've opened the box of pandora.
I'm afraid in a couple of years all our band will be used as CB-bands. When you go to a fast-food restaurant and order two burgers and a Coca-Cola you'll get a free license!! Ain't that great?
We all should start making a difference between hams and CB-ers. Let the kids on 11m jam, but leave the ham-bands quiet.
Some hams are thinking we should make the tests to obtain a license more easy, or there will be little hams left.
I'm convinced that if we go the easy way, there will be no hams left, just some CB-idiots.
Dont let them take your hobby!
73 de ON4MGY Nic
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