Three Types Of Hams?
Clinton Herbert (AB7RG)
on
April 25, 2000
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THREE TYPES OF HAMS?
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I've been wondering, after about five years as a Ham, I've seen, heard, and met quite a few different Hams and attitudes on pretty much all the different modes and bands, and both on and off the air. I've came to a conclusion of sorts; that there are three very different types of Hams...
1: The "disgruntled" Ham. This type of Ham is easy to find. They are very bitter, for reasons generally unknown or at least not understood by me, and they really do nothing to help out their fellow Amateurs. What they do is complain and whine a lot, get angry, yell scream, post flames to the discussion boards on the Internet and to various e-mail reflectors, cuss at their fellow Amateurs on the air, and are a general pain in the rear. They do not care about Amateur Radio, just themselves their selfishness, and complaining all the time about anything and everything. Kind of depressing when you think about them for too long.
2: The Ham who wants help, and or is "new" to Amateur Radio. Now this Ham could end up like either the first type of Ham, the third type of Ham, or just get out of Amateur Radio out of disgust. (Then we ALL loose.) This type of Ham just needs a helping hand, someone who is willing to help them set up their station, or maybe even upgrade! They tend to find only the "disgruntled" Hams, and end up leaving the Amateur Radio Service. Funny how most Amateurs never even notice this type of Ham, as they slowly fade away.
3: The very rare Ham, the Ham who wants to help out, and does, in every way that he or she can. This can be in the form of joining ARES, becoming a V.E., starting up Ham Radio classes (hey a first day Technician is perfectly qualified to teach!) Setting up a Club station, helping out the Community, or helping the second type of Ham. Keep in mind that this third type of Ham is very rare, and if you find one, don't lose touch. To bad, that this type of Ham seems to be a dying breed. They might not be, if a few more "type two" Hams were helped out by say the "type one Hams", if they (we), could get their (our), act together... Yes, "type three" Hams care about their fellow Hams, Amateur Radio, and it's future. They are not a part of the problem, as the "type one" hams are, but rather, are a part of the solution.
So, which "type" of Ham are you? Personally I try my best to be a "type three" Ham...
Food for thought!
"The time has come for all of us set aside our differences, help out all new Amateurs that are coming into our ranks, and help them to become the type of Amateur that we aspire to be." -- Clinton Herbert, AB7RG
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3 types of hams
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by KN6SE on May 5, 2000
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This article should be picked up, by every radio club news letter editor and posted to their front page. Thanks for the reminder, we all need to be reminded,every once in a while. 73 john
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RE: 3 types of hams
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by K4AAL on May 7, 2000
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Unfortunately, this article speaks the truth. It should be read by ALL who are hams. Newsletter editors take
note. Also, most DO NOT really care about other's pains and aches. Perhaps avoiding these subjects in
qso's would make operating more fun. 73, Ariel, k4aal
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RE: 3 types of hams
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by N4PY on May 8, 2000
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This article is a good eye opener. However, I think there
is a fourth type of ham that is even more prevalent then the 3 types mentioned. The fourth type simply enjoys the
hobby and does what is necessary for that enjoyment. He
is not really looking to help out people although he will
help enthusiastically when the situation arises. This
guy simply likes being a ham and messing around with ham radio related items. If there were only the 3 types of hams mentioned, this hobby would of died a long time ago.
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RE: 3 types of hams
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by KB6TRR on May 8, 2000
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With the recent restructuring of Amateur Radio we collectively face a new beginning. As individuals we must strive to welcome the new upgrades to the HF bands and make them feel welcome. If one of these newbies makes a mistake like giving a 73 signal report, give him a break, and don't embarrass the living dailight out of him/her. In time this new person will be in a position to teach others and his future actions will either foster the growth of or assist in the decline of this great pastime.
In my mind restructuring is a wakeup call to hams all over the country. The FCC is effectively telling us to grow the hobby or risk losing frequencies. How we behave as hams will have a direct effect on whether this institution grows or dies. Our frequency allocations are worth billions of dollars, commercial interests and some politicians would like nothing better than to relieve us of these frequencies. The only way to keep them is to have more and more people populating the bands. How do we do that? By growing the number of people entering the hobby. That is going to be hard to do if a large segment of the Ham population act as jerks. By striving to be a type three Ham, we can't help but grow this fantastic hobby.
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RE: 3 types of hams
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by KN4LF on May 10, 2000
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Personally I bounce between type 3 and 4. However I'm so tired and disgusted of type 1 that I've taken two hiatus from the hobby. It's only a matter of time before the cursing, fights, threats, intentional interference, general poor operating practises, discrimination against most all who don't possess a higher class of license, before the commercial interests are allowed to buy our billions of dollars of radio spectrum, that we take for granted.
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RE: 3 types of hams
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by AG5M on May 11, 2000
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Well written. Every Ham should read it a over and over a few times. Hams are just like the rest of society, from type 1 through type 4. Most are probably type 4, who go about their lives invisible to the masses and who wish to simply be good citizens (good Hams) yet will come to the aid of others if the situation presents itself. But I believe we must all strive to do more -- much more -- if the hobby is to grow. Everyone must strive to become type 3 Hams, how ever uncomfortable that makes us as it takes us out of our "comfort zone."
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Hogwash
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by K2PI on May 14, 2000
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I've heard and seen too many comments by new hams on how unfriendly, unhelpful, or just downright exclusionist "established" hams are. Well, I'm tired of hearing this, and I don't believe it at all
I believe most hams are very friendly and more than willing to lend assistance to the newcomer. However, Amateur Radio is a hobby, and most hams have job or family, or both, to worry about. They cannot be expected to devote almost 100 percent of their free time to assisting a new ham with material they are too lazy to research. According to the newcomers though, that is what they expect--almost constant supervision lest they (gasp loudly here and make sign of ARRL) lose their interest in favor of the Internet.
My take on this is that the newcomers have expectations that are just unrealistic. This is a hobby, not a career, however much we'd like it to be. Most of the new hams are of a generation that has had their hands held through grade school, college, and at work by various Counselors and Nannies. However much they'd like it to be so, Ham Radio is not that way. The individual ham has always, in my experience, welcomed newcomers who are willing to learn, listen to advice, and do some of the legwork themselves. Hams cannot devote themselves constantly to helping those who are unwilling to read and learn on their own, nor should they be expected to.
Case in point: A two-meter contact with an obviously young male ham. Said ham constantly interrupts QSO's by transmitting on top of other Amateurs and generally asking for Signal reports, making absolutely inane comments and the like. I contact this young ham. I advise him on proper operating procedure, how to break, what to say, how to listen before transmitting. No hard words, just advice from a more experienced ham. I also give him advice on the construction of a simple wire antenna, advise him on reference materials, and ask him to call me once he's got the parts in hand and the book open to the right section.
I never hear from him again. I do hear him though. Making those same procedural mistakes and asking for the same information I had pointed him to. What's this? Mommy Syndrome. He didn't want information or even assistance. He wanted it done for him, and wanted everyone to make allowances for his personal style. I have lost track of this young Ham, but if he isn't a LID in training, I don't know who is. In 23 years, this has happened to me never in the first 10 years and about 5 times in the last 5. Hmmm. I was a geeky young Ham too. However, I put up antennas and wired my station without assistance, since I was aware that this was the only way to be accepted into the fraternity.
I'm not some older cranky Ham either. I'm 39 years old, (and if you think that's old, you'll never understand my point here). I have been friends with hams many years my Senior and Junior. I never encountered a "generational gap" in Ham radio. I did, however, meet many who knew, from long experience, that I'd be better off doing something myself, and offered support and advice, rather than hand-holding. I never thanked them at the time, because you only realize the appropriateness of this approach in hindsight. But it was the right choice.
If you are a young Ham, rather than complain about not being spoon-fed your tutelage in Amateur Radio, get some books, magazines, and learn. Know whereof you speak before asking, so your questions are appropriate, properly targeted, and not so basic as to mark you as someone uninterested in a little learning, or who slide by on the test by rote memorization. Last I remember, the entry level licenses included the basic starter information as part of the study material.
If you are an older Ham, stop holding the hands of the newcomers every time they whine. Let them flounder a bit and make them research those very basic questions. Make them learn. Thank God some of you did that for me, and for that I thank you.
73, K2PI
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RE: 3 types of hams
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by N6AFI on May 15, 2000
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Exactly what I thought when I read this article. And if we want ham radio to grow, we need a lot more of the fourth type, because they share the fun of ham radio with others. I think most of us became a ham because it looked like fun.
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RE: THREE TYPES OF HAMS
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by KD4ZD on June 19, 2000
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I am very close to becoming "Ham #2", but "lose" is not spelled "loose". Besides, if the President of the United States can be like he is, and the ARRL like they are, why are we suprised at the selfishness of the Club Officers? I was Ham #3 for over twenty years. But I finally grew tired of being used for my knowledge, but never getting any recognition. You must "Kiss Up", "Pay Up" or "Get Out". I won't do the first two!
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Three Types Of Hams?
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by WA2JJH on August 23, 2003
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I would say I am a ""Group 4"" Ham. Another poster summed up very well what a type 4 ham is.
Maybe there might even be subdivisions of the groups.
Like a 2B, or 3A.
Here is a subdivision factor I see(IMHO).
Those that are good ops,(GROUP 3) however they do not get into experimentation, and building equipment.
However they like the many other aspects of ham radio as well. They jump into public service work, when asked.
However group 3A'S love the electronics behind the hobby too. They live the communications act of 1934. They experiment, build and maybe invent.
Those that really are into electronics, and want to push the envelope of the state of the art. They also tend to fix and mod their own rigs, and maybe even invent something. However I will not be guilt tripped into doing more public service work, or becoming a VE.
I do what I can. I do ELMER.
So that makes me a 4A GROUP, I guess. I do have a patent pending. It is not a ham radio invention. However some RF tech is used however.
When I started the hobby most were group 3A OR 4A.
I am not putting anyone down in any way. You will be the ""OP"" you feel best with.
This could turn into the DSM-IV of ham radio, if you get even more specific!
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