That's an astute comment from someone who obviously understands 75 meters.  Following a rough start in the beginning that had me repulsed like some of the guys here, it became my favorite band.  But only for the past 51 years.  It's a strange duck of a band, unlike any other.  The primary inhabitants are not contesters or dxers or county hunters or number chasers.  It's rag chewers and to a large extent, friends who value spending time with each other. 

If your idea of hamming is to have brief encounters with strangers you'll never hear again, this is not your band.  Repeat contacts and the ensuing familiarity with each other establish a social dynamic you'll either find forever rewarding or too much of a good old boy network. 

But if you would seriously like to give it a try here are my suggestions.  First do everything you can to put up a decent antenna that will let you be comfortably heard.  The ragchewers don't want to hear weak signals and will only tolerate it so long.  Second, plan on doing a lot of listening before you try to jump into a group.  It's best if you take the time to actually learn some names and call signs.  I think your chances of being welcomed in are much better if you get personal from the get-go.  Something like:  "Hey Joe, that same thing happened to me, W8MW".

I tried to help innocent operators some years back with a 75 Meter article here on eHam.  Please check it out:

http://www.eham.net/articles/2189

73 Mike

Mine came with a hand mic.  It had buttons for freq control and I think some other control functions.

73, Mike

If you are interested in engineering or technical work in radio or television broadcasting check out the various certifications available from the Society of Broadcast Engineers www.sbe.org

73 Mike

Hi Ray.  Interesting topic you started here.  And many thoughtful responses.  I was a member of the original CFO club (Chicken Fat Operators) thirty-some years ago.  There was a time when QRQ CW was part of my daily diet and I’d have a double helping on the weekends.  Most of the fellows really getting it done at conversational speeds 50-100 wpm do it every day.
 
If you are really interested in sending fast as well as receiving fast, a CW keyboard is the tool for the job.  Keyboards get snubbed by the purists because they think the only ones using them are not true CW operators.  People trying to fake their way thru.  While there may be some of that, the critics ignore the fact that amateurs were using CW keyboards strictly as sending devices long before personal computers and Morse decoders.  The CW enthusiasts using them are folks who have maxed out their sending speeds on straight keys, bugs and paddles.  It’s generally felt that most of us have a finite top end with those traditional sending devices and past that speed we manufacture CW slop.  In my case the only way I could ever send clean code past 40 wpm was with a keyboard.
 
I agree with your premise about establishing the speed at which you wish to operate.  The old school philosophy says whoever initiates the CQ sets the pace for what is to follow.  It’s the operator’s discretion whether or not he wishes to acknowledge someone sending slower.  I’ve known some awesome CW men who were also absolute jerks.  I couldn’t ignore someone answering my CQ.   I eventually found the best way to pursue an interest in high speed operating is to hang out with others of like interest.  That’s easier said than done these days because most of the grand old men of CW are SK and the bands are full of CW runts.  But if you listen a lot and tune around, you are bound to find operators you want to spend some time with.  Give them a call.  See if you can make a sked.  It only takes one like-minded CW friend to get you spending more quality time on the air.

73, Mike W8MW

Yes there is a difference.  A mic with switches to boost or cut frequency response is giving you a predetermined choice (somebody already decided how much to cut or boost and at what frequencies).  But what if that one size fits all approach isn't what you're looking for?  An equalizer either outboard or built into the radio turns the decision over to you. You get many more fine-tuning options that way.

73, Mike

K3WEC:  Astute observation regarding WBCQ ad rates.  SWBC stations don't have access to credible audience rating data so they are rarely able to justify big bucks for air time.  Innovative marketers can operate in that kind of environment and still find ways to make money but they probably have a hard time matching the take that radio preachers can reel in.

AC5UP:  Sounds like you know your way around the broadcast biz!  True, cable tv is grabbing a big hunk of the business that previously went to local radio stations.  Got a kick out of which flavor salesperson can out-whore the other.  Yup, cable wins there too.  You too can have your own professionally produced 30 second tv ad for free with a $100 cable tv ad buy!!

The iBiquity sideband fiasco needs to go away altogether.  When it arrived it had the same odor as those ill fated attempts at AM stereo.  Same net gain.

73, Mike 

Way too practical.  But of course I'd love to see that.  I am an older operator lucky enough to have entered the hobby when elmers were within walking distance and readily available.  They were the source for what beginning hams really needed to know. 

The test prepared you for nothing.  It was full of blah, blah, blah technical stuff that meant zero to a beginner.  It was nothing but a hurdle, a hazing ritual you had to endure so you could get back to actually installing and operating an amateur station. 

I feel bad for today's beginners who don't have access to a helpful, locally accessible elmer.  We know it's possible for someone to pass all the tests up to extra and still know nothing about station building and on air operating.   The missing elmer element is a fact of life these days and many beginners would benefit greatly if the amateur license exams dropped the esoteric RF engineering content and focused on real world, practical material. 

73 Mike

Tnx Jim

In 50 years of pounding brass I've copied many abbreviations.  But most of yours threw me.  Not every character saved helps throughput, not when you introduce confusion and/or take risks with clarity.  My advice: use only the most common generic abbreviations, take pride in sending code that's easy to copy.

73, Mike

Hi Dick .. Thanks for sharing your memories of the Big Ape.  It was cool to listen to and also a cool place to work.  The 50 KW transmitter was homebrew and used water cooling from a swimming pool that was partially in front of and partially inside the building!  The Big Ape identity is now being used by an FM station in Jacksonville.  Wikipedia has an interesting article in their listing under WAPE (defunct).

73, Mike

This is the critical variable that means life or death for a commercial broadcast station.  You won't find much meaningful listener data online because it's proprietary information collected by research companies (primarily Arbitron in the US) and sold to radio stations.

There was a time when flame throwing 50 KW AM stations thrived thanks to coverage patterns extending hundreds of miles beyond their city of license.  I worked at one such station in the early 70's, WAPE 690 AM in Jacksonville.  With big RF plus its antenna in a swamp just a little distance inland, the signal hugged 600 miles of east coast beach from Miami to Wilmington, NC. But as audience measurement methods became more sophisticated and businesses making advertising purchases became more demanding, stations with best ratings inside the local marketing zone started beating up the old regional monsters.  Now it's common to see local FM stations with limited coverage at the head of the pack with the big AM'ers bringing up the rear.

A consequence of this that's sad to consider:  many owners of high-power AM stations sought FCC authorization to reduce power so they can save on operating costs and in some cases so they can lease tower space as sources of extra income.  It's a different ball game in commercial broadcasting these days.  Glad to be out of it.

73, Mike

I for one am very proud of my fellow amateurs in the congenial and helpful way you have responded to N9ZHW.  Every poster has done well here.  BTW, for CB it's Part 95 not 97.
 

It was someone else

Can't remember the guy's call.  He was from 8 land and had moved to Texas.  The bust happened in Texas and the frequency was 3895.

73 Mike

Former FCC engineer K3FT told the story about FCC busting a ham with a 50 kw setup.  It happened back in the 80's and there's been nothing like it ever since.  Click this link and scroll down.

http://www.eham.net/articles/1771