On the front Page of eHam is an article promoting D-STAR use.  The Comments are enthusiastic and amusing either for or against.

"Costs too much!" "

Sounds great" (it does?)

"Close Architecture"

Stable and reliable. 

"Don't need it"

 "Just because we CAN do a thing doesn't mean we SHOULD."

"D-Star is being used as defacto encryption by cliques of elitist hams"

Yet not a single observation on how the mode is used. (Yes the EmComm nanny's claim value). But if you tune across ANY of the reflectors on D-STAR at ANY time. What you will hear mirrors the same  tired meaningless drivel that occupies most VHF / UHF frequencies. Here in LA there are literally dozens of repeaters that sit dark hour and after hour/ Day after Day. Similarly, you drop onto a high use Reflector (Say 30C in Atlanta) Where 2 or 3 dozen people are "listening" via DVAP and other methods.  Some guy comes in says he's "monitoring" and no response. And what discourse that does transpire is about the Wx, their Raspberry Pi or the arcane connecting configurations of the D-STAR mode.

Yes, I bought into the D STAR vision and hype. And I find the mode interesting. But, the Ham Radio culture at large is mode agnostic. (and D STAR is no exception) The spectrum remains a vast wasteland  where there is little substantive exchange. From the elderly men who each day trudge to the radio room to talk to the same dying old men on the low bands, to those that shout meaningless numbers at each other for hours on end in Contests or the FAUX world of "Special Events" and "Field Day". 

There are some smart, well read, articulate and accomplished Hams to engage with. But like finding a "Fit" person at a Ham fest, they're  rare.

That is the best single line of the entire thread.  I've always found it amusing that many hams consider learning basic electronics and elementary RF theory is an accomplishment of note.

No Clint. Civil and well mannered work. What I mean is, the absence of any stimulating discourse to speak of on the bands.  Tune the bands. ANY band. Find a conversation where Hams talk about film, literature, current technology (no I don't mean antennas or the Sherwood filter specs) or  literate well informed discourse about foreign affairs or music or digital culture.  I am confident that you will rarely if ever hear a conversation of substance on Amateur radio.  

That is the "blandness" I refer to.

Ham Radio exchanges are overwhelmingly of the most meaningless blather and I would argue a reflection of the prosaic lives most hams lead.  The 80 / 20 rule applies. (though in Ham radio it's probably higher. More like 90/10).

Clint, I just completed, Andrew Keen's very excellent, "Digital Vertigo: How Today's Online Social Revolution Is Dividing, Diminishing, and Disorienting Us ".   Can you imagine a dynamic  discussion of this enormous technology driven  shift being talked about by Hams?  It's laughable.  They're happy with the weather and their G5RV's. (well at least 80% of them!)

Recent news accounts report that  FCC "Indecency" and "language" regulations (that have twice been struck down by the Supreme Court) are under review and most likely will be "loosened".

Ham radio operators (many of whom are students of government regulations) largely embrace the current policies.  Hams are not a representative demographic  of Americans. Overwhelmingly middle aged white males, their values (right or wrong) as reflected in on air discourse, are no longer dominant in an increasingly multicultural society. (And they have little in common amidst a growing lower class of uneducated and poor citizens who have a bleak future in a globalized knowledge worker era.)

The FCC has little choice. They will at a minimum  allow language and conduct over public air waves  previously restricted by regulatory language that was nebulous.   Indeed the Court chided the FCC for being "vague".  New more specific regs are forthcoming.  New regulations  will have little to no impact on Amateur radio. Yes, there are a few "outposts" on the HF bands where on air exchange is "coarse". But  Ham radio culture  at large is and will remain  inoffensive to most. And what few transgressions that do occur are highly unlikely to be enforced. It's only Ham Radio and the FCC's policy of "benign neglect" will continue.   

So not to worry!  Ham Radio on air communications will continue to be as bland as it has been for decades.

mike wa4dhttp://hamqth.com/wa4d



 

I'm liking K8AXW more every day:

Best metaphor of the thread so far:


What a fun image!

I actually recall this Question from the Bash "Advanced" Book!!

If you wanted to talk to a bunch of Nuts on ham radio's classic 75 meter band, where most Hams run liberal interpretations of the "legal limit", how long would your doublet be? HINT: The Frequency is 3.895 mhz.

A) 142.4 feet (Grounded on one end)
B) 92 Feet (as long as it's elevated 92 feet)
C) 120.1 Feet
D) None of the above


Oh Yes, I'm sure the Formula of  468/F is somewhere in there too. But it's  been 30 years!

K8AXW---  I happened to like "Robert Young".  He was a role model in the 50's. And his values preserve to this day.

And if viewpoints "upset" people.....so be it. Who cares? You've made your point, with articulate rhetoric and reason. Good for you. (and us)

What a hoot! This thread taking twists and turns I never imagined.  K8AXW offers the old guard view. (And I say that with no malice) And it is or was a legitimate view in the era of Robert Young and "Father Knows Best".

But K8AXW's point is valid.  Learning via answer books is hardly ethical and yet it's accepted. One could make the case that the current Question pool model is a variation of the Bash era as well.

"Learning" as K8AXW rightfully suggests, should be valued. And pride taken in. I have an undergraduate degree, a graduate degree and various professional continuing education certificates from major American Universities. There were no Dick Bash books available for any of these programs.

Still I don't believe Ham Radio is really a "technical" hobby as some suggest.  Yes there are some fundamentals of RF technology, propagation and basic electronic theory. But that's about the end of it.

KD8TUT suggests that I could not have memorized the answers for the Extra exam. He failed it after 2 months of prep and 22 years of experience. Therefore what I did (and many other Hams did) should be impossible.  You (KD8TUT) say the Extra class exam as currently written made you think. And reason.  I assure you. The Bash materials didn't make you think. They gave you the VERBATIM answer word for word of the question pool. No "thinking" was necessary.  Some of us can memorize quickly. Others cannot. I'm sure there is much you can do intellectually that I am incapable of.  

Most Dick Bash "Graduates" are reluctant to to admit that they used the materials. But I'm guessing there were thousands of successful exam candidates in the 3 years the books were sold.  But since there is such "shame" associated with this back door entry to the Hobby, they remain veiled from our view.

Me? I have no shame. Nor do I have any guilt. Ham radio is not my identity.  Or a lifestyle. It is a frivolous hobby, a waste of time and money. And occasionally fun. (Like now!)

Cheers from California!

miike
http://www.hamqth.com/wa4d   (Photo shot today! I'm handsome for a Dick Bash Grad!)

Very insightful Dennis. I had not considered the points you offer.  Yes, despite my "back door" entry, I was motivated at the time. ( Of late, I have been all over D-Star ( http://www.wa4d.net ) and with sense of purpose. it's an exciting platform to learn.

. I learned morse at age 14/15. And I was probably at 8 wpm when I returned 16 years later. So it wasn't that much of a feat.  Still I was obsessed and practiced about 90 min. a day. 45 min a.m.   45 min pm.  I still  CW SWL each night for a few minutes ---- all because I learned it as a kid.

Thanks for note..... I have added 300 Zeroes to my Amazon WIsh List. (I read about 25 -30 books a year and currently in one and 2 on deck!)

Regards,
Mike  http://www.wa4d.net

the difficulty and pride of attainment

That about says it all Bob.  And that is a mantle I cannot lay claim to. (At least with respect to my Ham Ticket. I came in the back door.)  I do recall pausing for about 10 seconds to consider it after sailing through the General exam--- but the easy path won out.  I will not  tell you that memorizing 250 questions and answers each week was difficult in a faux attempt to assuage my guilt. Because #1 it would be a lie. And #2 I have no guilt!  Laughs.

Cheers,
mike
wa4d

I am a Dick Bash Ham!

I was first ticketed in 1965 (WN5KPI). Age 15. Then I discovered girls at 16 and dropped ham radio like a bad habit. (And my Novice ticket lapsed.)  Years later in the Army I called my Mom from Vietnam on a MARS station (Collins S-Line) and my interest was piqued for a couple of months till I went home  and back to school.  Again the girls on campus were way more fun than Ham radio.    Still I was interested in communications technology. I took an FCC 1st Class Radiotelephone Class and sat before the FCC and got my 1st Phone!  (1974) It resides on my office wall to this day. [Analog Certified!]  I went to work part time as a student in television and learned Video and audio from "real" engineers.  -----And of course read the obligatory Howard W. Sams Broadcast Engineering Book that makes your eyes bleed it was so boring.

Flash Forward: 1981….. As a Television News Cameraman in Wash DC, my sound man was a Ham (KK4XB) and we dropped into a Washington area  Ham Store in Rockville, Md.  I bought a Kenwood  R-600 recvr.    After a few weeks, I got the bug and decided to get my ticket.  KK4XB and I were cruising by the ham store again and I went in to buy the study guides.  

At that time there were controversial publications put out by a Ham named, "Dick Bash".  These paperback books were exact questions and answers from the FCC license class. A general Book. An Advanced Book. An Extra class book. Each book had 250 questions and multiple choice answers that were VERBATIM wording from the test.  (I didn't believe this to be true when I bought them, but I was assured, if you know the book, you can't fail.)  Those that used the "Dick Bash" STUDY guides were roundly castigated as "pretenders" and using unethical materials to pass the test. Indeed you were not a "real" ham if you used the Bash guides.

So, I bought all 3 books. Studied Morse for 6 weeks and got to 22wpm and then literally memorized the study guide. I took the General in Baltimore, Md on a Monday morning. (Took me about 20 min to blaze through the test and turn in to the unsmiling FCC examiner behind the Desk.) I took the Advanced 1 week later. And the Extra class on Monday of the third week.  Zero to Extra Class in 21 days.  I was issued the call sign N4FYC and had it about 2 weeks, then my current call arrived in the mail. WA4D.

And so it goes.....

mike
http://www.hamqth.com/wa4d

There seems to be a growing consensus among reviewers of tech products: computer specs -- processor, memory, display resolution --  Specs don't really matter anymore.

A seemingly never-ending debate between audio subjectivists versus objectivists . The former rely on their ears (and subjective impressions) when evaluating radio/audio components, while the latter argue that technical specs tell the true story.

Subjective opinions claim all sorts of dramatic sound differences among end-user transcievers components (like roofing filters, IMD curves and  various Mics etc.)

The problems with the subjectivist approach are well known ,  Sometimes you hear a guy on HF telling the other Ham, “Leave it right there, don’t touch anything!”  What?  Yet what you heard is completely unacceptable.

The bigger question may be: "Do Spec's matter anymore?"

Is there a substantial and noticeable difference between any of the HF or VHF/UHF rigs built in the last 5 years? Little if any. Oh  a particular model may have been poorly designed or a bad batch in a production run. (Example: the Icom 7600 RF Finals) but for the most part the difference is meaningless to most operators.

And Reviews! Many formal  reviews are based around specs. Does anyone really read in depth the mind numbingly bland QST technical reviews of a new rig?   Even QST to some degree has rolled back their more technical emphasis in articles as the new crowd doesn't really know (or care?) much about what’s under the box. Hams (like Tablet users and Smart phone buyers) want features and user operability. Software flexibility matters far more than the noise floor number.

Yet to some users, Spec’s DO matter and are good for bragging rights and they make for some interesting arguments on occasion. But for the vast majority of Hams who don't know what IMD means or how to read the slope of a Roofing Filter, it’s all just “noise”

Ok, be honest. Can you even hear the difference between a rig with a 90 db dynamic range and one with 110+?  

We have reached virtual technical parity among consumer level ham rigs.The differences between rigs are nearly indistinquishable for same class radios.  And this techno homogenization points at the dimminishing need for technicians.  (a job function that is rapidly  disappearing.} VHF rigs are now like potato chips. It breaks? Throw it away and get a new one.  There are those who love to propagate the myth that ham radio is a deeply technical hobby.   But when it's all said and done, most specs are manufacturers window dressing.  Noise if you will.

The Spec is not yet dead, but it's influence wains

mike HAMQTH:  http://www.hamqth.com/wa4d

Not enough Dad's like yours any more Tanakasan.  Discipline and Values are fading in the US.  Divorce rates are at new records in the US and the absence of a father in the house is a huge issue for some groups.

You say,
IF I had the antennas and the location to justify it then I would purchase an Icom IC-7800 but my education, my achievements in life and my affluence doesn't enter into it.

I'll have to disagree with your comment. Your persona indeed your pride in your Father's guidance are a reflection of those traits. They all influence who you are and shape and mold you just as they do the vast majority of people. That you wouldn't buy this particular radio, is a decision you've made as a result of your intellectual depth, your beliefs and values. And one might speculate your refusal to let "emotion" cloud your judgement. You characterize the 990 as an "ugly" radio. In your view it is. This is a result of your education and perhaps aesthetic preferences or even a denied bias within. (I don't know). What I do know is we are the sum of our experiences and make choices on that basis. And education, achievements and the resulting affluence (or lack thereof) are who you are.

I'm sure the Rabbi is smiling.

BTW I haven't received any renumeration for JVC/Kenwood. Why would I?  I'm enthusiastic and believe it's an innovative rig.  That said, I find the whole concept of "Big Iron" radio to be passé and even vulgar.  This idea that you put a pile of rf gear on a table and hang unsightly wires and various ornaments outside your home to  talk with middle aged to elderly men is a ridiculous concept.  The 990 calls  like a dream to the kid that learned Morse in 1965 on an ARC-5 (ok the 7800 if you prefer)-- but then you turn it on and hear the same  meaningless drivel that has defined ham radio for decades. Stick to CW!

Cheers from LA

Thank You Peter for your grammar correction.  Writing is hard.

Good luck on your final "catch"