A new ham needs a definition - Elmers Forum at eHam.net

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eHam.net Forum : Elmers : A new ham needs a definition

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A new ham needs a definition	Reply
by W1WMP on November 16, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
OK I just got my ticket a month ago. I have most of the acronyms and abbreviation's figured out. But what is an Elmer? No such thing as a stupid question.Right?

RE: A new ham needs a definition	Reply
by W5FAE on November 16, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
The OM that helped/tutored you in passing your license test is and 'Elmer'. 73 Fred W5FAE

RE: A new ham needs a definition	Reply
by W9OY on November 16, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
I think it's a term that was made up in the 70's about the time incentive licensing came into being, and ham radio started to be dumbed down. An Elmer was an old timer who takes someone under their wing and shows them the ropes. I never heard the term Elmer in the 50's or 60's. In those days that "goto" guy was called an Old Timer. He was the guy with 5 inch paraffin boiled dowels separating his parallel #12 home made open wire feedline, snaking down from that 140ft wire strung between 2 maples, going to some monster antenna tuner with plug in coils from a BC-610. He had a NC-300 and and an ARC-5 and a big black Vibroplex sitting on the desk and a mill that he used to copy messages from the NTS nets. Sometimes he even had a couple of 813's or a 304th blazing away when he got on the "net". He often held an "Advanced" class license held over from the days when there were class A, class B and class C licenses. Personally I find the term "Elmer" stupid. I think Old Timer is much more in keeping with the tradition of Ham radio. 73 W9OY

RE: A new ham needs a definition	Reply
by W9OY on November 16, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
Sorry I just realized as a new ham what I wrote is probably almost undecipherable to you. Here is a link to a little bit of ham radio history. http://www.ac6v.com/history.htm A NC-300 was a high end receiver, an ARC-5 was a converted military surplus transmitter. A BC-610 was a high power military surplus transmitter. The Advanced class license came in after the WW-2 and was what the class-A licensee was reassigned to after the licensing classes were rejiggered in the 40's. Learning about some of this stuff is worth your while since as a new ham it is now part of your roots. 73 W9OY

RE: A new ham needs a definition	Reply
by K3WVU on November 16, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
Here's the story, from the ARRL: The term "Elmer"--meaning someone who provides personal guidance and assistance to would-be hams--first appeared in QST in a March 1971 "How's DX" column by Rod Newkirk, W9BRD (now also VA3ZBB). Newkirk called them "the unsung fathers of Amateur Radio." While he probably was not trying to coin a term at the time, here's how Newkirk introduced "Elmer" in his column and, as it turned out, to the rest of the Amateur Radio world: "Too frequently one hears a sad story in this little nutshell: 'Oh, I almost got a ticket, too, but Elmer, W9XYZ, moved away and I kind of lost interest.'"

RE: A new ham needs a definition	Reply
by KC8VWM on November 16, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
An "Elmer" to amateur radio is as the term "Guru" is related to personal computers. 73 Charles - KC8VWM

RE: A new ham needs a definition	Reply
by N3JBH on November 16, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
W9OY what you described was when ham radio really was ham radio. aw the good ole day's the smell of warm bakelite. the cobalt glow of 866 tubes. the sound of the (mill) printing the pages. yes them was the day's lets not forget them littile surprises like rf burns to your lips of the d104 and that stuff that made it all so much fun. it was a wonderful time when the only light in your shack came from inside the equipment. i sadly think the romance of them days our long gone. heck i wonder how many new hams ever seem a 600 ohm feed line. n3jbh i maybe a tech but oh i rember them great days a past.

RE: A new ham needs a definition	Reply
by W1WMP on November 16, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
Thanx to you all for the clarification. ToW9OY I knew what you were talking about. My dad was a ham till he passed on in 1954. I have all his radios,many homemade. I have a number of Nationals,Heathkits,Hallicrafters and a bunch of Yaesu's. I love tubes!!! My current pride and joy is a FT 902DM.This radio was the centerpiece for Yaesu's display at this past Dayton Hamvention.There's a picture of it with Chip Margelli on the FoxTango International web site http://foxtango.org/Dayton%202006/Hamvention%202006.htm As of know I'm only a tech but I'm studying code and I think I'll have my general right after the New Year. Again thanx to all for your time and help.

RE: A new ham needs a definition	Reply
by KF4WXD on November 16, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
William, you're not "just a tech" or "only a tech". You are a ham, one of the latest in a long line of us who study the radio art and communications. Your license class only has meaning during operations, you studied and learned why. Keep studying and learning and improve your store of knowledge to upgrade your priveliges. I consider my ticket a "license to learn" and I still learn from those before me and teach those who follow. Russ

RE: A new ham needs a definition	Reply
by KA5N on November 16, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
While I agree with W9OY that "Elmer" is dumb sounding (why not Jethro?) it is better than "Newbie." Beginner, Tyro,etc. are all better names. Actually the best term is "Novice", but that is a license class and so already taken. Old Timers forever. 73 Old Timer Allen

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