Just out of curiosity, why do ham operators feel like they always need to police so much?
I'll explain: (in a nut shell) A friend bought a few 2 way radios that include the 2 meter and 70cm
ham bands. I was there the day after he received them and asked me to help test them. I drove
a few blocks away and we started to test. On one of the ham frequencies, he was answered by
an obvious ham operator. My friend heard him and instantly apologized but he hadn't heard anyone
transmitting and how he just bought them and this was just a test to see how they worked, but
he will move to another channel. The very next words from the ham were "what 's your callsign".
(I was going to try to explain this to my buddy in the beginning, but decided not to since he
is very stubborn and thickheaded) He told him he had no callsign and he was just testing his
radio. Again, he apologized and said he would move to another channel. That's when the tirade
started. The ham went on a rather arrogant, condescending, debasing, lengthy rant about using
ham channels without a license.
(I remained silent because I DO intend to become ham licensed very soon. Hopefully 1st week of Nov)
The ham also tole him that there are ways to find him and do "what is necessary" if he continues
to use these frequencies. After a few minutes of this, my friend tells him he is sorry and will move
on. The hams reply was "then I'll just follow you to whatever frequency you go to" and if I hear you
transmitting , you will be turned into the FCC.
Now, fast forward to about 2 weeks ago. I hear 2 guys talking on GMRS channels. They are
obviously in mobiles. Just from the conversation, they sounded very radio savy so I became more
interested in what they were saying. (truth is; I was learning something from them about antennas)
As it turns out, they were ham operators. So, I jumped into the conversation when I heard a long
pause and asked a few questions. After about 10-12 minutes of talking with them, I asked what
their callsign was. The one answered with a number that didn't seem right to me. So, I looked
it up and sure enough it was a ham callsign, but NOT GMRS. I said No, your GMRS callsign and
he repeated the same number. I told him that was a ham number not a GMRS number. His answer
was beautiful. Ready, "It's both" . Yes, that's right. He told me it covers both ham and GMRS. Now, I
wanted so bad to go ballistic on him the way the other ham did on my friend, but that's really not my
place, nor my job.
If it is so important to hams that everybody 100% legitimate, then why not them?
So, my question is: why do they feel the need to police everyone ALL the time? Is it because
they feel like there frequencies have been encroached upon? Self importance? Do they feel
like they have to protect what's left of their hobby? What?
Maybe someone can help me understand this since I'm soon to be ham'd.
I'll explain: (in a nut shell) A friend bought a few 2 way radios that include the 2 meter and 70cm
ham bands. I was there the day after he received them and asked me to help test them. I drove
a few blocks away and we started to test. On one of the ham frequencies, he was answered by
an obvious ham operator. My friend heard him and instantly apologized but he hadn't heard anyone
transmitting and how he just bought them and this was just a test to see how they worked, but
he will move to another channel. The very next words from the ham were "what 's your callsign".
(I was going to try to explain this to my buddy in the beginning, but decided not to since he
is very stubborn and thickheaded) He told him he had no callsign and he was just testing his
radio. Again, he apologized and said he would move to another channel. That's when the tirade
started. The ham went on a rather arrogant, condescending, debasing, lengthy rant about using
ham channels without a license.
(I remained silent because I DO intend to become ham licensed very soon. Hopefully 1st week of Nov)
The ham also tole him that there are ways to find him and do "what is necessary" if he continues
to use these frequencies. After a few minutes of this, my friend tells him he is sorry and will move
on. The hams reply was "then I'll just follow you to whatever frequency you go to" and if I hear you
transmitting , you will be turned into the FCC.
Now, fast forward to about 2 weeks ago. I hear 2 guys talking on GMRS channels. They are
obviously in mobiles. Just from the conversation, they sounded very radio savy so I became more
interested in what they were saying. (truth is; I was learning something from them about antennas)
As it turns out, they were ham operators. So, I jumped into the conversation when I heard a long
pause and asked a few questions. After about 10-12 minutes of talking with them, I asked what
their callsign was. The one answered with a number that didn't seem right to me. So, I looked
it up and sure enough it was a ham callsign, but NOT GMRS. I said No, your GMRS callsign and
he repeated the same number. I told him that was a ham number not a GMRS number. His answer
was beautiful. Ready, "It's both" . Yes, that's right. He told me it covers both ham and GMRS. Now, I
wanted so bad to go ballistic on him the way the other ham did on my friend, but that's really not my
place, nor my job.
If it is so important to hams that everybody 100% legitimate, then why not them?
So, my question is: why do they feel the need to police everyone ALL the time? Is it because
they feel like there frequencies have been encroached upon? Self importance? Do they feel
like they have to protect what's left of their hobby? What?
Maybe someone can help me understand this since I'm soon to be ham'd.