The Appliance Operator....

[Movieman990]

I'm a new ham here and in reading a thread about being "ghosted" when attending a ham radio club meeting one of the members here mentioned "appliance operators".

Feeling I might be one myself I looked up a definition and found this article which dates to 2005 and in doing so was 13 years ahead of its time on some of the ham radio opportunities around in 2018.

Before I post the link to that article I'd like to give a very brief (but accurate) reason why I became a ham just 5 weeks ago.

I and my wife are avid hikers (and 74 years old) and we sometimes go where cell phone coverage doesn't exist, but a repeater might be in reach. Thinking we could use an extra margin of safety in the event of an injury or needing to report something bad happening on the trail I decided to get on 2 meters.

So far have used the HT on several hikes just seeing if it would hit the repeaters (it did) and made the 5 to 10 mile (round trip hikes) without incident or the need to use the HT for its intended safety purpose. That will be the case 99% of the time I'm sure, but a twisted ankle isn't a pleasant thing, so......

Anyway, here's the link to the article and feel free to comment on what it means to YOU to have "appliance operators" sharing the airwaves with folks who have a varied set of interests that don't revolve around the mechanics of modifying a rig or building the ultimate antenna.

https://www.eham.net/articles/11116

 

[ko6jw_2]

Ham radio has so many different facets that the term appliance operator is meaningless. You might as well call a CW operator a code head. My main issue is with operators who get licenses for limited purposes - say family communications, but are otherwise not interested in the hobby or public service.

Ham radio is social networking. Talking or communicating should be one of the main reason for getting a license. Your purpose for getting licensed is perfectly fine, but there are issues. One is that relying on ham radio for emergency assistance is problematic at best. Is anyone listening? Will they even respond? If you are not involved with a club or ARES group, no one will know who you are and may not respond. On the other hand, if you have a personal connection they are more likely to help.

By all means use your radios while hiking, but make connections through a repeater, check into nets, volunteer for events. That way people will know you call and respond if you need help. You can tell people of your plans and ask them to listen for you.

I monitor eight or nine frequencies in three bands whenever I can. Rarely, I hear visitors or new operators calling and I try to respond. Try to be proactive.

Operators with all types of interests. I knew one guy that had never talked on the radio - he only used code. I know others that have never talked below 2 meters and others that have never talked above 6 meters. A friend of mine and a long time (55+ years) ham had never used the 220 band until he borrowed on of my radios.

These days serious home-brew radios are the exception, but experimenting with antennas is easy. A roll-up jPole might be a good ting to have in the wilderness. Even if you only have a 2 meter HT you should know how to program it, how to use simplex and how the band plan works. What is a valid simplex frequency? What part of the band is used for weak signal or sideband? We once had a group of hang glider pilots who got ham licenses and set themselves up in the weak signal SSB area of the 2 meter band using FM. Not cool. They didn't know any better and moved off to another part of the band when they were informed of the band plan.

You might want to invest in a satellite distress beacon to carry along side your HT if you are truly concerned about summoning aid in an emergency in the back country. Also, in California you can join CalStar/Reach for very little money. They will then med-evac you at no charge if possible.

Have fun and enjoy your hikes.

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

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Smiles, 6UMU... welcome to the wonderful world of amateur radio ! And let me be one of the first to tackle your question.
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First off, I don't think think there is anyone out there that can rightly call another ham an "AO"..... Maybe years ago when hams did build a lot of their own equipment- but those days are gone. Hams might have called each other that out of jealousy-- they envied the guy with the $$ store-bought goodies... but today everyone can afford and owns the same toys... and why not?... they are great bargains that just about anyone can afford, at the same level. The prices of radio stuff today makes building your own strictly something you want to do, not Have to do.
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Remember too that few built their own receivers- 'homebrewing' was mostly transmitters.
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Maybe the 'real hams' today will assemble components modules, modify existing radios, design and fabricate antennas-- but the true dye-in-the wool experimentr's are rare ducks these days. Yes they are out there, but there are very few that can build a direct conversion 10 Gig SSB transceiver- let alone design one... or even understand what I just said.**
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I will, in a friendly way, challenge you, or anyone else one out there- to show me a ham that has built his own station from the IC/transistor/tube level up- Any takers?.. And I'm looking for something meaningful- like nothing less than a multiband HF/VHF all mode transceiver.
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Of course there are no takers-- we are all Appliance Operators.
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6UMU, Enjoy your hobby at whatever level you desire... and if anyone calls you an "AO" send that clown my way.... I will pick his bones clean
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Lauri
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_________________________________________________
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** a small Disclaimer- I'm a PhD physicist; BS, MS,-EE's. and a former director (RF stuff ) at a National Laboratory. Now I'm an advisor on such to certain folks in Wash. DC -- and I consider myself, quite proudly-- an "AO"---

 

[Movieman990]

Thanks for the reply

I find myself writing long posts here and sometimes I leave things out in the interest of brevity, so I'm not surprised when someone responds and brings up points I haven't mentioned.

While my initial reason for getting a tech ticket was as stated in my original post, I have found other reasons to enjoy ham radio even in just a couple of months.

>>>>>>>>>

While I have not joined a club (and may not due to my limited interest in the tech side which seems to be the thrust of the several meetings I have been too) I made the rounds at two field days about 20 miles apart and talked to a few of the hams there...I even won a book in a raffle !

The socializing aspect of ham radio is of interest to me but again, I'm just not that interested in the tech aspects so much...that's the reason I thought of myself as an "appliance operator".

I have been interested in ham radio since the sixth grade (62 years ago) but the code was something I couldn't handle and then of course going on from there to a career in small town commercial radio broadcasting and many years of teaching and being involved in public radio kept the radio bug going...just not the ham aspect.

So, I guess the position I would take overall is that ham is big enough to support all kinds of interests and a varying degree of interest in more than one of those aspects. The more I read the more I see this with some operators proudly noting they got their tech licenses years ago and have no interest in going further than that.

Meanwhile, I recently acquired two Icom units (1 transceiver and 1 receiver) and two Uniden scanners and have been enjoying listening to them, but I have sold one of the scanners already and am thinking I'm just not going to pursue SWL that much, so the others will probably be sold as well.

Anyway, those long hikes with hardly any electronics along for the walk are one of my favorite things to do and the company of my wife and our two border collies provide a lot of joy I've developed over the last 35 years or so.

 

[Movieman990]

Forgot to mention....

I have joined several 2m nets on-air and at least a few of the folks there know my call-sign now, so if I did happen to call from 60 miles away through a repeater I would hope someone would respond.

While the socializing is important (in person or on-air) some of the banter on-air that goes on doesn't do much for me and I certainly don't say anything about the content or the operators providing it, but like anything else, the "off" button is pretty close and there are many things to choose from whether it's another net or even another medium.

I tuned into a "traffic" net this morning and it usually runs about an hour long but I joined at about the 45 minute mark. Fortunately the "joke of the day" had already been trotted out and I missed it. Some of the content is actually about hi-way traffic and on the last "go around" I was able to say something to the effect that I had probably missed other folks talking about a draw bridge which had been tying up auto traffic for days. I was surprised to hear that NO ONE ELSE had mentioned this, so I had actually made a contribution to the conversation. A personal friend had waited 1 hour and 20 minutes yesterday at that bridge.

As to the suggestion of going with something like SPOT, I actually have done that some years ago when I went alone (except for one dog) up a five mile canyon to an old mining site which due it's remote location still had a free standing brick chimney (50 feet or more tall) and several shacks which people used for overnighting rather than make the trek downhill at the end of a long day walking and sightseeing at the top.
The town itself was washed away in the late 1800's by a flash flood that went all the way to the bottom down that same canyon.

I took a "spot" on that trip as it truly was a bit worrisome and that was a good safeguard for such a trip. Today our hikes are still long, but not as dangerous....normally to and around mountain lakes, but still cougar and bear country.

Thanks to all who have contributed here with ideas, concerns and agreements.

 

[TailGator911]

That article was a good read, the comments even better. I am proud to be an Appliance Operator, and I love my appliances

JD
kf4anc

 

[mmckenna]

That article was a good read, the comments even better. I am proud to be an Appliance Operator, and I love my appliances

I agree, the comments are good.

e-ham.com is always amusing for the cranky amateur antics, arguments and those trying to "Out-precise" each other. God forbid you are off by 1 thousandth of an inch in your wavelength calculations! I do my best to avoid that site.

People also love to label others. Not sure why. It's like competitive sports or politics, the "us versus them" attitude. Everyone who agrees with you is "good", those that don't agree with you are "bad".

Just childish name calling.


Nothing wrong with being an "appliance operator". If they passed the test, they passed the test.

 

[plusEric26]

I like how all of those folks over in that thread whining and name calling, if they're still around, are probably left in the dust today.

What with SDR, DMR, Pi's and all this extremely technical stuff some of the younger "appliance operators" are busy with.....

So much drama. Grown men (mostly) acting like little children on the playground....

For me, I'll do what I want, and I could care less if someone calls me an appliance operator or something else. Their opinion of me isn't any of my business.

 

[AK9R]

Folks, I'm not comfortable with using the RadioReference forums to talk about what goes on in another radio-related forum. Call it professional courtesy.

If you have thoughts or comments on the topic of this thread, that being "appliance operators" in amateur radio, post away.

But, if all you are going to do is bash or poke fun at what goes on on eHam.net, maybe this isn't the place.

 

[drdispatch]

I agree with what ko6jw and Lauri said; ham radio is a lot of things to a lot of people. Would it be cool to bounce a signal off the moon? Sure it would. But I have neither the time nor the financial resources necessary (let alone the Morse Code proficiency) to engage in such endeavors. I got into ham radio for 2 reasons: Emergency communications and storm spotting. I had studied the code way back when, and it gave me fits. When the no-code Technician Class license came along, I showed up at an exam session, took the test, passed, and came away with the means to pursue my interests. Sure, it would give a sense of accomplishment to get awards for working all states, or continents, or time zones, or countries that begin with "E", or whatever. But that's not what I got into it for. Besides; I have a family, an old house, a yard, a full-time job, other interests.... you get the idea. (And I've talked on the radio for a living for 35 years, so sometimes I just want to turn it all OFF.)

Here's another thought:
This past weekend, we went to a classic car show. We love old cars. The time and effort (not to mention $$$) it takes to restore a 1955 Thunderbird to it's original condition is respectable to say the least. Would it be fun to do that? Sure. Do I have the time, skill and $$$ to do it? Most certainly not. I'm perfectly content in that regard to merely admire the work of others. So I guess when it comes to old cars, I'm classified as an "appliance operator"!

 

[MTS2000des]

As devoid of use as the VHF/UHF bands are in my "little" metro area of close to 6 million people, it would not bother me one bit if the O/P or others in his interest lawfully utilize amateur radio for their non-commercial personal activities such as hiking/cycling/whatever.
If anything, actually hearing two or more people conversing about something other than who they talked to on HF or the last time the home health care nurse came to change their colostomy bag would be enlightening. There is PLENTY of usable spectrum for all interests in the amateur radio service. If one doesn't like it, spin the dial back to the "hi-hi OM" repeaters/simplex frequencies and live and let live.

 

[ladn]

Welcome to ham radio UMU! Enjoy the hobby at whatever level works for you.

I, too, consider myself an Appliance Operator (and am flattered to have such good company as Lauri).

I enjoy building and tweaking antennas (both VHF/UHF and HF). I have no desire to even consider building a contemporary radio from scratch. Long gone are the days of neighborhood parts suppliers. As bad as Radio Shack was, at least you could (sometimes) find a 100k resistor or .01 mfd disc capacitor in those mysterious drawers in the back of the store.

I can perform (some) basic service on my equipment, but modern radios using SMD devices require far more specialized equipment than a magnifying glass and low wattage soldering iron.

I regularly check into several VHF nets and, when out in the wilds, work HF. I'll even admit to owning several CCR's (Cheap Chinese Radios). I enjoy backcountry 4x4 travel and always have my ham radios in my vehicles.

I have no use for Code and, even though I had to learn it for my licenses, never, ever, had a QSO using manual Code. I enjoy operating my appliances that allow perfect Code to be sent and received at speeds well beyond those of a human's fist. The ham radio hobby is broad enough so that I can coexist with an antiquarian mode like Code. The historian in me might even get a perverse thrill out of Code if I could try it on a vintage spark gap rig (any takers, Lauri?).

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

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Quote:
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"..........The historian in me might even get a perverse thrill out of Code if I could try it on a vintage spark gap rig (any takers, Lauri?)"
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Hey Ladn-
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I had to smile at the challenge- and it prompted stories of things I played with long ago. Of course this will veer the topic slightly.. but i think still in keeping with the spirit of "AO."
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I have mentioned any number of times in these forums about one of my (great) aunts who was a Marconi Girl- back in the golden days of Spark, of coherer receivers, the long long wavelengths....
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Family stories of her fuel'd my imagination for as long as I can remember. As time went by and I grew in my career, I became more and more curious about what she did with her huge spark gap radios.
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I was living in the Maryland/DC area back in the days when Morse Code was still required for ham licenses. 13 WPM's for a General Class license was a daunting hurtle for many, and there were quite a few Tech's that wanted a place to practice live, over the air code. What better place to do it than over an inactive 2 metre repeater.
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A radio club allowed the informal use of their otherwise silent machine to send code practice. Tone oscillators and Morse keys were Mickey Mouse'd to 2 metre transceivers , General, Advanced, Extra's all joined in ....and ... QSO's !
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It didn't take me long to realize that a lot of the signals I was hearing were pretty rough- you'd swear you were listening to spark. It also didn't take much for me to extrapolate this a step further, and I hook'd up a tone generator to produce spark-like audios. Within days others joined in..
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Oh, what a collection of sounds....! ..There were harsh crashs of the un-quenched, lilting variable tones of the quenched- and my favorite- the musical songs of rotatary gap.
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The fun took off from there. No one used voice at all- everything was "spark'-
Code speeds were increasing with practice as a Victorian/Edwardian atmosphere took over the repeater. Old time abbreviations came back to life after years of non-use. We used Marconi Company callsigns** and telegraphic slang; some very funny, others quite salty and colourful (Marconi operators had great senses of humour and quick tongues when subtle insults were need'd)--
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Everyone was trying, it seem'd, to out do the others at stepping back into radio's history.
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I can't say how long this went on, but while it last'd it was a lot of fun..... the squelch would break and it might be --
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".................CQ CQ CQ DE MPU MPU MPU AR K.............."
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Prompt any ideas, fellow "AO's ?"

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Lauri
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_______________________________________________________________
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**We did ID with our FCC calls at the appropriate intervals -- but I was "MPA"- the callsign of the RMS Carpathia-- of Titanic fame...... no one was "MGY"--- one guess as to that callsign.
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[ladn]

That actually sounds like fun (without the inherent dangers of spark gaps or bandwidth obliteration).

 

[sloop]

I was going to let this thread die a natural death, but after being on the radio last night.....My definition of 'appliance operator' has changed since the early 70's. Today I think of an 'appliance operator' as one that memorized the answers to the test questions, went from no license to extra in one test session, but has no clue about anything related to the radio, antenna, or operating techniques. He is the one with a general (or extra) license that embarrasses himself (and everyone else) by asking ill informed (stupid) questions about how to connect an antenna, is swr really important, why he can't receive digital public service on his HT, or if its ok to use his radio for cb, frs, gmrs, etc. Sorry for the rant but I am tired of applicants sitting and passing all test, obtaining an extra class with out listening to or touching a radio.

 

[KC4RAF]

Agree sloop. I've been involved in radio communications since the early '50s, (I was about 8 years old!!! lol)
I've noticed amateurs' with general and up that asks questions that should have been known. Any more, all one has to do is just memorized the answers to the test questions and bingo, they are licensed.
I know that many if not most further their knowledge and become proficient amateur operators, and not the dreaded 'appliance operator'.

 

[majoco]

KC4RAF said:

I've been involved in radio communications since the early '50s, (I was about 8 years old!!! lol)

We must be about the same age.....here I am aged about 11 with my Dad and a war surplus R1475, my first real radio after we made a crystal set when I was 8 which was modified to get the 49 metre band which in Europe was jumping at the time in the midst of the cold war.

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

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............ Wonderful Photo !..............

 

[landsharkca]

oh wow priceless photo!!! just priceless !!!!

 

[Hans13]

Great photo. Thank you for sharing it.