Hi Mr. 10
I hope your QSO won't be a rarity- Ham radio is all about talking. Its too bad such a conversations stands out as exceptional.
Personally I have no trouble getting into long 'rag chews' with those I meet on the air. Perhaps its a female thing -to be chatty, - and men like to talk to women on the air- but I try to think of it as more than that.
For instance, I think quite a few hams avoid long conversations on repeaters for various reasons. Like they don't want to 'tie up a machine' or they feel that there are vast, unknown numbers of people all out there listening in. That last excuse is mine, and keeps my repeater QSO's limited when it comes to my personal space info-stuff. I rarely talk on repeaters now-a-days for that very reason. However, I have no issues, real or imagined, when talking about all sorts of things in simplex- 2 metre's, HF-- whatever.
First off-- In order to have an interesting chat you have to be an interesting chat-ee. I hate to say it guys, but talking about the equipment in your 'shack' is, how do I say this kindly ?- as boring (to me) as watching paint dry. I seldom say much more about my radios other than they have pretty dials and knobs- an exaggeration of course- but not much. If I talk about radios it has to be in context with something else, not just some dry equipment models, numbers or antennas. For instance; --- lately I can tell you the tale of the fate of a hand-held, when I dropped it (accidentally !)- from the top of a 600 foot naval radio tower- and it survived unscathed !.... (there !-caught your interest, didn't I--- see how it works ?)
A chat about equipment but not about equipment.
My ham philosophy is that everyone has a story- and its becomes my role to get them to tell it to me. Nothing does that better than asking questions,--- and, of course, being genuinely interested in the answers. People love to talk about where they live, for instance--- and well, you get the idea- take it from there. Before long you will have made a friend and the scope of your conversation will know few bounds.
Where do you find such places to meet such people ? Easy-- any hunter knows you go hunting where there is something to hunt. I suggest looking into a local 10-10 net. I have yet to be disappointed. These nets tend to be local (right off you have something in common) and people are there to chat. That's my suggestion for a jumping off point-- plus they are generally in the part of 10 metre's open to Tech's.
Please bear in mind that these are
my suggestions-- emptor caveat---- However, I have been a ham for many years and in many far flung corner of the world where amateur radio was my 'social media' outlet. These techniques work for me--- maybe you too ?
Cheers---!
Lauri
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