Mocking You
New member
I was wondering why I derive enjoyment talking with complete strangers on just about any subject on Internet forums. Suddenly it hit me--internet forums are somewhat like being an amateur radio operator. When I was a kid back in the 70's I was an amateur radio operator.
Amateur radio operators would trawl through noisy radio frequencies looking for an interesting topic and then join the conversations. You never knew who you were talking to except via their licensed callsign, i.e. W1ABC. The first and second character in the callsign was a clue to the other persons location, either by country (first character) and then the area within that country (second character).
You would say something (or tap it out in morse code) over the air waves then anxiously wait for a reply from a total stranger. If using morse code a simple conversation could take hours. Sometimes other people would chime in and move the conversation topic.
Sometimes real names would be exchanged and sometimes operators would send each other QSL cards in the mail, customized postcards with the operator's callsign, name, and location printed on them to prove you had communicated with that person. The idea was to collect QSL cards from far-flung places to prove that your radio rig and antenna system was top notch.
If you were an avid operator you would learn there were operators that were regularly on the same radio frequencies and would discuss the same topics. After a while you would know so-and-so would be on the 20 meter band between 8 and 10 at night talking about yagi antennas, or gun control, or movies. You would get to know this person via conversations without ever knowing what they looked like, unless you got their QSL card and there was a photograph of them on it.
Ready made mass manufactured radio transceivers started replacing home-brewed equipment and then cell phones, home video, and the Internet effectively killed amateur radio. Who wanted to wade through scratchy radio frequencies when communication nowadays became instantaneous and was crystal clear?
Apparently, devotees of internet forums have taken up the cause.
Consider:
We search through noisy forums looking for subject matter that interests us.
We only initially know people on forums via their user names.
We tap out sentences to strangers on our keyboards and then anxiously await responses. A simple conversation can take days. Sometimes other people will chime in and move the conversation topic.
We check the users profile to see where they are located, look and see if there is a profile photo. (forum equivalent of QSL cards)
People can be regularly found in the same forums talking about the same subject matter, often at the same time each day.
Instead of the FCC regulating and granting us privileges, the forum owner does this.
Are there any former (or current) amateur radio operators that can think of more parallels between ham radio and posting on forums?
Amateur radio operators would trawl through noisy radio frequencies looking for an interesting topic and then join the conversations. You never knew who you were talking to except via their licensed callsign, i.e. W1ABC. The first and second character in the callsign was a clue to the other persons location, either by country (first character) and then the area within that country (second character).
You would say something (or tap it out in morse code) over the air waves then anxiously wait for a reply from a total stranger. If using morse code a simple conversation could take hours. Sometimes other people would chime in and move the conversation topic.
Sometimes real names would be exchanged and sometimes operators would send each other QSL cards in the mail, customized postcards with the operator's callsign, name, and location printed on them to prove you had communicated with that person. The idea was to collect QSL cards from far-flung places to prove that your radio rig and antenna system was top notch.
If you were an avid operator you would learn there were operators that were regularly on the same radio frequencies and would discuss the same topics. After a while you would know so-and-so would be on the 20 meter band between 8 and 10 at night talking about yagi antennas, or gun control, or movies. You would get to know this person via conversations without ever knowing what they looked like, unless you got their QSL card and there was a photograph of them on it.
Ready made mass manufactured radio transceivers started replacing home-brewed equipment and then cell phones, home video, and the Internet effectively killed amateur radio. Who wanted to wade through scratchy radio frequencies when communication nowadays became instantaneous and was crystal clear?
Apparently, devotees of internet forums have taken up the cause.
Consider:
We search through noisy forums looking for subject matter that interests us.
We only initially know people on forums via their user names.
We tap out sentences to strangers on our keyboards and then anxiously await responses. A simple conversation can take days. Sometimes other people will chime in and move the conversation topic.
We check the users profile to see where they are located, look and see if there is a profile photo. (forum equivalent of QSL cards)
People can be regularly found in the same forums talking about the same subject matter, often at the same time each day.
Instead of the FCC regulating and granting us privileges, the forum owner does this.
Are there any former (or current) amateur radio operators that can think of more parallels between ham radio and posting on forums?
atrol: