Finally, a sensible post about this. It is funny that we argue about the purpose of amateur radio, because (for US amateurs) it is spelled out in FCC regulations. There are five purposes, two technical, one about technical and communication education, one about public service, and one about international goodwill. An amateur doing any one of those is solidly within the purposes of their license. An amateur following the regs and good practice and having fun on the air is also doing just fine in my book, even if they don’t know Amps from Volts.
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-97 Heartily agree about RS-232. When I got back into the hobby, I was appalled at all the serial control. The very last time that I used RS-232 with a computer was in 2001, rebuilding the kernel on an HP-UX server at Inktomi. I threw away my collection of RS-232 connector shells and crimp pins not long after that. Imagine my surprise when I was looking at rigs in 2009. Anybody who’d like to learn more is welcome in the Amateur Radio Elmers group on Facebook. We welcome your questions and have zero tolerance for bad behavior. https://www.facebook.com/groups/483873128439168 wunder K6WRU Walter Underwood CM87wj http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog) > On Jul 7, 2022, at 4:03 AM, Gerry Hull <ge...@w1ve.com> wrote: > > LOL! > > Jim and Dave, > > You both have made great contribution to the hobby. > > I am an ex ARRL Assistant Technical Editor, working with Doug DeMaw, > W1FB, and Jerry Hall, K1TD in the Tech Department of ARRL, and was a > contributor to the ARRL Handbook and QST editor. Oh, and 47 years in the > hobby now: I think i know a thing or two about radio, but, am always > learning -- that's what keeps it interesting. > > Other than that, I've spent 35+ years as a software engineer. > > Measuring a ham's worth by what they know technically is, sad to say, a > very myopic view of the world. Many hams are non-technical, especially > new ones. Many come to the hobby from non-technical backgrounds, and are > usually excellent communicators. They enrich our hobby tremendously, > never the less. > > From my experience, RS-232 and CAT in general is one of the most difficult > issues hams deal with. "Plug and Play" and the details of the intricacies > of the USB bus and different Windows device driver models are not on any > ham exam, nor should an end user ever have to mess with them. It is a > difficult challenge to solve for end uses due to the incredible complexity > of the Windows PC ecosystem. > > As a contester, I know messing with interfacing CAT, Sound and Networking > are the bain of many, and consume the most time in prep for any event. > This is the nature of our hobby today. However, there is no need to get a > CS degree to have fun. > Please keep contributing, but remember not everyone has your skills. > > Judging from the number of private emails I've received, I know I'm helping > people solve their issues. > > We are on the Elecraft reflector. > > Bravo to the Elecraft team. They build radios for communicators, not > computer geeks. IMHO, the only company that really gets that. > > Peace. > > 73, > > Gerry W1VE > > > > > > > > > On Thu, Jul 7, 2022, 4:58 AM Jim Brown <j...@audiosystemsgroup.com> wrote: > >> On 7/7/2022 12:58 AM, Dave B via Elecraft wrote: >>> Well, this is a "technical" hobby, and such technicalities are not going >>> to go away anytime soon I suspect. Especially in regards to the use of >>> computers in the shack. >> >> Yep. Traditionally, ham radio has been a hobby for those who what to >> LEARN stuff. The guys who put us in space and on the moon started out >> with ham radio and the ARRL Handbook. I'm of that generation, worked in >> other fields, but that's how I started out! >> >> 73, Jim K9YC >> >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net >> >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >> Message delivered to ge...@w1ve.com > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to wun...@wunderwood.org ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
