On Jul 21, 2008, at 7:45 PM, James French wrote:
James W8ISS - a voting member that has issues with the current crop of APPLIANCE OPERATORS on the amateur bands!!!
I reply locally to this sentiment the same way I'll reply here James.
"When and where is your next class, and is it suited to people with zero technical knowledge? I'll send the announcement to the 400 members of my repeater club, you'll probably have a big crowd and even bigger for the second session, if you have any idea what you're doing as an instructor."
Better yet... "Why should anyone with technical knowledge feel or act superior to someone who doesn't have it? Shouldn't you be helping them learn? Didn't you have an Elmer or some other way to learn this knowledge?"
Or perhaps the meanest one used to plonk someone whining about this locally this week, "Did you pop out of your momma knowing CW and how to read a Smith Chart?"
This "I hate non-techies" attitude many older "technical" hams seem to have, gets old. Do you think it's helping the hobby any? Think about it.
Do something about it if it distresses you so much. Teach. Now. Not "someday" when you have time. Make videos. Whatever... just do it and quit complaining.
As someone else pointed out, much of the current growth in ham radio is in 50-something males who now have time and money and can buy rigs and get on the air. Your job, if you want the hobby to be "more technical" than them just buying rigs and using them... is to a) give them a reason why they should learn something they don't need -- which they'll also figure out on their own, given time... and b) a forum in which to learn... that's as convenient and fun for them as turning on that $1000 rig and talking to people.
Neither one is easy. Whining about it is easy, though.
Got a good reason a guy with $2000 burning a hole in his pocket needs to learn about superheterodyne receivers, James? I don't. He can buy one with all the fancy features and use it today without needing to know anything about how it works.
Just because you like to learn (as do I -- there's a reason I took months to read the ARRL Antenna Manual from cover to cover), doesn't mean the new folks do. What motivated you? Would it work on them?
Guilt trips and bad attitudes from old-timers will certainly be ignored... get used to it. Find another (more positive) way.
-- Nate Duehr, WY0X nate@natetech.com