Re: Are we a part of the Amateur / Ham radio hobby?
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Peter Laws
On Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 3:40 AM, <tanger32au@...> wrote:
I try to look at it this way: is radio magic? If yes, then you're in the club. From Wikipedia. Note the etymology: An amateur (French amateur "lover of", from Old French and ultimately from Latin amatorem nom. amator, "lover") is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science in a non-professional or unpaid manner. Amateurs often have little or no formal training in their pursuits, and many are autodidacts (self-taught). So if you love radio, by definition, you are an amateur. :-) I would guess that most people that love radio receive and never transmit - SWLs, MWLs (to coin a term), scanner enthusiasts, TV/FMDXers, etc. I do both but I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority.
Are you a ham? Yeah, probably not. "Ham" after all is the derogatory term for a poor operator (may even predate wireless telegraphy and may have originated on wireline telegraphy) as in "ham fisted" so that means you need to be transmitting. But don't let any licensed amateurs get all snooty and tell you that you aren't worthy unless you're licensed.
Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train!
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