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Foundations of Amateur Radio
The Hobby of Amateur Radio is a curious mix of technology, rules and people. If you're new to this you're likely to find yourself being swept up in the scale of the experience and more than I think is appropriate you'll find yourself at the pointy end of a barb by another member of the community.
It's taken me over six years to begin to understand what is going on that is causing this. Let me start by saying that there is no place for bullies in this society. Correcting a mistake is one thing, but causing interference, transmitting insults, abusing people on air, ignoring new-comers or using social media to vent is just not appropriate.
Bullying aside, after looking at posts on social media for a while, it occurred to me that much of what lies at the root of this behaviour is a fundamental mismatch between how licensing is achieved today, compared to how it was achieved historically. I see regular references to the type of examination. For example, historically examinations were conducted using full written exams, where today we are likely to use multiple-choice methods and even those are being reviewed.
It occurs to me that historically, the process of becoming a licensed radio amateur was a slow and steady process, infused with deep contact with an existing amateur, regular training, exposure to the community, on-the-job training, interspersed with study and then finally an examination.
Today, the process is more likely to be a much quicker affair, with initial exposure to the hobby, a visit to the local training facility, either face-to-face, or on-line, followed by an examination.
If we assume for a moment that both examinations are the same in terms of assessment, and I know that in and of itself is controversial, what else is different between these two processes?
The answer is the deep contact while learning. In the United States this is referred to as Elmering, in Australia it's called Mentoring and it isn't the same as it used to be. Today there is mentoring going on, lots of it, but often that's after someone has actually received their credentials as a licensed operator.
We assume that the examination prepares us for the hobby, but actually, the examination just prepares you for the law. That is, holding a certificate of proficiency means essentially that you are now legally aware that you can create interference and that you are liable if you do so.
As I said, the deep contact during the learning process is different. That deep contact exposes a new amateur to the unwritten rules and customs that form part of the community of radio amateurs across the globe. For example, we use Lower Side Band or LSB below 10 MHz and Upper Side Band or USB above 10 MHz. There is no technical reason, just historical ones, that make that this must be so.
There are many, many such un-written rules about amateur radio. Often they are referred to as the "Gentleman's Agreement" - and I'll leave aside for a moment the gender issues related to that notion. This so-called "Gentleman's Agreement", is not written down, it's passed on from amateur to amateur, or assumed to have been magically acquired by the process of osmosis.
So, a newly minted Amateur, truth be told, I'm one of those, steps into the stream and gets swamped by rules that appear from no-where and instead of getting chapter and verse on how to learn, the amateur gets insulted and ostracised.
It is clear to me today - more than it has ever been - that old hams die hard. They are responsible for their legacy and if they want to maintain the hobby in their image, they're required to be inclusive and assist new amateurs, rather than insult them and drive them away.
I know that there are many wonderful amateurs in our community who do just that. However, the noisy ones just want the new amateurs to get off their lawn and go and play with something else, preferably not in their patch.
I have no doubt that I'll get flurries of people who feel insulted by what I have observed and to those I can only say: "If the shoe fits..."
For the rest of us, it's time to get on air and make some noise. Document any rules you come across and perhaps one day we'll have a code of conduct that radio amateurs can hold up to the world as an example of tolerance, inclusiveness and encouragement. If we're lucky we can even incorporate the Amateurs Code, originally written in 1928. A Radio Amateur is Considerate, Loyal, Progressive, Friendly, Balanced and Patriotic.
We can dream.
I'm Onno VK6FLAB
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