{"id":1837,"date":"2018-05-16T18:00:03","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T18:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/network-radios.com\/?p=1837"},"modified":"2018-05-16T18:36:22","modified_gmt":"2018-05-16T18:36:22","slug":"so-what-is-real-ham-radio-then","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/16\/so-what-is-real-ham-radio-then\/","title":{"rendered":"So What is \u201cReal Ham Radio\u201d then?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><b>by <a href=\"http:\/\/g7ddn.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris G7DDN<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Earlier this year, I wrote a piece called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/07\/its-not-real-ham-radio-by-chris-g7ddn\/\">It\u2019s not Real Ham Radio<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">It caused quite a stir and has since been disseminated worldwide, broadcasted and quoted in many places and in magazines too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The basic premise was that, as new technologies come into the Amateur Radio Hobby, Hams often have difficulty adapting to them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Change demands a response<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">This should, in reality, not be a surprise. You will be able to think of many instances in your personal and work lives when change has come along, often unexpectedly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The problem is that change is a little scary &#8211; and this is because it demands we react in some way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>3 ways we react to change<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Oftentimes our reaction is to dismiss any change and try to remain in the status quo, where we feel we know our \u201cground\u201d and where we feel secure. The problem here is that any changes then may pass us by &#8211; we can easily become mired in what quickly becomes \u201cthe past\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Other times we are <i>forced<\/i> to take on board things we may not really want to. (Most times though, those things turn out to not be as bad as we had expected, just different.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">And very occasionally, we actually get all positive and <i>embrace<\/i> change and become quite excited about it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Time to ask the question in a different way..<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">So, revisiting my initial article, I thought it was perhaps time to address the question, what actually IS \u201cReal Ham Radio\u201d?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Immediately however, I sense a problem here &#8211; you could probably get a different answer to this question from every single Ham in the world!<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>A few examples<\/b><\/p>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\">A QRPer will tell you Ham Radio is about using the least power to get the most distance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\">An Amateur TV enthusiast could talk of cameras, test cards, repeaters and using microwave frequencies with dishes for antennas<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\">A DX-er might regail you with stories of the excitement of the pile-up and the feeling you get when you \u201cbag\u201d a new country towards your DXCC<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\">A Top Band rag-chewer may well tell you of the friendships he has made over countless years and the close bonds that have been made (and many beers consumed!) as a result<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\">A CW enthusiast will probably tell you how close they feel to the original spirit of the earliest Hams<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\">An LF enthusiast could tell you of hours spent winding large coils in order to get an antenna match, just to get minimal ERP out<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\">A Microwave specialist might tell you about lining up horn antennas on summits to try to get DX contacts using snow scatter as a form of propagation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\">A SOTA hiker may well tell you of the joys of Radio in the great outdoors and how life is always better with batteries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\">All these examples, and I could have gone on, are individual responses to the question \u201cWhat is Ham Radio?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>What do you want Ham Radio to be?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">To some degree, it seems obvious that \u201cReal Ham Radio\u201d is what <i>you<\/i> want it to be, what <i>you<\/i> make it for <i>yourself<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Few hobbies have such a wide range to them, so many avenues to explore &#8211; I doubt that any one Amateur has ever managed to visit them all!<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">FT8, for example, is the latest digimode to appear on the scene and has been taking the Ham Community by storm it seems &#8211; although there are many, myself included, who <i>don\u2019t<\/i> get a kick out of computer-typing modes.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>I love to see my friends enthusiastic for it however, as it keeps the hobby alive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>So can we define \u201cReal Ham Radio\u201d?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Frankly it is a problem!<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">I had some lengthy correspondences with a few Hams after my initial article. We had to work hard to find common ground that would satisfy each other as to how to define our hobby.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">I had one excellent thoughtful debate with a US Amateur during which we were both challenged to think of how we defined the hobby. We managed to agree for the purposes of our email exchange on something close to this\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>\u201cHam Radio is a hobby where a government-approved license stipulates what we <\/i><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i>must<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i> do to comply with our license conditions. But this relates <\/i><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i>solely<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i> to the emission of RF &#8211; anything else involved in the hobby will clearly <\/i><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i>not<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i> require a licence.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">So we pretty much distilled the definition to purely TX-ing on an Amateur Band legal in the country that issues the license and nothing else.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>But does that actually define Ham Radio?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">I have a client who is a Lecturer at a local University. He is a Doctor and his specialism is Microwave Technology. He has his own research profile and also mentors undergraduates. Like me he holds a G7 callsign. Unlike me though, he has <\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i>never ever<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> been on the air. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Is he an Amateur? By our initial definition, the answer would be no, simply because he chooses <\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i>not<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> to transmit on specific portions of RF. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">By the way, this man is, in actuality, a true RF \u201cprofessional\u201d &#8211; he is not an amateur (with a small a) when it comes to radio. He knows more than most people world-wide about radio, especially Microwaves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Let\u2019s try again\u2026<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">OK let\u2019s amend the definition. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Perhaps we can say <i>\u201cA Radio Ham is someone who holds a license to transmit on specific Amateur Bands, whether or not they choose to do so.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">There &#8211; that\u2019s better. We can now count my client in our new definition. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">That also covers another friend of mine who is a genius at construction and making transmitters from scratch. He gets his kicks from our hobby by constructing &#8211; but he doesn\u2019t ever go on air.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">He just tests his home-built radios on dummy loads and then usually gives them away to those in the hobby who enjoy the operating side. It would be churlish to say he wasn\u2019t a \u201cReal Radio Amateur\u201d, even though technically, he didn\u2019t even <\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i>have<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> to pass his exam to become a Ham for what he gets from the hobby.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">So here is another issue &#8211; can you be a \u201cReal Radio Amateur\u201d, or engage in traditional Ham activities, and not even take a license exam?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Where next?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">This is getting more difficult &#8211; perhaps we can go back to the root word of \u201cAmateur\u201d &#8211; the Latin \u2018amare\u2019 &#8211; to love.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">The difference between Amateurs and Professionals is that the former practices for love and the latter does it for a profession; in all likelihood they get paid for it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">We \u201clove\u201d radio so that definition might work, might it not?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Maybe or maybe not!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">After all, CB-ers are also lovers of radio. So are \u201cFreebanders\u201d and a lot of aviation enthusiasts. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">In fact, a lot of other hobbies cross over to us in some way &#8211; model aircraft enthusiasts use RF in order for their hobby to work at all, for example.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>So where are we to go? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">We seem to be up a cul-de-sac with no way out.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li3\"><span class=\"s1\">We can\u2019t quite define Ham Radio by transmitting RF &#8211; clearly we are still Hams when we are <\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i>not<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> transmitting RF on specific bands<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li3\"><span class=\"s1\">We can\u2019t quite define Ham Radio by <\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i>only<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> the passing of a license test, like my Doctor client who never actually goes on the air or practices the hobby in any accepted form<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li3\"><span class=\"s1\">We can\u2019t quite define Ham Radio by \u201clove of radio\u201d either, as it encompasses groups that are on the edge of our hobby but not quite part of it<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>And now\u2026<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">So here we are and now Network Radios arrive on the scene and people are scratching their heads as to whether we \u201caccept\u201d them or not, as if we are some \u201cguardians of real radio truth\u201d! <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">I think the problem is that the technology is making it yet more difficult to define what our hobby actually is &#8211; and as newer and newer technologies come on stream, it may yet get even more so!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Perhaps we need to think \u201coutside the box\u201d a little more?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>It\u2019s not \u201cReal Ham Radio\u201d\u2026 or is it?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Network Radios certainly do not transmit on Ham Bands so wouldn\u2019t fit into definition one. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">However they could fit into definition two &#8211; you can use them like an Amateur would, if you choose to do so. If you choose to use Ham Protocols, fine, that is your prerogative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">They very much fit into definition 3 in the sense that we can make use of them in ways we see fit for our own \u201cpleasure\u201d and enjoyment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>More definition required!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">A quick search for the definition of a hobby comes up with this &#8211; \u201c<\/span><span class=\"s3\">an activity done regularly in one&#8217;s leisure time for pleasure\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">Well Network Radios fit that just fine too &#8211; and to boot, they also use RF at various points in the chain, albeit on cellular or wi-fi frequencies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>But there\u2019s more\u2026<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">However, remember that they also can crossover into Ham bands via streaming audio or via remote operation of, for example, HF transceivers. This clearly <\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i>would<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> require an Amateur Service licence. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">Bizarrely then, there is a sense in which Network Radios simultaneously may and may not require a license!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">Isn\u2019t this getting more than a little weird? That\u2019s what technological conundrums do for you!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Now there\u2019s a challenge!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">As I said at the start of this article though, change <i>challenges<\/i> us &#8211; it <i>challenges<\/i> the status quo.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">Change has come many times in our hobby (this was the main point of my original article) and it is challenging us now in the persona of Network Radios.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">Perhaps we need to broaden our definitions; in this way, we can encompass a lot more in our hobby and maybe even reach out to others and grow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">The alternative is to \u201cbatten down the hatches\u201d and try to defend our own little corners of the hobby &#8211; ultimately, I think that road could conceivably lead us to extinction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Change? Or Opportunity?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">I like Seth Godin\u2019s take on this\u2026 (if you have not heard of him, look up some of his TED talks)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">He says, \u201cChange is not a threat &#8211; it\u2019s an opportunity. Survival is <\/span><span class=\"s2\"><b>NOT<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> the goal, <\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i>transformative<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> success is\u201d <i>(emphasis mine)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">Paradoxically then, it is actually change that will ultimately drive the hobby forward. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">Trying to just \u201csurvive\u201d with <\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i>only<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> what we did in the past will mean we will shrink rather than grow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">Network Radios could well be part of these growth \u201copportunities\u201d &#8211; isn\u2019t it worth embracing them to see if they are? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">What do any of us have to lose by doing so? Except maybe our fear of change?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u00a9 <a href=\"http:\/\/g7ddn.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris Rolinson G7DDN<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">May 2018<\/p>\n<div class=\"woocommerce columns-4\"><ul class=\"products columns-4\">\n<li class=\"product-category product first\">\n\t<a aria-label=\"Visit product category e-books\" href=\"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/product-category\/e-books\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/woocommerce-placeholder.png\" alt=\"e-books\" width=\"324\" height=\"324\" \/>\t\t<h2 class=\"woocommerce-loop-category__title\">\n\t\t\te-books <mark class=\"count\">(8)<\/mark>\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"product-category product\">\n\t<a aria-label=\"Visit product category Radios\" href=\"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/product-category\/radios-2\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/tm7-zello.png\" alt=\"Radios\" width=\"324\" height=\"324\" \/>\t\t<h2 class=\"woocommerce-loop-category__title\">\n\t\t\tRadios <mark class=\"count\">(82)<\/mark>\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"product-category product\">\n\t<a aria-label=\"Visit product category Uncategorized\" href=\"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/product-category\/uncategorized\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/woocommerce-placeholder.png\" alt=\"Uncategorized\" width=\"324\" height=\"324\" \/>\t\t<h2 class=\"woocommerce-loop-category__title\">\n\t\t\tUncategorized <mark class=\"count\">(1)<\/mark>\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Chris G7DDN Earlier this year, I wrote a piece called \u201cIt\u2019s not Real Ham Radio\u201d. It caused quite a stir and has since been disseminated worldwide, broadcasted and quoted in many places and in magazines too. The basic premise was that, as new technologies come into the Amateur Radio Hobby, Hams often have difficulty [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amateur-radio","category-zello-operation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1839,"href":"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions\/1839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/network-radios.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}