Loser you only have a 2 by 3 call, You can’t know anything
by kb5jbv
Me and Tim KD6FWD and the boys at Ham Radio in the Park 2009
You know I have a two by three call sign. It is KB5JBV. For those that have been getting it wrong for the last twenty plus years that is “Kilo Bravo Five Juliet Bravo Victor”. I have that call because it was my original novice call sign. Other reasons are that I am an advanced class licensee and didn’t like the call signs that were available at that time. I have never been in a position that my license stopped me from doing what I wanted to do in the hobby. I really don’t have time to sit down and study even though I am familiar with things like “libration fading” and “spin modulation”. Most importantly I keep it because it reminds me that I had to work my butt off to learn Morse code to get into the hobby. The important concept here for me is “work to get into this hobby”. That was over twenty years ago.
I have seen and done most everything that can be done in the amateur radio service. I have been an assistant section manager under four or five section managers. I hold a Brass Pounders medallion from NTS. I have been a net control for many HF and VHF nets over the years. I have been the club President for my local club here pulling it out of the tail spin it was in at the time and also saved their weekly net that was in danger of extinction by assuming the role of Net Coordinator.
The list goes on but I don’t want this to sound like a case of me blowing my own horn. I don’t talk about things I don’t know concerning the hobby or the people in the hobby. I don’t talk about commercially built antennas or home brew beams because I have never had a need for them. The same with other aspects of amateur radio.
There are those out there that think they know everything about the radio operators around them but really don’t have a clue. People assume I don’t know anything because I have a two by three call sign. They don’t stop to consider when the call sign might have been issued or that nobody in there right mind would take it as a vanity call. In most cases these are the ones that paid for a call sign to cover up the fact that they came in as a codeless tech.
Example Time. There is an operator here locally that can only be described as “The guy with his picture next to the word LID in the ham radio dictionary”. Anybody that has been licensed in this area for more than a few years knows they need to stay away from this fellow. I have known him longer than I have been licensed and used his Tech / General manual to study for my general test. I know the stuff he doesn’t want everybody to know and as long as he leaves me alone I leave him alone. The ham in question decided to attack another ham in one of the newsgroups I watch over a question concerning CW at one of the local regular events. The second ham happens to be somebody for whom I have a lot of respect. He has been in the hobby for many years and in my opinion is worthy of my respect not only for his contributions to the hobby but because he is also a really great guy. Mister LID on the other hand gets himself run off from every group that he finds his way into because he is a habitual liar and constantly trying to make himself look like a big cheese in the amateur radio community.
When I said something about the comments that Mister LID made another ham that has never taken the time to find out anything about me and assumes that because I have a two by three call sign that I don’t know what I’m talking about, proceeded to contradict me on how Mister LID became an “Extra Lite”. The third ham is the current net coordinator of the local club net. The one I saved from extinction a year or two before he told me in an email that he would never be a member of this local club. I am a little confused.
The point is if this is happening to me it is happening to others. I keep my call sign because it gives me a feeling of pride knowing what it represents to me. I giggle at those that pay for something they can get for free like a call sign. Most of you are aware that I know what I am talking about and I don’t talk about things I don’t know. That is why you listen to both podcasts and come read this website.
As for Mister LID he will be run off again when everybody gets wise to him. Mister I know more than you do will just continue to be just another ham and I will still have a better knowledge of the hobby and continue to have more experience and fun with the hobby.
Just remember that you can cure ignorance by acquiring knowledge but you cant fix Stupid.
comments
Mark VandeWettering (K6HX)
April 11, 2011 at 10:52 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
While I sympathize with the basics of this post, I was a bit dismayed to find that you fell into your own trap: you implied that codeless Technicians were ignorant. If you joined ham radio in the last five years, you had no choice but to enter it as a codeless Technician. If you’ve upgraded to General or Extra (I did both) in the last five years, you didn’t have the choice to take a code test. And code itself? Not the best indicator of an individuals dedication or knowledge of amateur radio.
Judging people by their license (or when they were licensed) is just as misplaced an idea as judging them by the callsign.
73
Glossary - See Glossary for terms used on the show.
Read More About Resonant Frequency: The Amateur Radio Podcast At www.rfpodcast.info
Contact Info For Richard KB5JBV: Website: www.rfpodcast.info Email: kb5jbv@gmail.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RichardBaileyKB5JBV FaceBook: www.facebook.com/groups/resonantfrequency/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/kb5jbv MeWE: mewe.com/i/richardbailey31 Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/resonant-frequency-podcast Discord: https://discord.com/channels/758866379104845856/758866379104845860 Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/Richard_KB5JBV
kb5jbv April 12, 2011 at 1:31 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment Reply I am sorry if you feel that I implied that codeless techs were ignorant. What I meant was lazy and the ones I was referring to are the ones that came in while there still was a choice. With the elimination of the code you are correct now there is not a choice. The reason a coded license is important in so many peoples mind is that it had to be earned. Very few people can memorize a code test. The ones I was talking about are the ones that were so lazy that they waited hoping the code would be dropped to get into the hobby and the ones that bought their novice ticket and waited until the code requirement was dropped to upgrade. As in the case of Mr. Lid that bought his way to a tech license in the mid 80’s and waited for them to drop the code on the rest. My frustration is not that there is a codeless amateur radio service. It comes from the fact that there a few out there think they are old timers because the memorized three test, bought a call sign to cover when they came into the hobby and proceed to challenge the ones that have been around since before most of them started grade school.
