The article stopped and made me reflect on what I gained through ham radio:<p>1. Piercing the mystery - Taking a handful of parts and building a working device. It gave me self confidence and totally changed how I look at electronics.<p>2. Mastery of a niche - I joined a club and found that in certain areas that I gained instant respect as a teenager from guys in their seventies. Where else could a teenager do that? Likewise these elders taught me lots of stuff.<p>3. Leading a team - When I went off to college and put together a team to compete in a multi-operator multi-transmitter weekend contest. It was my first time assembling a team and doing something complex. Lots of obstacles to overcome. It is also where I learned to just do something and ask permission later! That rather bad habit both helped and hurt my future career;<).<p>4. Being part of a fraternity with it's own language of terms. I would soon find that every profession would have its own rituals and language - including startups.
I have found the best part of taking up amateur radio as a hobby to be the book learning aspect. The world of electromagnetism is fascinating.<p>When I started communicating locally, my thrill was squashed by uninterested complaining old men who thought my equipment was not expensive enough.<p>But radio theory and engineering, that's great stuff worth learning.
Makes is seem more than it is. The existential pleasures of Ham Radio.<p>Ever been to a Hamfest? Made the mistake of taking my wife once. How about being crushed between a table and scooter by someone who smells like they haven’t bathed in weeks.<p>I do RF/Microwave design for a living. Ham radio has mostly lost its luster.<p>KD4HSO
For those who don't know, CQ means "who's there?" in HAM code. It's an invitation.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQ_(call)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQ_(call)</a>
Super timely as I just passed my tech and am studying for my general. It’s been a very long time since I undertook a learning endeavor that was not related to my profession. Really enjoying the process.<p>I’d encourage anyone interested to take a practice exam for a technician license. I was shocked at how much I picked up over the years via osmosis and got pretty close to passing the first practice test I took.<p><a href="https://hamexam.org/exam/12-Technician" rel="nofollow">https://hamexam.org/exam/12-Technician</a>
I like his perspective and agree with many of his points, but his writing style needs some work.<p>It’s a blog post about ham radio, not a cringy thesis paper.<p>Short snippet:
>Next, as we seek those truths, let’s examine what an axiom is. An axiom is short hand for a kernel of truth. A poster sign. It is a spoken reduction of events and their goals that are self evident. Personal mastery and their axioms feed on one another. And the axioms contain vocabularies which allow us to understand skill and culture.<p>It’s far too academic and elevated for the medium (buh-boosh), and frankly it even borders on pretentious