Hey older hammies, what's with the attitude???

[CB590]

48, relatively new ham as of 2015.. got my General.. local club isn't bad except at every meeting they almost expect a $10-20 donation to the club for events and I get that.. some of us making $8-10 an hour can't do that.. The stare we get is just wow..

Annual dues are $25 and we now own the trailer and such..

The meeting/dinner runs no less than $20 as well..

Ours became to polictical so I dropped out.. even some senior members did as well.

 

[338_MtRushmore]

The meeting/dinner runs no less than $20 as well..

This is just silly. Dinner type get togethers should be in addition to meetings.

 

[338_MtRushmore]

Heck, I met the vice president of the club on 11m, and he was the one to encourage me to get my ticket. That sounds like a pretty relaxed club to me, and I find it hard to believe it's the only tolerant club in the country.

 

[CB590]

This is just silly. Dinner type get togethers should be in addition to meetings.

Dinner first then meeting.. by then I'm broke and I usually got an appetizer plate for like $10 then a sode for $2-3..

By meeting I was broke...

The guys were actually pretty nice to me, lots of experience and a few would bring in homemade projects like amps and such..

 

[loosecannon]

Thanks for all the replies.


some very good points have been brought up, and i'll try to address them.

I agree that this isn't exclusive to amateur radio, and if it was a car club i guess i would be over on one of those forums bringing it up.

This isn't me folding my arms and saying "accommodate me or i'm gone", it's more of an attempt to start a conversation at ham clubs about inclusiveness.

The way i look at it, it's kind of like a speeding ticket. when you get one, you try to drive better for the next week (day?) or so.
If you never get one, why on earth would you change your driving habits?

I don't believe that any of the people at the ham club i went to are mean people, nor do i think that they purposely acted the way they did.

It's more that i think they have forgotten what it's like to be the new guy, and just tend to gravitate toward people they already know.

The conversation im trying to get started is in the hopes of reminding the more entrenched members of the clubs that elmering starts with introducing yourself to the new people.

As i saw it, it was up to us new guys to introduce ourselves to everyone that already knew each other, and i think it should be the other way around.

maybe do it like an AA meeting, "hi, my name's Joe and i'm a ham radio addict". LOL
just kidding. "hi hi Joe!"

I suppose my title could have been better worded. (sorry Tallman!LOL)


Once i get more familiar with the group i will be joining, i will bring this idea up.
My hope in posting it here is that others might do the same in their clubs.
LC

 

[Riverman]

It's more that i think they have forgotten what it's like to be the new guy, and just tend to gravitate toward people they already know.
LC

Very likely.

A suggestion. A box of donuts goes a long way with us old guys.

 

[Radio Tech]

GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!!!!

LOL,
LC I am hitting 60 myself and been in AR for quite some time. I am no way like those guys even though I did pass a code test to get my ticket.

As far as I can remember it has always been that way. As written above not just ham radio. But I no longer go to club meetings. All though I have been ask to speak at a few and turned them down. (they seen me on YouTube) But if you watch Ham Nation, there may be a future segment with me, we will see.

I will leave you with this:
Club meetings
Dinner at the local choke and puke
Internet chat forums
Ect,

Is not ham radio.
Building antennas, servicing your rig, experimenting, and getting on the air and talking with thousands of wonderful and exciting folks around the world is.

 

[w9cll]

I have been a member of several clubs with model airplanes. I have no intention of ever joining a ham club and I am no longer a member of any r/c club and never will be again. Clubs are just a waste of money as far as I am concerned.

 

[Handy Andy]

Finally, someone whom understands...

GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!!!!
... [ ... ] ...
Is not ham radio.
Building antennas, servicing your rig, experimenting, and getting on the air and talking with thousands of wonderful and exciting folks around the world is.

Being technically curious ...

Can have far reaching implications ... it is what brought me to radio and although Amateur has it's place, do you sense what is missing in all these posts?

I see it plain as day...

The freedom to choose, make a choice - CB doesn't make you or force your to choose anything except maybe the equipment - it belongs to no one, and it is for everyone.

Amateur - although Millions of Hz in spectrum allocations (Read that again ALLOCATIONS) and where you can do this with that and do that with this...But, you CAN NOT DO THIS ON THIS, NOR DO THAT TO THAT.

It's a broken record guys...

What does CB have?

Grab a radio, some batteries or a long extension cord, slap on and antenna; piece of damp string or a coat hanger - and start talking. Radio blows up? Get another - but not one of us is "bound" by anything except the band itself - like a passion or an addiction you pick.

But why CB why not Amateur?

IT's the Bane of the "want".

You cannot be yourself in Amateur bands, too many watchers from the tower, not enough activity on the ground for the troops to even care to go check out...everyone knows everyone else. That same adage applies over a cup of coffee, or a beer - both on CB as "handles" or Amateur by call-sign - not that it matters, In Amateur, you just can't "keep up with the Joneses', YOU ARE the Joneses'".

CB? You can do and work with what you want to find ways to communicate - expression or direction. The CB allows you to talk to the people, not generate a new hassle of following a set of instructions and rules and making sure the regulations don't send the neighborhood to the local ACE Hardware for Tiki-torches and kerosene to show up on your doorstep...it's all in the box, and if you can interpret the instructions - you can do this and this too and that with that too...you learn to understand how radio works.

In Amateur you have to know how radio works before you can even use the equipment.

Everyone is tired of following rules more complex than a SAT exam - more convoluted than a Tapeworm that been living in a goat intestine since it was a kid, more confusing than Donald Trumps Rolodex.

So the CB realm "reinvents" personality. In the Amateur realm, those that have, just buy it off the shelf and upon landing on a quiet portion of spectrum lays claim to the band for the price they paid for the radio to use it on.

Get off of my frequency! Is their battle cry!

Gosh Darn It! would it be better to say, Get Outta' My Radio? Not!

 

[OldTech03]

Well, I'm just now considering my general class after having passed the exam at least 50 times, as a matter of fact, I passed it 4 times last night on the computer with an 89% average taking it as fast as I could 35 questions takes me about 2 minutes on the flash card testing never could get the code can't explain it but it was like learning Mandarin. All that being said I'm taking the exam for me, not for brotherhood in the Amature world I have never been one that needed someone else's approval to what I want and certainly too old to change. I can remember when some CB'ers I repaired all their equipment for years and all of a sudden several of them got their license and they were the biggest offenders of the FCC rules you could find but after they got their license they suddenly decided they didn't need to even talk to me let alone give me a radio check so they are no longer in my Will and that is that!

 

[CB590]

I like using HAM for more repeat calls across several states reliably..

I do like playing and adjusting antennas and see what I can wring out..

The CB is for local and occasional 'skip' when it opens up.. rarely using a small amp do I get repeat calls..

I use a handle on the CB and my call on the HAM.. granted on CB I can just yell out radio check and have a quick and dirty qso..

Best of both..

 

[543_Dallas]

The idea that you have to act a certain way on amateur radio is ridiculous. When you get your license you do not have to take an oath to never use CB again.

If you try to act like someone you aren't people may not want to talk to you because you seem stuck up or are just boring. Loosen you tie and forget the Q codes unless you're using CW.

The rules aren't that complicated. ID every 10 minutes, 1500 watts, stay in band and the rest is just being a decent human being.

It's unfortunate that some people get a license and the first thing they hear is the guys on the local repeaters that also think they have to act a certain way. This starts a viscous cycle of snobbery that is completely unnecessary. In my experience the old timers are usually nicer. They may even have a sense of humor.

 

[Blackcat630]

Radio is radio.. call sign or not. I got my start on cb and I will probably never leave 11 meters entirely. I have so many fond memories of working skip ssb freeband and jawing with the locals on AM to ever completely abandon my roots. With that said I absolutely love amateur radio now that I'm a little older. 11 meters is limited in not only frequency spectrum but modes of operation, types of propogation and all around enjoyment of radio as a whole, in my opinion. There is a flavor for pretty much everyone with ham radio. Pick your poison lol. So many roads to go down and always something new over the horizon.
Now back the the OP... I was active in my local club back in the mid 90s when I was a teen. I lost interest as a tech ( I discovered woman, alchohol, cars, ect ..) life slowed down about 7 years back and got back into the world of radio. I went back to the local club meeting for the first time in years as a 30 something extra class now. Saw a few familiar faces that remembered me and greeted me with a smile and a handshake. Saw a few guys I didn't know and they didn't acknowledge me... but that's ok. As previously mentioned, you'll have that anywhere. After they asked me to stand up and introduce myself, I sat through the meeting and listened to the "business as usual". After the meeting the bs session that went on for at least 45 min was what I forgot I missed about these ham geek gatherings. Listened to these guys, mostly older than myself, was again a learning experience... just like it was when I was a teen. I look forward to making the monthly meetings now when I can.
Some of the guys are just slower to warm up to the new guy. Don't let them piss in your wheaties...sometimes they can become your best elmers... and true friends. My .02

 

[Mudfoot]

Hams are an odd bunch.

 

[W2EKG]

I walked away from repeater clubs over twenty years ago. There's one large club in NY that's very clickish, there's clicks within the clicks(coffee klatches). Me and some friends started our own repeater.