I received an email this morning from a reader who wrote:
By way of background, I’ve been a ham for decades, operate all modes (but mostly CW), and do a lot of Parks on the Air (POTA). I also spend a lot of time recruiting people into the ham radio hobby and mentoring new hams. It’s that last focus that prompts this question.
For a variety of reasons that I can’t put on my finger on, it seems like more and more hams don’t really care about how radios or antennas work, and don’t want to invest much time or effort into learning such things. They just want to turn it on and use it. How it works, and what’s going on inside of the box, aren’t important.
For example, I know of one guy—a General-class licensee—who decided his top-of-the-line Yaesu HT was “defective” because whenever he pressed the push-to-talk switch on one of the repeater frequencies, the radio transmitted on a different frequency. Ugh. Another guy I know thought that his hamstick “wouldn’t tune,” because the wire coil was installed upside down. As you’d guess, the hamstick tuned and worked just fine.
Some people say that we should get hung up on this. Get new hams into the hobby and they’ll learn as they go on. Except that doesn’t seem to be happening, at least not consistently. Even very experienced, highly educated hams can be clueless on very simple, fundamental radio concepts.
So, here’s the question: does any of this matter? I don’t know how my microwave oven works, and I don’t’ need to, and I don’t want to. All I want to do is push a button. So maybe it’s perfectly fine that hams don’t know about radio technology and we should stop pretending that any of this matters. Put ‘em through a “ham cram” and get them on the air. Or maybe amateur radio transceivers are different than microwave ovens and it does matter. I don’t know. I go back and forth on this and don’t really have a clear assessment in my mind.
Anyway, since this seems like the kind of thing you’ve already thought about and have some thoughtful insights, I thought I see what you make of all this. If you’re sitting around with nothing to do, I’d be curious to know what you think.
Yes, learning about radio does matter
In teaching Tech classes, I encounter many people who think this way. They just want to push buttons and talk on the radio. They say, “I’m only going to use it when I go off-roading with friends,” or “I’m only going to use it when my CERT team is activated.”
I always ask them what they’re going to do when something goes wrong—and we know that at some point, something is going to wrong. Without some basic knowledge of how radio works, how are they going to fix the problem or work around it? If they can’t do that, then they’re useless as a communicator and the experience is going to be very frustrating. So, the first thing that I try to get across that they’ll have a lot more fun with ham radio if they understand how the technology works.
The next question is how to get these people to be more curious about the technology and how to encourage them to learn more. I hope, for example, that when the guy complained about his Yaesu HT, that someone patiently explained how repeaters work. Sure, he should have known that already, but belittling him for not knowing this would only do more harm than good.
I don’t think that you can fault people for not knowing things, but you can fault them for not wanting to learn things. There’s a lot to learn in ham radio, and you can’t learn it all before you get a license. In fact, I’d argue that most things you can only learn after you get a license and start doing things.
Our challenge is to make ham radio a place where those that want to learn things can thrive. I think that we’re doing better at that. Look at all the YouTube channels where you can learn about just about anything that ham radio has to offer. The ARRL is getting in on this as well, with its “Learning Center.”
Finally, I’d say not to worry about those who don’t want to invest the time and effort. They’re not going to be hams for very long. They’re going to get frustrated when they can’t get things to work and drift off to something else. Let’s concentrate those who are curious and able and willing to invest the time and effort and make good hams out of them.
I started buying W1FB books from Michigan Radio before I had my license, also bought Solid State Design for the Radio Amateur, Experimental Methods in RF Design and antenna books too..nothing will help you know your radios better than building a few
A related issue is that reading and digesting manuals is not something which many are comfortable with. Smart phones, TVs, etc are designed to be used without manuals, and that has contributed to the current mindset that you shouldn’t have to dig deep into how your radio equipment operates. On two relatively recent occasions, I have stopped by to help a relatively new ham with some equipment, only to find that the manual was still in the sealed plastic.
This is an interesting comment. I’m not sure that we’ll ever get to the point in amateur radio where you can get the most out of a piece of equipment without reading the manual or understanding the functions of all the controls. At one point, I was going to write a book that was going to include chapters on what all the various transceiver controls do and how to use them. But, if hams are not reading the manuals, perhaps they aren’t going to buy that book, either.
There’s a distinct difference between the typical radio manual and a book that actually addresses what you want to do with the radio (phone, CW, digital modes) and how to go about setting the radio and accessories (if needed) up and doing it.
The best example of the latter type of book is the Elecraft series of books by Fred Cady (SK). There is a very real need for someone to step up and write the book for the new Elecraft K4, since Fred’s passing has left a large hole in that community.
The typical radio manual is just a listing of all the knobs, plugs, and jacks, and what they do. It’s similar to a computer application manual that just walks you through all the pull-down menus. It’s more-or-less complete, but doesn’t help you learn how to actually use the program effectively.
That’s why there’s a great market for books like “The Missing Manual” series by David Pogue.
You are absolutely correct that most, if not all, “manuals” are merely descriptions of what controls do. This applies to radios, software programs, cars, the lot. Rarely is there a section on “How to…”.
You mention Elecraft in passing, and their manuals do contain quite a bit on How to… That’s not to denigrate the fantastic handy guides though: which I own for all my K series
This lack of overall grounding in the subject is why I recommend Ward Silver’s book “Ham Radio for Dummies” first to people who ask me how to get started. HRfD won’t directly get them to a Tech license, but it does give them an overall sense of the hows and whys and what-is-this-used-fors. After that, studying for the license is just filling in details. They always seem more motivated and sail through with little trouble.
I’m goign to have to review that book again.
Hi Dan,
Nice article! As you know, I’m a retired Professor after a 40+ year career teaching complex topics to students. So I’m demonstrably in favor of learning and, moreover continuous learning. But I ask: is the recipient of a U.S. driver’s license a “good” driver? I think not necessarily. A driver’s license is a legal permit to learn by practice of driving.
My view is that a Technician license is a driver’s license. You’ve identified a number of sources for continued learning, although a license-holder is not compelled to use them.
73,
Frank
K4FMH
I always tell the students in my ham radio classes is that they’re not really getting a Technician Class amateur radio license, but really they’re getting a license to learn.
One way to get some perspective is to think about an activity you enjoy but are not all in on it 100%.
For me, a good example is fishing. I go fishing, I like to fish, I catch fish but I am not a great fisherman. I am not going to invest the time and energy into fishing that I do with ham radio. It’s just not a priority.
I am also not going to blame my fishing pole or whine to my fellow fishermen when I don’t catch fish. 😎
Good point. Some of us have to keep reminding ourselves that amateur radio is just a hobby. :)
Great article, Dan! I agree with you 100% – but I have to say, what really gets my goat is when you get an “Extra” who stands over your shoulder, telling you that what you’re doing is incorrect – but yet they have no idea how to build a dipole, program a radio (without a computer), or even know how to make an HF QSO! I run into this a lot, way too much a lot. I grit my teeth, bite my tongue and try to gently instruct as much as possible, but it can get tedious.
I blow off those people as quickly as possible. If all they want to do is to tell you how to do it, and not really interested in learning from you or collaborating with you, then they’re not worth the time.
The thing to keep in mind is that an Amateur license is granted when the applicant shows that they could build or repair a radio or other station equipment. The Amateur service is unique in that respect.
Other services, like CB, FRS, and GMRS, are ‘plug and play’ services. Holders of those licenses are truly appliance operators, as they are forbidden to tinker with those radios or build their own.
I know that some folks that start out with those latter services, eventually find their way to ham radio, but not because they want to learn how to build or fix their radios, but because they are attracted to the high power and long distance aspect of it. After being told that their GMRS radio can cover 25-50 miles by dishonest advertisers, they start looking for something to fulfill what they thought they were buying into in the first place.
It’s also true that we have a lot of new Technician class licensees that we never hear from or see ever again. They buy a cheap HT, and put it in the closet for that day when all hell breaks loose, Unfortunately, if they’ve never used the radio, nor learned how to pass traffic or check into nets, much less even find a local repeater they can get into, nothing ever comes of it.
Anybody remember Carl and Jerry? Popular Electronics, 1950’s. Isaved my money so I had the $1.25 each month for the latest edition.
There was a ham who lived across the street from my grade school. Every day I saw the 20m beam over his house. Got a tour of his shack and I was hooked.
My mother sensed my interest in radio and one Christmas got me a Remco crystal radio set.
Built a Knight-Kit Space Spaner regen radio the next year.
Got my novice license 2 years later
Must have had the KNACK!
Thanks for publishing this. I love your point of view, and love the comments above. All very interesting and thoughtful. I especially love your comment, “Our challenge is to make ham radio a place where those that want to learn things can thrive.” I’d be curious to hear how those who teach licensing courses, or mentor new hams, or otherwise engage with those just entering the hobby, inspire the kind of curiosity and thirst for knowledge that will impel the next generation of hams to be more than “appliance operators.” Again, thanks for publishing this.