Christchurch New Zealand

Thu Feb 24 18:14:53 UTC 2011

> Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:26:43 -0500 (EST)
> From: Jay Ashworth <jra at baylink.com>
> Subject: Re: Christchurch New Zealand
> To: NANOG <nanog at nanog.org>
> 
<snip>
> The *real* problem is getting petty politics out of
> local ARES/RACES orgs.
> 
> Cheers,
> -- jra

Here's my $0.02 on the subject of hams for em-comm, and my apologies in advance for continuing this OT discussion.

The real problem is getting hams to stop wearing the cheesy gear with their callsigns all over it, the antenna hat toppers, LED scrolling name badges, and - for the love of everything holy - to put an end to the phrase "HI HI" once and for all.

I've had slightly more experience in commercial and public safety comms than I have as a ham, as my elmers (ham radio mentors) worked on commercial radio systems by trade.  Now, after working with the ARES/RACES groups in the area as part of my position with the state emergency management agency, I can tell you that I am, at times, ashamed to call myself a ham, because of the ridiculous (often even downright childish) behavior some display.

The bottom line:
If you can get hams to stop acting so self-righteous about their hobby, to practice passing traffic (messages read aloud and copied over the air) so they can do so efficiently (most hams don't have a clue how), get them certified in NIMS (the National Incident Management System, certification available for anyone online at <http://training.fema.gov>), and teach them to display some degree of professionalism - the "bigger picture" will begin to emerge, and the focus will return to providing a service to the community...which is where it needs to be to begin with.

In retrospect, maybe that was more like $0.25...

73 ("best regards", in ham speak),
Jeremy