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7:30 George's Old Timers Net

Coyote33

Coyote33

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Starts at 7:30.

Been listening off and on to this for the past 2 weeks or so. Seems to be the same people over and over, even though they ask if anybody new wants to be on.

It would be REALLY interesting to me if I heard a bunch of new voices on there, especially all at once. Think some of you could go on there and say hello? Maybe just drop "Hi, my name is Bob from NES", and see if they catch on after like 5 new people all do that. :)

Anyhow, it seems like an OK bunch of people, but mostly they talk about either the recent or upcoming weather, what they did today, etc. and then there are some trivia questions. Again, it would be interesting to see if any of you drop in.

I think this is them:
1677543736762.png

"The CMARA Repeater operates on frequency 146.97 MHz with a PL Tone 114.8 Hz."

 
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Ham Fudds.


Ham is going to die because the old timers want everyone else to be out. This is their hobby and they are the best ham radio operators!

Now they are reaping what the sow.
 
10 or more years ago I ran GOTN twice a week. Back then I would get 20+ stations or more. I would prepare trivia questions for an interesting net. I always loved George’s. Unfortunately the time it was run from 7:30 to 10pm interfered with family dinner and all around family time. I had to give it up so I could watch my kids growing up. I have fond memories of helping my daughter with her algebra homework. Sorry fellow Hams but I wouldn’t trade those memories for the alternative of sitting in my ham shack talking with a bunch of like minded people. Maybe someday I’ll get back to it? I hope George’s will get some new blood to keep it going. 73

AE1Y
 
Spartan65 said:
Ham Fudds.


Ham is going to die because the old timers want everyone else to be out. This is their hobby and they are the best ham radio operators!

Now they are reaping what the sow.
Click to expand...
That’s not entirely true. I jump in on a 10meter net put on by semara radio club on southcoast ma. I am pretty much half of everyone’s age on the net and they treat me fine and like when new hams jump in. I can’t really say I’ve run into any hams that made me feel unwanted. The only way I would feel unwanted is if I wasn’t licensed and on the air.

KC1OSE
 
ffej ruedorb said:
That’s not entirely true. I jump in on a 10meter net put on by semara radio club on southcoast ma. I am pretty much half of everyone’s age on the net and they treat me fine and like when new hams jump in. I can’t really say I’ve run into any hams that made me feel unwanted. The only way I would feel unwanted is if I wasn’t licensed and on the air.

KC1OSE
Click to expand...
Very well pleb, show us your papers.

Govern me harder daddy. I’ll ask the .gov for all the permission.
 
Spartan65 said:
Very well pleb, show us your papers.
Click to expand...
Haha I think I know what you’re getting at. I am glad I went thru the process of getting my extra ticket because of what I learned. If I never went thru that I wouldn’t have a good understanding of how radios or electronics work. I learned so much that helps me in other aspects. Even making things work better for bullet casting with some of that knowledge! It made me appreciate electronics and want to learn more. To me that’s what the license is for.
 
ffej ruedorb said:
Haha I think I know what you’re getting at. I am glad I went thru the process of getting my extra ticket because of what I learned. If I never went thru that I wouldn’t have a good understanding of how radios or electronics work. I learned so much that helps me in other aspects. Even making things work better for bullet casting with some of that knowledge! It made me appreciate electronics and want to learn more. To me that’s what the license is for.
Click to expand...
I was really pleased with the material covered by the extra exam. I've used a lot of it already, and some I was using but didn't quite understand what was going on. It's not for everybody but I'm glad I did it.
 
Spartan65 said:
Ham Fudds.


Ham is going to die because the old timers want everyone else to be out. This is their hobby and they are the best ham radio operators!

Now they are reaping what the sow.
Click to expand...

This is clearly not true. My local club that I have belonged to for 30 years has had a major influx of new hams over the past few years. The weight of numbers has the old timers outnumbered. You can see the changes in the direction of the club. There is now a very heavy emphasis in POTA/SOTA activity and FT8. Most of us older guys have joined in the POTA/SOTA interest. The FT8 garners less interest. Nevertheless, we have collectively used these new activities to cement the bonds between old and new, at least in MY club.

These young guys even got me interested in doing a POTA activation myself. To that end, I just picked up a 30 aH Bioenno LiPo battery. Even an old dog can learn new tricks.
 
n1oty said:
This is clearly not true. My local club that I have belonged to for 30 years has had a major influx of new hams over the past few years. The weight of numbers has the old timers outnumbered. You can see the changes in the direction of the club. There is now a very heavy emphasis in POTA/SOTA activity and FT8. Most of us older guys have joined in the POTA/SOTA interest. The FT8 garners less interest. Nevertheless, we have collectively used these new activities to cement the bonds between old and new, at least in MY club.

These young guys even got me interested in doing a POTA activation myself. To that end, I just picked up a 30 aH Bioenno LiPo battery. Even an old dog can learn new tricks.
Click to expand...
These are new to me. Now I'm thinking I'll need a whole other configuration file for when I'm on vacation at the outer Cape beaches. I guess the Cape Cod National Seashore and Nickerson State Park would count here.
 
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daveyburt said:
key up if you're looking for a tongue lashing
[rofl]
Click to expand...
I've not heard this at all. They are sticklers for proper check in procedures, but I've never heard anyone turned away, or discouraged from joining the group. In fact, the crew there is very welcoming to new hams, especially YLs, XYLs, and kids.

It is true that it's kind of dull - what did you do today, and trivia questions, but that's not why people check in.

It's about community. It's about maintaining connections with the local crew, and club members. It's about making sure that if someone is sick, or needs help, there's someone to pitch in and assist. It's about caring, and connection.

Are there some difficult people? Sure. In fact, all of us can be difficult or annoying, but they're still part of the group.
 
Spartan65 said:
Very well pleb, show us your papers.

Govern me harder daddy. I’ll ask the .gov for all the permission.
Click to expand...
If you want to use the privileges, invest the time to get the license. It's there to prevent the ham bands from turning into the train wreck that CB has become. It's not a guarantee, but it helps to make sure that people at least have a clue on how to operate without causing problems.
 
Coyote33 said:
Starts at 7:30.

Been listening off and on to this for the past 2 weeks or so. Seems to be the same people over and over, even though they ask if anybody new wants to be on.

It would be REALLY interesting to me if I heard a bunch of new voices on there, especially all at once. Think some of you could go on there and say hello? Maybe just drop "Hi, my name is Bob from NES", and see if they catch on after like 5 new people all do that. :)

Anyhow, it seems like an OK bunch of people, but mostly they talk about either the recent or upcoming weather, what they did today, etc. and then there are some trivia questions. Again, it would be interesting to see if any of you drop in.

I think this is them:
View attachment 726310

"The CMARA Repeater operates on frequency 146.97 MHz with a PL Tone 114.8 Hz."
Click to expand...
We've tried doing some different things - a Moth-type story net, interviews with interesting people, and those changes have been moderately successful. The problem is that people like routine, and a number of them are not comfortable with change. They like the tried and true, which always makes trying new things a challenge.
 
rogersmithiii said:
If you want to use the privileges, invest the time to get the license. It's there to prevent the ham bands from turning into the train wreck that CB has become. It's not a guarantee, but it helps to make sure that people at least have a clue on how to operate without causing problems.
Click to expand...

IMHO getting the license is a form of protocol. It's literally part of an international treaty the US has with the ITU and a bunch of reciprocal
nations etc. Its literally like a drivers license in that sense, you can operate in any of the foreign nations that honor the treaty. You don't really start learning how to operate until you dive in and do some basic learning, and a lot of listening.

I never really considered it an overbearing government thing. There are some dumb f***ing rules in part 97 though like power limits and other shit like that. Other countries treat their hams like adults and dont limit them to 1500 watts, although its so unenforceable here it doesnt matter anyways. Some legendary engineers built stuff well above that stupid limit. The moonbounce/EME guys and others basically laugh at it. I digress. But I think having the license is good as a form of protocol and other reasons, not "cuz it makes people behave". Anyone who listened to 3950, 14.313, or the mt disappointment repeater in LA back in the day knows a license doesnt gate behavior.
 
rogersmithiii said:
I've not heard this at all. They are sticklers for proper check in procedures, but I've never heard anyone turned away, or discouraged from joining the group. In fact, the crew there is very welcoming to new hams, especially YLs, XYLs, and kids.

It is true that it's kind of dull - what did you do today, and trivia questions, but that's not why people check in.

It's about community. It's about maintaining connections with the local crew, and club members. It's about making sure that if someone is sick, or needs help, there's someone to pitch in and assist. It's about caring, and connection.

Are there some difficult people? Sure. In fact, all of us can be difficult or annoying, but they're still part of the group.
Click to expand...


The other thing is if you dont like what you hear, be innovative and change things up a little bit. I'm more of a nut net guy myself, because a lot of those guys are all over the place.

I always tell people WRT radio, if its ham, cb, freebanding, whatever.... you only can at best get out of it what you put into it.
 
rogersmithiii said:
I've not heard this at all. They are sticklers for proper check in procedures, but I've never heard anyone turned away, or discouraged from joining the group. In fact, the crew there is very welcoming to new hams, especially YLs, XYLs, and kids.

It is true that it's kind of dull - what did you do today, and trivia questions, but that's not why people check in.

It's about community. It's about maintaining connections with the local crew, and club members. It's about making sure that if someone is sick, or needs help, there's someone to pitch in and assist. It's about caring, and connection.

Are there some difficult people? Sure. In fact, all of us can be difficult or annoying, but they're still part of the group.
Click to expand...
It was my assumption that Coyote33 hadn't yet gotten his ticket.
 
One thing that seems to true about alot, not all, of Fudds - or LIDS as they are called in Ham Radio, is that many many of them complain that we can get our tickets without having to learn code.

Yes I learned 5 WPM in order to get my Tech Plus back in 1995 but having 3 boys I put it aside and never did anything with it until last February '22. I knew I would go gadget crazy so held off doing anything. Last Feb a friend from RI talked me into getting a Bafeung HT and I used it for a couple months and found a few nets. Fell in love.
Last April I went to hamtestonline.com and studied for about a week and aced the General test. I then picked up a used Kenwood TS-140 from K1USN for $140 and a Hustler 5BTV for $60 that I put in the ground on a 4 foot steel pipe. I liked HF even better than 2 meters. within two weeks I bought a new Kenswood TS-590SG. I started working the world on 100 watts, including Australia 4 times and New Zealand.
In January I went back to hamtestonline and studied REALLY hard for 2 weeks 7 hours a day and got only 1 wrong on my Extra exam!

I am now a VE (Volunteer Examiner) for both EMARG and K1USN two different testing groups. By the way K1USN (check out K1uSN.com for info) you have to schedule a test, in Braintree, at EMARG we have nothing but walkins. K1USN is this Saturday at the Emergency Management building by Sunset Lake at 8:30 again you need reservations.
EMARG is at the Mansfield Fish and Game at 7 pm on the 3rd Thursday of every month.
COME IN AND GET YOUR LICENSE OR AN UPGRADE!!!

Back to the LIDS, many many nets are simple contacts often giving weather forecasts but many have more interesting content. Georges is mainly a quick QSO, you can tell about anything and then a trivia question. The Norfolk Radio club and the Norwood Radio club, both of which I belong to are just quick QSO's can be about anything.
I also am a certified Skywarn spotter and we have a net every Sunday at 8 pm on the Sharon Repeater.

I would say I am anti Lid as while I got my Tech Plus with code, I got my General and Extra without it and am glad for that! I really don't have time to learn code again and besides I am having way too much fun with POTA! I picked up a Yaesu FT-891 and several Ham Sticks and am doing a ton of activating! The lids don't like POTA for the most part and there are LIDS who try to block you with QRM.
I will go to a park usually for 90 minutes or until I have to go to the restroom!

One thing I have been doing is running my 891 at 10 watts, it cuts down on the pileups and yet I have still worked CA, OR, WA, Alaska, Italy, Germany Poland, Spain Ireland and South Africa all on 10 watts.

I am going to try 50 watts or higher soon, yesterday I decided before I left the park to try hunting at 50 watts, what a difference in how I was heard!


WX1USN Jeff



Photography is still my main hobby but I also love Ham Radio.

000 020221230_210155.jpg
 
I know that I heard at least one NES person check in last night. It's great to attract new people to our little community.
 
rogersmithiii said:
I know that I heard at least one NES person check in last night. It's great to attract new people to our little community.
Click to expand...
So there's 2 out there? It would be great to hear more. Please call in tonight. Where are you located?


Reminder: George's network is coming up in about 5 minutes. Hopefully, there will be someone to reply to JDL tonight.


A new person "Tyler" from Fitchburg reaching Paxton. Got a warm welcome.

There were a lot of participants this time. They said it hasn't gone this late in quite a while. Lots of discussion about jury duty.
 
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I had it on during the day today. Heard them talking about tuning something up, not sure if it was the repeater or the guy's own radio. Either way, both were coming in strong, one from Salem, NH to Paxton, and the other from Ashby, MA to Paxton and back out to each other. Pretty cool. Wish they had one at the lookout tower at the Quabbin. That would reach very far in ALL DIRECTIONS!

Anyone know if there is anything (repeater) on Mt. Wachusett?

.
.

one-eyed Jack said:
Do you have to be named "George" to check in? LOL. Jack W1FKG.
Click to expand...
No, but there is actually one guy whose real name is George. You'd think they would put him in charge of it! :)
 
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Coyote33 said:
I had it on during the day today. Heard them talking about tuning something up, not sure if it was the repeater or the guy's own radio. Either way, both were coming in strong, one from Salem, NH to Paxton, and the other from Ashby, MA to Paxton and back out to each other. Pretty cool. Wish they had one at the lookout tower at the Quabbin. That would reach very far in ALL DIRECTIONS!

Anyone know if there is anything (repeater) on Mt. Wachusett?
Click to expand...
There is a 6 meter machine up there, that was recently reactivated. There was a 440 machine, and that too is trying to get reactivated as well.
 

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