I think everybody is too thin skinned. The world is full of traitors, liars, and cheats but what you need to look at is what weakness do you have that drew you to them in the first place and second how you reacted to what they did. That's what Christianity is about. We are all sinners to someone or another so who are you to judge? W4KVW on 2016-01-24



There are hundreds upon hundreds of these operators who don't know their call sign when a DX Station is answering other stations.It goes on daily when any DX station is on the air.They have no cares about anyone else but there are so many others doing it they just join in on the stupidity train.Does not matter what License Class they are because not a single one of them have ANY class much less a General,Advanced,or Extra Class.Morons will always be Morons no matter what the hobby or occasion so don't think that you or anyone else will ever change them.It's their God given right too be a total arrogant selfish low life bottom feeder & that's just their good points & I'll leave their bad points to your imagination.Part of it is also that those doing these activities when they have not been called by the DX Station is they are just plain STUPID but won't ever admit it because they are too stupid too even know they are stupid so it's not all their fault.It happens in all modes on the air & not just on CW so they are giving everyone a heavy dose of their stupidity because they have more than enough too go around. Clayton W4KVW KA2FIR on 2016-01-24



Record the offenders and put them on youtube for all to hear. K9RJ on 2016-01-24



How about ARRL revokes their DXCC award, similar to disqualifying a contester that cheats. WO7R on 2016-01-24



<<< I am an Extra that has yet to make an HF contact (for lack of adequate equipment) and really can't wait to make my first 40 meter CW contact! That being said, I'm a little worried that I'm going to run into an operator like the one being addressed in this article. >>> My advise is simple: Don't start with the biggest pileups! If you're new to the HF game, "everything is rare". Yes, major DXpeditions won't be back for a while, maybe never, but that still doesn't mean you have to start there. Right now, the VP8 can be worked on 30 CW and the pileups have been reasonably well-behaved. Meanwhile, while you want for your 30m window, there's lots of stations that can be worked on 17m, 20m, and 12m or 15m right now. The pileups can be minimal and yet the stations will often be exotic, especially if you are starting out. There's lots of interesting African DX to be had right now as well as some pacific stations, too. K5P is nearly done and the pileups there, last I looked, were quite reasonable. But if they aren't? Work something else and move on. It's more important to have fun than to glumly slog on in big pileups toward the honor roll. Plenty of stations out there with modest and well-behaved pileups. The jerks don't bother those. Pick battles you can win for a while. The big game will still be there later on. The Honor Roll can be made in as little as 11 years with a surprisingly modest station. So, it isn't out of reach. It will be there when you're ready. AF7EC on 2016-01-24



I am an Extra that has yet to make an HF contact (for lack of adequate equipment) and really can't wait to make my first 40 meter CW contact! That being said, I'm a little worried that I'm going to run into an operator like the one being addressed in this article. I listened to that pileup last night and was just amazed at how awful some of the behavior was! I heard folks tuning up, full strength, in the middle of the pileup. I heard some operators running over weaker operators. There was even a brave soul operating at 9 to 11 WPM trying to get into the action, only to get squashed by Mr. Beam and Linear. Instead of being gentlemanly/gentlewomanly, the target of this article, and others, were about as polite as a crazed group of bargain shoppers who bust down Walmart's doors on the morning of Black Friday! It was awful! I try to share the Good News about Jesus all the time, and he doesn't disappoint. I'm a little nervous about all of the times I 'evangelized' about amateur radio...I don't want polite people who are interested in the hobby thinking this is the norm! K4LSX on 2016-01-24



Not a bad question about the CBers getting knocked,,, I (and a few others) ran a few ham radio classes back in the mid 70s when code was still required. Over the time that we were doing those classes most of the students were people "running from CB". We ran Novice classes followed by General classes. A typical Novice class might have had 50 students. Some of those folks have become completely inactive over the years and many others hold Extra Class licenses and are magnificent operators. It isn't fair to label all bad operation on CB for sure, but a lot of the crap on the ham bands is surely "CB lingo and jargon". Such as "my 20", "I don't have a kicker" and the best, Q signals on voice communications. John K4LSX VA2PBJ on 2016-01-24



I'm not sure why CBers keep getting slagged when it's obvious people with licenses are the ones with the attitudes and problems. I can't seem to get enough of the belchers and whistlers on 80m. I don't hear much of that on 11m. K4LSX on 2016-01-24



Interesting points you make there Pete, I have been around boats most of my life and I see some similarities between boating and the changes in ham radio. Yes, back in the 'old days' we had to learn code and had to actually draw schematics on exams, both amateur and commercial. As we learned about electronics and the hobby we went to local club meetings where we were associating with the best of mentors. Back then I never heard a newbie ridiculed for asking a reasonable question. I have heard this happen many times on the air and seen such postings in ham radio forums. My analogy to boating? Real basic powerboats vs. sailboats...not everyone, but way too many. Anyone with sufficient funds can walk in and buy a powerboat of any size, forty footer?, no problem; glitzy bass boat with 200+ HP Merc?, no problem! Grab a hat with an anchor on it, a bucket of booze and get going. Terrorize the other craft on the water, ignore 'no wake' zones, just do it. After all, you got the power. Memorize some questions and answers, buy the "full legal limit" and a big aerial and all set. Sailboats, different matter. If you don't learn something first and know what you are doing, you will do great harm to your toy and might even die. Go slow, learn something in the process and smell the roses. BTW, the latest post "Extra Class CB" is brilliant. John K4LSX Reply to a comment by : W1BR on 2016-01-24



Back in my day... (LOL) hams had to learn code in order to pass ham exams. Novice licenses had only CW privileges on certain HF sub-band segments. It was either progress, or perish. I'm not saying this was right or wrong, but I will note it produced hams who had some proficiency in the art of CW communications. Fast forward decades to the present. Most of the early Novice licenses are rapidly becoming SK. It is said that CW is experiencing a new revival, with more hams becoming interested in the mode. But, I see a few problems that deserve some consideration! A new ham does NOT have to learn how to copy CW, or even learn code! Technology has advanced to the point where CW has joined all of the other digital modes and is basically reduced to computer programs and automation. A program copies the code for you. A keyboard generates the CW characters... so who needs a key or paddle? Or, even basic operator skills or experience? CW has gone down the same road as RTTY, and has become another digital mode. Heck... I grew up pounding a vintage CW key in 1961, when I was a struggling novice. Did that make me better than a new ham who doesn't have to learn code? I can't answer that question. I've also run RTTY using a 28ASR, back when RTTY meant a TTY machine clattering away in the shack. The smell of hot oil, the yellow paper, etc. That is lost to time, but yet folks still run RTTY, although it is a form of RTTY than none of use old timers can relate too. Nowadays CW is another form of digital mode that is can be done via computer. The operator may have never learned the Morse characters, used a key, bug or paddle. My only question is if the spirit of these modes has been lost in the translation? And I don't consider any assisted modes as being real RTTY, CW, etc. Pete K1ZJH Reply to a comment by :on 2016-01-24 Reply to a comment by :on 2016-01-24 Reply to a comment by :on 2016-01-24 Reply to a comment by :on 2016-01-24 Reply to a comment by :on 2016-01-24 Reply to a comment by :on 2016-01-24 Reply to a comment by :on 2016-01-24 Reply to a comment by :on 2016-01-24