Subj : Re: Fall To : DARYL STOUT From : JIMMY ANDERSON Date : Wed Dec 01 2021 10:23:00 -=> Daryl Stout wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=- DS> Jimmy, JA> Interfered with? DS> Yep. Whenever I went to pass traffic on a test session or something DS> else, I'd get walked on, and they had far more power than I did. With DS> analog, you have no clue as to who is doing it. At least with the DS> digital modes, your callsign shows up. From what I understand, DS> locally...none of the repeaters are on the gateway...per the wishes of DS> the trustees. Ah - gotcha! DS> One Thursday night, we had several supercell thunderstorms moving DS> into Arkansas ahead of a cold front, and the Storm Prediction Center DS> had just issued a Tornado Watch for the region. Well, the head of DS> Arkansas Skywarn had been notified by the National Weather Service that DS> they wanted to activate it, but he wanted me to do "The Weather Watch DS> Net" (a precursor to Arkansas Skywarn) while they got some hams to head DS> out to the National Weather Service. The weather net was to start at DS> the same time this clubs regular traffic net was to run, but with DS> Skywarn as "priority and emergency traffic", that net took priority, DS> and pre-empted the traffic net. DS> I keyed up, and announced that The Weather Watch Net was now on the DS> air, and this old older ham (who went bad senile after his wife died) DS> went ballistic. He demanded "Who the hell made the decision for DS> such??". I tried to explain to him what was going on, but he would have DS> none of it. Thankfully, the club president was on the repeater, and I DS> told him to "Tell him"...and even though he did, this guy felt that a DS> regular traffic net was far more important. After that, every time I DS> keyed up on that repeater, I was interfered with, and likely by this DS> individual...who is a Silent Key now. WOW! I guess it's true - there are jerks in every thing and hobby and group... DS> Another ham, now a Silent Key, nearly drove me out of ham radio DS> nearly 6 years after I got licensed. I was Net Control and a member of DS> two local clubs, and as it turned out, they had their hamfests in DS> April, 3 weeks apart. My philosophy was "I may have to work both DS> Saturdays, but I'd like information on both...in case I can sweet talk DS> the boss into letting me have Saturday off, and I'd work on Sunday DS> instead. I saw nothing wrong with that. Besides, without work (a nasty DS> 4 letter word (hi hi)), you do not have money for going to hamfests, DS> and buying new ham radio toys. DS> Well, that infuriated this individual, who called me on the phone, DS> and cussed me to the point of tears. I called a fellow ham who lived DS> about 2 miles away, and bawling like a baby with a soiled diaper...I DS> told him "I'm quitting the hobby, and bringing you my gear to tell". He DS> said "WTH??", and I said "I'll tell you when I get there", and promptly DS> hung up on him. I don't understand someone getting angry over getting info... Maybe he thought the hamfest - HIS hamfest - took priority over EVERY other thing in life? Sheesh! DS> I drove over to his apartment, walked in, still in tears, threw my DS> gear on his couch, pulled my license out of my wallet, and threw it and DS> the big copy I had, on the couch, and headed for the door to leave. He DS> said "Wait A Minute!! You are NOT leaving here without telling me what DS> is going on!!". I admit I thought about saying "Screw It!! I've had DS> enough of ham radio!!". When I told him what happened, he exploded in DS> rage, cussing as bad as I had been cussed out not 15 minutes earlier. DS> The next week, when this individual got on the air, and said to me DS> "You always do good", it was all I could do to keep from cussing him DS> out on the air. I would've lost my license, and they would've lost a DS> member and Net Control (I wonder if it would have been worth it). But, DS> as it was, I went QRT for 6 months. No packet, no meetings, no DS> hamfests, no nets, no public service events, NOTHING. I was still DS> considering turning in my license, with a very nasty letter to the FCC, DS> telling them what they could do with it and the hobby. DS> This individual had turned so many people away from ham radio, that DS> there were many against him, who noted that at his funeral, "they DS> wouldn't be able to close the coffin for all the spit", and there'd be DS> a line of folks waiting to relieve themselves (from both ends) on his DS> grave. Man - and some people, I think, ENJOY being like that... There's a local musician that passed away a few years ago. He had the 'behind his back' nickname of 'ramrod' because he would shoulder into jams and try and 'take over.' It was either his way, or you didn't play - IN A PUBLIC JAM. Now I've had 'my own group' over the years, and someone has to call the shots and do the producing and arranging, etc. I'm an easy going guy and willing to work with anyone, but when someone books through me and I get guys to work a gig, it's 'my show,' so to speak. But this guy would try and 'ramrod' his way through a public open jam... DS> Two and a half years ago, another OM had written some software for DS> his XYL to get callsigns when on D-Star. But, every time she did the DS> nets, she was missing callsigns like mad. If I was a station with DS> emergency traffic, I definitely would not be happy. He got angry DS> because I (and from what I understand, several others) described the DS> software as "klunky". To me, if you wrote a program that is NOT doing DS> its job of copying callsigns as it should, then it is "klunky"...and it DS> is up to the author to fix things. It also took him forever and a day DS> to update net listings for D-Star Nets on his website...and that's why DS> I started my own list of D-Star Nets... originally in PDF format, but DS> recently converted to Excel Spreadsheets. The spreadsheets are so much DS> easier to work with than PDF files. DS> So, I quit being involved with the net that this was on, and nearly DS> quit ham radio. I also switched my emphasis from weather, to trains and DS> railroads; as well as changing my callsign. Hate that someone nearly drove you from the hobby... DS> This net was a weather related net, but it NEVER did activate for a DS> real Skywarn Event, like the VoIP Hurricane Prep Net does (I know DS> they're glad hurricane season is now over for the year). But, then DS> several of the net controls moved to other areas, and their internet DS> was so erratic where they could not get into the reflector. With that, DS> and continual declining net participation, it's causing that net to go DS> QRT after the net this Sunday night. DS> Very few folks knew the real reason why I left, and I could have been DS> a real butthole, and aired the dirty laundry on the air or in the Yahoo DS> Group...but I didn't. Good for you! DS> Just like with the other hams noted, while I forgave them, I never DS> forgot what they did...and it has left a bad taste in my mouth DS> regarding amateur radio. DS> Net Control is not for the faint hearted. I've been doing nets for DS> over 30 years, so I know how they should be run. In fact, when I do the DS> Arklatex D-Star Net on Tuesday evenings, I have multiple monitors, with DS> taking net checkins on Reflector 48 B, plus via Netlogger, D-Rats, DS> Facebook, and email; all simultaneously. The email, Facebook, and DS> D-Rats checkins are noted as a bean for the count, and aren't asked for DS> comments. To me, if a ham as a Net Control station isn't willing to do DS> the work before, during, and after the net (and it is WORK), then they DS> have no business being Net Control. DS> Some nights, I'm in the computer chair for nearly 3 hours...and have DS> the walker next to me, as I start cramping up from sitting so DS> long...and nearly fall when I get up to move around. I start early DS> checkins 45 to 60 minutes before the net, but depending on the net and DS> its format, it be done in as little as 30 minutes, or as long as 90 DS> minutes. Yet, when checkins dry up, I go into "auctioneer mode". Where DS> they go "going once, going twice, sold" (just like the song by John DS> Michael Montgomery...the music video on that is cool...and the female DS> in the video is a cute blonde, who can really clog!!), I do a next to DS> last call, then a final call for rechecks, late net checkins, or DS> anything else to come before the net. If I get some, I keep the net DS> going...but if not, I terminate the net. If it's the song I'm thinking of, I liked the parody of it as well - by Cledus T. Judd, I think it was... DS> For logging, I started using Netlogger in August, 2020...and DS> absolutely LOVE it. I even prepared a PDF tutorial file on setting it DS> up, and using it for nets. I didn't get into the part for using it for DS> contesting, as that part of ham radio never appealed to me. Same here - as far as contesting... I enjoy just making conversation, very much like echonets in BBS's. :-) Not seeing how many one line posts or replies I can make. ;-) I would probably be terrible at Field Day, cause I'd want to strike up a conversation with the people on the other end, not just record the call and move on. LOL .... So easy, a child could do it. Child sold separately. --- MultiMail/Mac v0.52 * Origin: MicroNet: Omicrn Theta * Southaven MS * winserver.org (618:100/14) .