[HCARC] "Canned Radio"

[Kerry Sandstrom]

Hi Hi!!

Gary,

599 TX is not communications, you're right on that.  I sometimes get on for 
the state QSO parties, but they are much more relaxed.  My preference is 
rag-chewing on CW with friends I've been working for many years.  RTTY in 
the old days used to be mainly rag-chews also, but now it is like PSK-31, 
almost a continuous contest style operation - Not for me.   A lot of DXing 
isn't much better although I sometimes work some of the DX guys I've worked 
in years past and have fairly pleasant QSO's with them.

Computers have almost destroyed ham radio as I knew it.  Seems like many of 
the guys on the various digital modes have all their stuff preloaded like 
name, qth, rig, etc and they just push a button.  If you ask them a 
questioin, you never get an answer.  I don't think they even read what they 
receive!  Many times I don't think they can copy me at all, they just get 
their info by looking my call up on QRZ.com.  That is really obvious when 
they think my QTH is Fredericksburg (which is what QRZ.com has since that is 
my mail address) and not Harper which is what I send on the air.  Guys that 
use an unusual nickname or a middle name have a similar problem.  As I said, 
thay is not ham radio!  Oh, yes, some of them show up on CW with Morse 
readers and computer keyboards and canned messages.  They can't copy CW but 
pretend that they can.  It is almost enough to make me send sloppy CW so the 
automatic Morse readers can't copy me!

Yes, you need to find something that you want to work and don't get dragged 
into stuff you don't care about.  Propagation is generally excellent from 
Texas to the South pacific.  You should have a lot of fun.  For me it was 
working all the JA prefectures on 10 m CW - Yes, I did; then it was working 
the Soviet Union radio regions, there are/were about 175 of them again on 10 
m CW; and since I'm of Viking descent, working the traditional counties of 
Sweden, my families homeland, on 10 m CW.  You can have a lot of fun, talk 
to a lot of interesting people and learn a lot about a country without 
getting dragged into the contest style exchanges.

Remember, the goal is to have fun!

Kerry