[W3GV] My two cents...

[Nicholas Seelinger]

Just thought I would add my two cents to the recent posts I've been reading on the list from the last few days:

I remember when I first obtained my ham radio license in 2008 how excited I was. I tried to volunteer my spare time for everything from the UCWA's Mailbag Net, attending club meetings with both Erie and Union City, being a newsletter editor for a short time with the RAE, operating ARES/RACES/SKYWARN nets, going to emergency communications drills, learning about the repeaters, attending public service events, working with the Red Cross, and just enjoying the HOBBY in general. I so much as got involved in attempting to put up my own low profile repeater in the City with the help of a few ham radio folks. Needless to say, it was stuff like this (both political and personal) that was, and is still going on that made me drift away from the hobby I once loved and enjoyed!

It was to the point about a few months ago where I made the decision to remove and sell all my mobile vehicle radio equipment since I no longer used it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to let a few bad apples spoil the hobby. I still have a portable radio and a base radio that can be set up if needed for emergency use, but otherwise it just remains in storage.

It's like Matt said, we all have lives and cannot always devote our time to the hobby. Ham radio is not a job and doesn't pay the bills either. We all have other priorities in life. Like Matt, I myself also devote time to work, family, friends, and the fire department.

My goal was to become a public safety police dispatcher one day. Thanks in part to ham radio, I was able to learn a lot about radio communications equipment, how everything works, and become more fluent on having good radio communications skills. My dream came true in 2010 where I now radio dispatch for multiple police departments and one fire department in Erie County. I still to this day thank and associate ham radio for helping me make that dream a reality. I got to meet some really awesome, knowledgeable, and helpful people in ham radio in that short time I was around also!

I find it really childish that someone has to complain because two repeaters are not linked together. Is it really necessary to have two repeaters linked together 24/7/365? I really don't think so. In my opinion, this just adds more problems in the long run with transmitters, controllers, and other equipment just failing or malfunctioning. I think the link is great for temporary things like nets, or emergency use, but I don't believe in a full time link (but that is just my opinion).

I'm not sure what equipment some people are running - but my then 55 watt mobile Motorola radio was able to transmit and receive clearly on 61 and 82 with a 1/4 wave antenna anywhere in the City of Erie, not to mention elsewhere in the county. I was also able to get into 70, 27, 315, 76, and 390 with my mobile radio just fine. To trash talk the repeaters that people have selflessly volunteered their time and efforts to make them what they were and are today is absolutely uncalled for! I've seen this same thing happen with other repeater committee members in the past and it really is a shame. There were a lot of ham radio operators with years upon years of knowledge working with radio equipment who were ousted and lost because the repeaters didn't work to others' accommodations.

I also find it appalling that the club website and all of it's content was taken down by a single individual. The Radio Association of Erie paid for the domain name, web hosting, and server space for the website and it's content. It all just seems like a cry for attention.

Well, to all the ham radio folks that I haven't spoke to or heard from in a long time - I hope you are all doing well!

With that - 73,
Nick,
KB3RDO,
Girard, PA