W4FT on Amateur Radio

That’s right, this hobby is NOT a race!  Even in a contest, being the fastest to key the mike isn’t necessarily the best idea.  What am I ranting about, you ask?  I’m talking about good (and bad) amateur radio operating practices.  Lately, it seems like more and more hams will key up and start talking in milliseconds after someone else has stopped. It’s mildly distracting during casual conversations, and, to me, really irritating during net check-in. This isn’t limited to 2-meter repeater operation – it is getting common on HF too.  Whatever happened to the concept of waiting a second or two to see if someone wants to break in, or to make for a more orderly net?  And what happened to training new ops in proper radio etiquiette? Read more…