[GreenKeys] Code, Hams, tty/rtty and stuff...

[Randy or Sherry Guttery]

I knew my comment would stir some stuff - but I'll both amused and 
amazed at the responses.  My DSL line is still smoking from the heat of 
the responses -- though most people replied with the same 
tongue-in-cheek manner as my post.

Just for the record - for those who don't know me very well...

Brass pounders: a rare breed of individual with the talent and tenacity 
to learn and keep proficient at a task which is only really needed on 
rare occasion - but is irreplaceable when those circumstances do arise. 
While TTY may be indeed faster, they certainly aren't as portable, 
durable, nor as flexible in application as an individual that can send 
and receive intelligence on equipment ranging from the most primitive of 
noise makers to the most sophisticated and powerful technologies 
available today.  At the beginning of WWII - there were those who 
thought TTY machines would replace brass pounding in virtually all areas 
of communications.  It didn't take long to discover how heavy, fragile 
and power hungry the big machines really were.  A TTY covered in mud is 
pretty useless - a brass pounder covered in mud is just uncomfortable.

Hams - for the most part - are polite, competent and eager to serve. 
There are a few, though - that stain the reputation of the rest - those 
who think the band "belongs" to them and defend it to the point it would 
be funny - were it not so destructive to the hobby as a whole. There are 
others who's profanity and callous disregard for others "on air" are 
equally disruptive. It's these latter aberrations and worthless turds 
that I cast my dispersions on.  Those who are undeserving of scorn know 
who they are - and many have indeed expressed equal disgust for those 
whom abuse the privilege. Like the Brass Pounders - HAMs may seem quaint 
and over-the-hill with little to contribute - until real disaster 
strikes. Cell phones may be the darling technology of the young crowd 
today... and they may dismiss the "old farts" and their old ways. But 
it's not been all that long ago and more times than a few when the 
MaBells and RCA Communications giants have dropped the ball - and it was 
those old farts with their quaint gear - carrying emergency information 
when "the big boys" couldn't. As they just got reminded on the Texas 
coast - cells phone are wonderful - until the towers quit...

A few interesting things did come to light in some of the messages -

There are more than a couple "non-HAMs" on the list besides Sherry and 
myself. Considering that HAMs are just about the last people on the 
planet to use TTYs to any serious degree - and are among the few that 
can legally use them "over the air" any more; it was an easy thing to 
assume (there is that dangerous word!) virtually everyone on Greenkeys 
was a HAM.

Another interesting point was how many commercial licenses are "out 
there" - many dating back to the mid 1960s; being converted 
Radiotelephone First or Second Class licenses - and not a few with RADAR 
endorsements.

So how about an informal survey for those with some manner of (radio 
electronics) license  Whatcha got - when'd ya' get it?

I'll start:

FCC 1st   1966
Let it expire while in Navy schools, etc. so then:
FCC 2nd  1973
FCC 1st w/ RADAR 1978
converted to "General" w/ RADAR in 1984 by FCC

Sherry picked up her FCC 3rd class in 1973 and kept it current until it 
  "went away" in 1984

best...
-- 
randy guttery

A Tender Tale - a page dedicated to those Ships and Crews
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