Hey Mike,
I like your term “Wireless Experimenter”. ?I think that works for those of us who “tinker” and “play” radio with little antennas and low power. ?Thanks! ?And your thoughts about setting off the neighbors alarm system, etc., with 1000 watts. Yes, it’s possible. And the extra cost for a 1000 watt rig including the bigger coax, tower, beam antenna. ?I have always had my fun with 100 watts or less even in 1960 when I got on the air, mostly 5 watts or less. ?So I am a “Wireless Experimenter”….. and love it. ?Thanks again for the idea and the term.
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On May 25, 2025, at 9:33?AM, Mike EI9FEB <ei9feb@...> wrote:
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On Sat, May 24, 2025 at 12:27 PM, David Wilcox K8WPE wrote:
If you want guaranteed contacts every ?time get on the air with 100 or even
1000 watts, a high wire or even a beam antenna and have fun.
No, that won't g'tee a contact. Anyway, unless you are at the stamp collecting end of the hobby (and valid fun for many), it's not just about contacts, especially not about 1kW on beams.
Besides, many places if you did 1kW all the house and car alarms would go off!
I think it was sad when the Irish Regulator, Comreg, decided we are Radio Amateurs rather than "Wireless Experimenters". I was delighted to "trade in" GI8JTR and become a Wireless Experimenter.
Of course "Amateur" used to only mean unpaid (vs Professionals who got paid). Now in common usage many use the adjective amateur to mean incompetent. But Professional vs Amateur shouldn't be about competence and plenty of so-called "professionals" in business and technology (especially software and doubly so web sites and User Interfaces) are incompetent.
David Wilcox K8WPE