Foundations of Amateur Radio

In the earlier days of my career I worked in a computing centre at a university surrounded by people with different interests and experiences in computing. There were programmers, hardware engineers, technicians, sales people, administrators, educators, support staff, statisticians and even a librarian.

There wasn't a lot of socialising or foosball, but every now and then we'd bump into each other in the lunchroom and talk about things that were not work related. During such conversations I learnt that people had all manner of interests outside their work, they were volunteer firefighters, or building their house, or active in the girl guides and any number of other unrelated pursuits and skills.

That same is true for the people inside the hobby of amateur radio. I've met people who were submariners, tow-truck drivers, accountants, paramedics, radio astronomers, telco and broadcast engineers, doctors, IT people, lots of IT people, and plenty of other professions.

As you might know, I'm self-employed. I am now acutely aware of mixing business with pleasure because not that long ago, every single time I met another person outside my field I'd get asked about some or other computer problem. Similarly I've witnessed medical professionals being asked about specific and personal medical issues and every time I experienced it or noticed it, a little part of me shied away from either telling people what I did or asking others for professional advice.

Now before you think that I'm telling you not to talk about computers within earshot of me, that's not at all what this is about. It's about building an awareness that there are people in your community from all kinds of different backgrounds with different experiences, something which I've talked about many times before, but, and here's a new thing, some of those people do not want to give free professional advice, or be dragged kicking and screaming back into their day-job when they're out having fun.

There's a difference between talking about what a virus is and asking about which computer to buy, a difference between talking about the neurological aspects of mushrooms and asking if someone can help you with deciding which medication to use. There's a difference between talking about radio telescopes and asking to access laboratory measuring equipment.

If you're unsure where the line is, think of it in this way. If your mate is a plumber, it's one thing asking them what sand in your sink means and another thing entirely to ask them to dig up your backyard.

I'm not telling you how to live your life, I'm asking you to be considerate of those around you who might have a skill set that you lack and need, whom you've met through the amateur community.

An example of how you might navigate this process is to ask the person if it's appropriate to ask a specific question and to be prepared for hearing "No". Or you might be surprised and find that they're happy to help, to a point. I'd encourage you to be mindful of that point.

In case you're wondering, nobody has been stepping on my toes and if you recently asked me a question, you haven't overstepped any lines.

At this point you might be wondering what this has to do with amateur radio and why I'm talking about it now. The answer lies in the nature and evolution of our community. If you look at us as we were a century ago, like I did extensively when I discussed the evolving nature of the so-called "Amateur's Code", apparently written in 1923 by Lieut.-Commander Paul. M. Segal, you'll know that the community from last century is nothing like the community today.

I'm sure that you agree that today we're not Gentlemanly, we're not beholden to the ARRL, and we're not all male, to name a few obvious changes and as a result the Amateur's code was updated, many times, to reflect our evolution.

Those changes came about because people had ideas, had discussions, wrote things down and shared them. That's what this is. A mark on the page saying that I'd like our community to be mindful of the expectations made of the members of the community around us.

Where are your boundaries and what did you do when someone stepped on them?

I'm Onno VK6FLAB