#SorryNotSorry but the struggles that I witness other people having while they're just trying to get into a wonderful hobby, & contribute to its growth & survival, has really gotten under my skin today.
So I'm poking some #HamRadio #OldFarts right in the eye.
If that means you're now gonna block me, good. Good bye, good riddance, and good luck ya dillweed.
@kelvin0mql Annnnnnnnd follow request sent.
Thank you for taking a stand.
@b4ux1t3
New configs in JS8Call.
The Chaotic-Good efforts continue.
@kelvin0mql I look forward with sufficient horror and interest at the responses you get. I hate that some folks respond the way they do, but I 'm often tickled at the nonsense they spout as a result.
Like this guy: https://mastodon.halibut.com/@smitty/111027203135236943 (the guy I’m talking about, not me.)
@kelvin0mql Damn, Kel. You're really going ALL IN here!
@robotfactory
I don't always kick the hornet's nest.
But when I do, I kick the ever lovin' F out of it.
@kelvin0mql awesome! Will do mine tonight too! I actually feel kind of like a tool for not thinking to add them to my profile there already. Good call! 👍
@kelvin0mql I added mine to the nickname field, so I am now Vance “He/Him” Martin
@N3VEM
I tried that, but that field didn’t support enough characters for
“Kel (they/them)”
to go in there.
I need “Kel” in there for contests, when half the contacts are double-checking at QRZ to make sure they’ve copied correctly thru the noise. Kinda the whole point of the service.
Friends call me Kelvin. Kel is for a MUCH shorter CW exchange.
@N3VEM
Now that I've thought about it for a few more minutes, I'd like to gently suggest that if you ever operate CW, contests or otherwise, to NOT use the Nickname field this way.
Many CW ops use software with macros, which is connected to QRZ XML service, and they would with a single F-key press, respond to you with your Nickname as provided in the XML data.
Feels like an unnecessary monkey-wrench in the machinery, perhaps.
@kelvin0mql ahh - I don’t do really do CW, but I know other loggers and such do look it up there and try to auto populate - I hadn’t thought of that
@N3VEM
Nor had I, at first.
But I read your toot on the toilet's first session, which is usually the longest one.
...Just sittin' there, tootin' & thinkin'. You know how it is.
@tsherrygeo @kelvin0mql I was at a coffee shop when I saw this, but as soon as I got home in it went.
@kc2ihx @tsherrygeo
We could start a campaign of sorts to put POLITE pressure on QRZ, your favorite logging software, etc. to add a pronouns field to their database(s).
I'd happily sign a petition, but I sadly have zero expectations of QRZ responding given what I've heard about them.
@kc2ihx @tsherrygeo
Same.
But you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
I know this because I generally take zero shots.
@kelvin0mql @kc2ihx @tsherrygeo
I just edited my page. Thanks for the idea, Kelvin!
@kc2ihx @kelvin0mql @tsherrygeo Great idea guys. I've added my pronouns to my QRZ page too... I wish my employer would add a field for preferred pronouns on their employee lookup app. My former employer had it built in, but I think a lot of companies (like QRZ?) probably just view is as additional development work they don't want or feel the need to do...
@tsherrygeo @croyle @kc2ihx
Yeah, it’s an uphill battle if someone needs to lift a finger.
@kelvin0mql If you want some more forehead wrinkles visit the QRZ forums, esp. the politics subforum /jk 😆
@kelvin0mql
I totally agree. Just encourage new ops and let them discover and make their own minds up about the vast array of aspects of the hobby. Prime example on FB today.
Op returning to the hobby asked an antenna question related to limited space.
Literally the 3rd comment “if you want to be lazy just plug in a pc and do FT8”
I just don’t get the need for comments like that! I’m not a fan of contesting, gave it a go didn’t really get a kick from it, I don’t need to slag it off.
@G5ART
Right? Sheesh.
Hey, since I will NOT do FB anymore, do me a favor and let that guy with the limited space (if he has a yard at all) know about our experiments with SHORT 160m verticals.
Takes minimal real estate (but more than zero real estate).
@kelvin0mql @va3db And because of this poking a follow request. You missed *my* eye so I can still find the button.
@kelvin0mql @kc2ihx @tsherrygeo Added to mine, too. If no one has already logged the suggestion on QRZ, I'll do it.
@wt8p @kelvin0mql @kc2ihx @tsherrygeo I added my pronouns to my QRZ profile page maybe a year ago. No one has ever commented, but despite how many people use QRZ to look up every contact while on the radio, I don't think many people actually read them.
@wt8p Please do pass the suggestion on to the QRZ folks!
Yes, I did a year ago when this thread started, and have not had any comments one way or the other. As @croyle suggests, I don't think anyone really reads QRZ profiles, at least not unless there's some really out-there photos of antennas or shacks.
@wt8p @croyle @kelvin0mql @tsherrygeo
I did run across a QRZ profile for a guy with a whole forest of towers, and somewhere near the bottom in the text, he had "proud to be a live member of ARRL"
(Given the demographic, I'm sure there's a fraction of ARRL members who have expired before their membership expires, but I imagine in this case it was a typo.)
@kc2ihx @wt8p @kelvin0mql @tsherrygeo I suspect that most people who look up users are doing it via a logging tool (like I see when I enter a callsign for a log into MacLoggerDX) which doesn't display the QRZ profile page Biography (except maybe the photo?), which is the only place where you can currently add your pronouns...
@croyle
Given that some folks use it that way and then complain when someone's call isn't valid, despite ULS being the authoritative source, yes, I'd suspect few people look at anything more than "does it exist".
(lots of valid reasons to not be on QRZ: non-US call signs that are not automatically updated, QRZ has a pending update from ULS to pull, person was banned from QRZ, or person lives in a country with real privacy laws)
@kc2ihx @croyle @tsherrygeo @wt8p
I did intentionally choose an “out there” photo.
@kc2ihx @wt8p @croyle @kelvin0mql @tsherrygeo Nobody reads them? In that case, I'm going to load my profile images full of steganographic data! Nobody will find it!
@kc2ihx @wt8p @croyle @kelvin0mql @tsherrygeo This could be my new hobby. I could add fortune cookie style fortunes to every image I post or send. Alt text? Check! Steg text? Check!
@ve3qbz @wt8p @croyle @kelvin0mql @tsherrygeo
Them: oh yeah, I upload my logs to QRZ.
Their QRZ logs: screenshot after screenshot of a custom logging application built in FileMaker running on Mac OS 8.