#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.

@kelvin0mql Hell yeah! Doing the good work.

@kelvin0mql

I like what you did there!

@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.

@kelvin0mql 👍

@kelvin0mql

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.

@kelvin0mql Nice, added mine to my QRZ profile.

@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).

@tsherrygeo @kelvin0mql good call, so did I

@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!

#hamradio
#pronouns

@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 Beautifully said.

@kelvin0mql @va3db And because of this poking a follow request. You missed *my* eye so I can still find the button.

@jevidl @va3db
Hah! Welcome to the shenanigans.

@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.

@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...

@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!

@kelvin0mql I don't have reason to fear such discrimination, but I plan to get into HAM at some point and I'm glad I won't be the goddam beachhead establisher on this.

@jpaskaruk
Fair point.

The choice to be a rabble-rouser is not for everybody. And that's OK.

@kelvin0mql Oh I don't mind being the rabble rouser, I just find it tends to end up with me deciding to exit the group for lack of allies and feeling lonely in a crowd, pretty sure you know what I mean. My local hackerspace played out this way.

Knowing that someone else has already done the first "grow the fuck up" post in the relevant spaces makes everyone feel a bit more confident making the leap themselves, I think. Respect.

@jpaskaruk
I hear ya.

I've gotten easily a dozen positive replies, and even more likes and reposts of my T-shirt designs.

I have sold exactly one shirt. Been told at least two more times that someone was buying a shirt. Why they'd tell me that assuming I would not get notified of each sale, I can't guess. Maybe they assume they sell a lot.

It's pretty funny.

Should reply, "Liar. I have the only one that ever 'sold'." ((giggle))