The “Freer Men” of Ham Radio: Social and Spatial Distance | Hacker News Reader

The “Freer Men” of Ham Radio: Social and Spatial Distance

jstor.org

35 pointsfortran7711 comments

An interesting article for its focus on relating and the effects on close relations. I admit to looking for a bit more circumspect empathy in the article than I could find.

Ham radio is, metaphorically speaking, a distance-closing, signal-qualifying activity. Cutting the noise down, isolating, and developing the signal characteristics. It has important elements of helping practitioners hear and be heard. IMO all of this applies in many cases to those close relationships so described as wanting something. Wanting what--this is an important question for those who are relating. So we look to the signal again. It's an attempt to close the distance.

One can even read the author's points regarding relational neglect in the reverse, from the POV of someone who is possibly exhausted by what they may not have yet been able to perceive as a permanent, subjective lack of skill or interest in relating. Yet, by elaborate social constructs, they are still held to account. Especially in the world of those ads shown in the article.

Such a person will at some point naturally attempt to reestablish technical attention in the relationship as an anchor point for their identity. (Which I think is just a thing that happens; if opposites attract, then you have a lot of awkward, technical people in long-term relationships which ask a lot of their mediocre relating skills)

The net effect of the activity overall is often a development or deepening of identity. This development must always be done in some scenario involving characteristics of subjectivity, aloneness, and isolation, i.e. the hero's journey. That it calls attention and energy from other relationships may also be seen as a sort of crucial reservoir-building for those very same relationships.

Those who are in the "oh, that's not us, we're not like that person, how strange" camp may want to take a deeper look at the development of modern views on hobbies and interests from a therapeutic and developmental POV.

Same author (Kristen Haring) wrote a great book a little later (2007) called Ham Radio's Technical Culture.

https://lib.qrz.ru/files/22_-Kristen_Haring.pdf

Ham radio is a great hobby for so many different reasons. Also, my local ham clubs are an amazing subculture of wonderful old men (OM) who love to share their technical knowledge.

https://moscow.sci-hub.se/2943/9ad3c080a6fdfa75416b9a42bc505...

This looks interesting, but is hidden behind a login/paywall.

I can see how wihdrawing into your monks chamber away from the world to chase that ellusive contact to St. Helens while pounding brass for hours might have some effect in your marriage. Or waking up four or six in the morning to catch the grayline propagation.

I think I learned to not let HAM take my Christmas holidays. I found a recurring pattern where I would tackle some difficult project during the holiday. Before I knew it the holidays were gone and I was back to work.

I am starting to realise that we often replace busy work with other busy things. HAM for example. I have rediscovered walking and the outdoors and am happier for it.

My wife has never had an issue with my HAM hobby. She did tell me off after I fell out of a tree when trying to put up a new antenna. I obviously didn't learn my lesson though as I recently fell off a ladder while working on my shed. Now the lesson has been definitely learned. The last fall rattled me.

> HAM for example. I have rediscovered walking and the outdoors and am happier for it.

Why not both? :-)

https://parksontheair.com/

POTA is great. Gets people who want to be outside, outside. Gets people who want to play radio at home .. on the radio.

It feels like most ham related activities are needlessly complicated and obscure to keep people away. 15 minutes and I still don't know how I can do POTA.

Wow...I thought you must be exaggerating, went to the site...and could not tell from it just what the heck POTA is. I could guess because I had heard previously of SOTA (Summits on the Air) and POTA is like SOTA but in parks instead of on summits.

This site [1] gives a better idea of the basics.

Here's an article on SOTA [2].

[1] http://www.hamparks.org/

[2] http://www.arrl.org/radio-operating-from-summits

Good point, maybe I will :-)

I kinda like https://www.beachesontheair.com/ Nothing like a vertical antenna and salt water.

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