Sad Hams are Killing GMRS

Posted byJDPosted inTactical Wisdom From the BibleTags:, , ,

I will admit, I was unduly harsh in the original article.

While it was factually accurate, I wasn’t fair to the hams in the area…gents, I am sorry for that. Your criticism there is fair and I accept it.

Let me reword, I have regularly encouraged new people to get on GMRS to learn. I was excited when the linked repeaters went up. But, the feedback I’ve gotten from several people is that the highly technical discussions intimidate then from interacting. Also, a few different guys wanted to test range, but for whatever reason said they can never get on, because conversations are on going.

In the article, I never mentioned call signs or names and that was out of respect. No matter how much doxxing is done, I won’t do the same. Please leave the family alone.

I do apologize, and let’s try to have a constructive (I know, mine wasn’t as first) conversation here in the comments.

If you don’t want to, I get it, but understand that the doxxing perpetuates the Sad Ham stereotype, which I admit was an unfair characterization.

Published by JD

I am the author of the Tactical Wisdom Series. I am a personal protection specialist and a veteran of the US Marine Corps. I conduct preparedness and self-defense training.

44 thoughts on “Sad Hams are Killing GMRS”

  1. Thank you and thank you very much! This all needed to be said. And this is coming from a licensed Amateur Extra ham! It’s very fitting that you guard your space for your needs and I commend you for doing so. I am involved in youth outreach for amateur radio (retired teacher) and the amount of curmudgeonry that has become part and parcel of the ham radio world is not just off-putting, it is toxic. The GMRS is an extremely viable alternative and one that family and youngsters can use for good measure with ‘urgencies’ much less emergencies. Kudos to you for bringing this issue front and center.

    Randy KO4WTM

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  2. Another ham here (Advanced Class since 1985). No argument on your points made, but I do wish you would do what they can’t stand, and just ignore those types. I’ve run into them before, and they seem to enjoy trying to humiliate not just the non-hams, but anyone not in their little circle of clowns. I had joined AmRRON with high hopes for a prep-minded radio group, but when I once asked for a bit of help understanding how to use their forum, I got the same treatment as you described. I never went back. Just ignore them. Shut them out. You’re only feeding their ego – and, frankly, it makes you look petty.

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      1. “Our repeaters”?? Up until 3 months ago there was only one repeater in the metro area, and it was closed. Guys spending their own time and money had two brand new repeaters up and running and then LINKED them to extend the coverage for everyone. I get the despise of the guys making “buzzards”, drives me nuts too. And that “old sage” out there. Maybe you should just stick to YOUR repeater and then you can run it how you like. Problem solved.

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      3. No, this “article” made me smile ear to ear. Especially being written by someone who doesn’t even posses a GMRS license!

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      6. You did extend the coverage for everyone, but only 4 or 5 guys get to use it, which is my point. Relax, you’re proving my point here.

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  4. Thanks for the thoughtful post. I’ve been a ham for longer than I’ve had my GMRS license, and where I live, there’s more ham activity than GMRS. I’m hoping to encourage more GMRS activity because I think it could be a great on-ramp for the hobby. And even if people don’t go on and get into amateur radio, they’ve added a valuable skill with GMRS alone. But yeah, we can’t just treat GMRS like ham-junior and do such a great job gate-keeping that no one gets in.
    I might disagree with you on one point. I’d probably be fine with people “rag chewing” on GMRS as long as they weren’t tying up the frequency. Anything that gets people in the habit of using the service for fun makes them better prepared to use it/when a true need arises. And it increases the likelihood that there will be someone listening on the other end. Sure, yakking about ham-specific trivia would probably be out of bounds, but talking about day-to-day life builds relationships and trust.
    Thanks again for what you do.

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    1. I agree, and I said that’s fine, but take it to a side channel if it’s going to run long. To be fair, that’s really the only complaint is the ham rag chewing ending up running for 2 to 3 hours at time, and no one is able to break in, unless you want to join their conversation.

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      1. OK, I get you now. I thought you were saying that conversations on GMRS had to be all business, no pleasure. 2 to 3 hour rag chews without allowing a break in are definitely beyond excessive. I’m dealing with the opposite problem, trying to get people into GMRS, not off of it.

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      2. One possible response: Since they are so big on doing things “the ham way”, you might remind them (as often as needed) that it is customary on ham repeaters to pause any extended conversation periodically (typically when doing the 10 minute call sign ID) and ask if anyone else needs to use the repeater. They should be following that practice on a GMRS repeater as well as VHF or UHF ham repeaters. At least down here in Florida, that is a well-established bit of ham radio etiquette.

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    1. I didn’t build it. It came in the mail, I attached an antenna, and plugged it in. Its around $400 to $450 and is a very basic and low powered model, but as long as your antenna is high, it will work.

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      1. I just looked at my copy of the Guerrilla’s Guide to the Baofeng Radio and sure enough there is section on building one. Thanks for what you do, I enjoy your blog and when you are on podcast.

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  7. After my second retirement I figured I would delve into amateur radio as a hobby. I worked with electronics in the Navy so the tech license was easy for me. Well between the type of Karen’s you described and the little cliques in my area I’ve not been interested in expanding the hobby. I occasionally think about getting up to speed for my general then using expanded HF capabilities but it would be nice to have face to face interaction. I’ve just been using FRS for the wife and I and it’s limited but no butt heads to contend with out here. Honestly I’m a boomer and some of the older members of my cohort have interpersonal skills for shit. Whether it’s gun shops, ranges, ham radio.. hell even the small local hardware store has these clowns. Well my dogs don’t 🐕 give me shade when I talk to them so that will have to do in my rural palace.

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  8. You’ll be happy to know that in our rural community in the Mojave Desert there’s no sad hams. We actually hold three nets on Monday nights. The first one is on GMRS frequency, then a 2m net through our wide coverage repeater, and a 440MHz simplex net. We wanted non hams to be able keep up to date on any emergency incident in our area. It’s also been a great recruiting tool for CERT members as well as several have go on to or are working on obtaining their Ham license. As far as 73’s usage goes it’s usually only used by hams over 80 yo. It’s mostly used on the HF bands.

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  9. Hilarious Joe, since I started working in Novi I have monitored some goofy guys on GMRS when I was driving home on 95l6 this week. I laugh because I was surprised at all the stupid things they were talking about, like olive oil, in great detail and at length. And today at the shop I heard the same guys talking about signal quality and stuff too. How funny, I had no idea such morons existed on GMRS. Sorry to hear they are causing you grief.

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  11. Very well said. I am a ham and have drifted away from it for the smae reasons mentioned here. They are more concerned about the technical aspects and digital that they forget about everything else. Namely communication. why spend hundreds of dollars so you can send a text message by radio (not talking about emergency comms). I’ve been a member of several clubs and not one had a welcoming attitude especially if you you have a tech license and forget about Elmers all they want is for you to upgrade. My GMRS license works for me.

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  12. Joe,
    Sad Hams indeed ruin everything they touch. Just like Sad Karens and Becky wreck everything by monopolizing and catastophizing every single thing. It’s a symptom of decline. Proverbs 17:22 comes to mind here. Some people just refuse to be happy and to embrace the happiness of others.
    Sad Hams embrace the letter of the law but refuse the spirit. The rules exist to minimize harmful interference (much like the rules in the Ultimate Tactical Handbook). Sad Hams ignore the spirit of reducing harm and use the legalistic approach to inflict harm for their own entertainment. Its a sign of the times. Some people i sist on being wise in Their own eyes.
    Sorry that your repeater is affected. I know you’ll do what is right to pursue remedy.
    Thanks so much for your blog and books. I bought the books to support your work. My young sons enjoy them quite a bit. Even though I’m a long service vet they esteem your words more than mine. A prophet in his own country…. I’m thrilled that my boys are getting the knowledge. You’re doing the Lord’s work.

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  14. As a Ham, you have my permission to tell those other “Sad” Hams to pound sand. /s

    Shame to see people in a hobby being trolls or pushing people out of a gate. I understand that gate-keeping is important, but this is utter nonsense. Thankfully, I haven’t had this experience in my area. We don’t get a ton of over-active Hams out here, just lots of regular casuals.

    Make shame great again!

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  16. I think you are exaggerating a bit. The system is idle 90% of the time. There is one guy maybe that needs to throttle his radio time / ham radio 101 stuff and is a quick keyer and rambler .. that is a fair point. But most of the folks on their are conscious of the ham speak and realize it’s not the place. You have to keep in mind sometimes some folks ask questions about radio as well and we are going to give our opinion when asked. We had a kid on their last weekend who was very inquisitive about amateur radio. And since he’s not licensed yet where is he going to go ? He has a gmrs license from a parent for example and is talking to them. Anyways I think you should be a little fair here. The hams on the gmrs repeater are not all sad hams and open to feedback and genuinely want to help newbies out. I’ve met a lot of people I wouldn’t have normally met had I stuck to the ham side and hope that continues. Remember all this is new in the Detroit area. It’s a shiny toy for now .. so there is a lot of playing around and the ham guys are good at putting up repeaters and will do range tests and such to check equipment.. going to have to expect that. Gmrs users will benefit from it in the long run and it will be a robust system. But then they will disappear and it will be left to the gmrs folks to enjoy. So have a little faith.

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    2. I think we can all share, with a little consideration.

      You can argue about the 90%, but I’ve been listening for about 30 minutes today, and that was 50%….

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  18. I dont give a shit about feelings, that’s their problem and do not justify doxxing anyone ever.

    The fact they went after you, over an opinion that everyone is allowed to have, is proof they’re insecure people.

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