Be Ham Kind, Not Ham Selfish

The past few weeks have given us wonderful propagation on the higher HF bands.  On 12m, the fun keeps going until about 22UT, with 10m staying open well after sunset as well.

Using my simple dipole-based 2-element vertical beam, I've recently enjoyed working deep into the US on 12m, principally on JT65 but also PSK and SSB.  

Whilst working one ham - KK5AA - I looked up his QRZ.com page.  I found there something written, perhaps during a bad day, but here as his words, as appearing on that page 06/3/14:

"JT Macros is an excellent addition also, just be very careful what you put in the macros. Someone may think they are too important to be told they have already worked you before [...] For the smallest unintentional slight,I received a nasty-gram from someone I don't even know. He became incensed when I tried to let him know during a contact that we had already worked the band in that mode. He blasted me with an email, calling me "rude" and declaring he would never answer one of my calls ever again on any band."

Well, I can understand that radio is a different thing to different people.  I also understand some people chase DXCC on each and every band, perhaps in each and every mode, sometimes taking a long time and lots of effort to do it.

What I don't understand is the sentiment that stations - that is, human beings - are only worth speaking to (or contacting by JT) for the purpose of putting the callsign in the log, and then only once.  

I'm not sure that is best described as "rude", but it sure as hell is misguided.  I work some people several times a week.  I enjoy picking them up as much as I would meeting an old friend in the street.  That's not to say I don't like adding a good DX in my log, but it's a very long way from being my priority.

This kind of approach to radio isn't, of course, limited to just KK5AA.  I often hear operators thumping a callsign into their electronic log, where the first thing they say on the return is "Hi, we've worked twice before", and then sometimes try to sound as interested as they can, moving on quickly to what is hoped won't be a repeat-caller.

I guess if you just want to fill a log book, you could take to WSPR beacon mode, and just record unique, two-way contacts that way.  Or maybe just take up SW listening, where you can fill as many pages as you like with stations you can hear.  

Nobody really cares what rig you're running, or how many elements your beam has.  That's just something to make you, yourself, feel good.  So, don't extend the rudeness by treating another operator like dirt.  Remember also that, for a number of operators, talking to someone on the radio is the only social contact they have all day, and repeat calls might in fact be exactly what they are looking for.

You wouldn't say "seen you before, get lost" to a person in the street.  So don't do it to radio ops.