Ever worked portable with your radio, out amongst the public?
Here are the top situations I face on a regular basis when out at the coast:
(1) "Have you caught anything?"
This is never asked as a joke, but with the belief I am actually fishing with a fully vertical fishing pole and a feeder wire connected to it.
(2) "Are you a spy?"
If I was, do they think I would tell them?
(3) "Excuse me, can I ask what you're doing?"
Usually, I'm enthusiastic to explain. But sometimes, I am not. Often, explaining just brings blank faces.
(4) "Is what you're doing legal?"
Where does the idea come from that anybody doing something unfamiliar is somehow breaking the law?
(5) It's ship-to-shore, is it?
Quite why anybody thinks ships communicate with shore by having a man in a bobble hat stand on a nearby coast is, well, a mystery.
(6) Child, pointing at antenna: "Mummy, can I play with it?"
The mother smiles at me nervously, whilst moving swiftly away...
(7) Dog: appears from nowhere, runs along madly, tripping (and confusing) itself on the radials.
Owner: MEG! Come HERE Meg! Meg looks crazily and runs away in opposite direction.
(8) The 'don't look, don't ask' couple.
Convinced it's illegal, immoral, spying and something to do with fishing, they turn their eyes away as soon as I try to cast a friendly eye towards them. They walk briskly on...
(9) Can I just talk?
Someone who has been in lockdown for weeks finally finds someone to talk to. Nobody cares whether they might be carrying the virus or not, and a good, long conversation is enjoyed at close quarters. Nobody falls ill in the following days.
(10) That's ham radio, isn't it?
Finally! An hour-long conversation about radio, the days of old, and how bad the RSGB is...
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| The questions might be annoying, but the views make up for it. Working 10m (yes, 10m!) during early summer 2020. Happy Xmas! |
Great story. At all my /P operations I've only been asked once what I was doing. Mostly people look and take it all for granted. 73, Bas
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