Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking.

It seems almost as if the weather was destined to happen. As I mentioned a few weeks ago the weather bureau had forecast dry and hot conditions and sadly those predictions have proven to be all too true as we mark off the calendar with just seven weeks to Christmas. To all those who have been impacted by the hot dry weather and the fires, we can offer our condolences, support and gratitude to those engaged in fire control. It is a time when community is so important in supporting each other.

I suspect that many of us have noticed that social media is a frenzied environment which aims to trap people into a form of addiction if the comments we read are a guide. There is the bevy of faces that pop up daily and weekly telling us what they have done or enjoyed or ranting about what has offended them and we the, perhaps, unsuspecting audience provide many with a wonderful income stream for their efforts. Now this is not to deny that there are several whose efforts present fact and debate which is stimulating as well as enjoyable. Then there is the inevitable question that we must ask ourselves and that is “what is the basis for what is being presented?”

We radio amateurs align ourselves with a range of techniques which follow the traditions of scientific enquiry born out of the Enlightenment. We build our understanding of the physics, chemistry and natural sciences by observation, experimentation and debate of the results. That sounds very formal because we are participating in activities which satisfy our curiosity and over time confirm or query what we see as book learning. There is a logic in what we do and surely we must apply that to our research also.

What I mean is that we should realise that many of the self-promoting gurus who seek to entertain us on Internet video are really self-promoting rather than presenting all the facts on a matter. We see dozens of videos showing a certain design of antenna being trialled in the field and depending on the band conditions and other factors, it may appear more effective than another from a different manufacturer.

Time was that people would reach for the trusty “bible” or radio handbook and they would learn what differentiated a particular design from another. These days it is all too common for comparisons in performance to be made based on brand and not good design or engineering.

What we are experiencing is an evolution within the fields of recreational electronics from the beginnings when home brew equipment was the standard to the era when the manufactured gear is dominant and home brew tends towards the peripheral and ancillary items that embellish our stations.

So what I am feeling is that the first call on information is becoming the Internet where it is too easy to be given opinion at the expense of sound knowledge. Don’t let the entertaining video guru spoil the education we all get from amateur radio.

I’m Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and that’s what I think....how about you?