OPERATING STANDARDS

[M3PIE]

Is it just me or are operating standards getting worse on the radio in very recent years.
73
mark.

[G6CSL]

Well, in ye olde days, a lot of Operators were ex Army / Navy / Air Force / Merch, which used to keep wayward Ops in check.

Most new Ops now are - at best - ex CB, and have no radio 'culture' at all.

[M0VMT]

Well it ain't going to get any better now that's for sure.

[G4PPB]

I've noticed a very large increase in the number of requests for "radio checks" in the last few years. I feel like commenting, "One nine for a rig check,"
but I just bite my tongue. E.G. Station A calls station B a couple of times without reply. Very quickly he now asks for a radio check because 2 calls without a reply probably means his radio is dead or his antenna has vaporised or something. This then leads to 5 minutes of other stations giving him reports and where they are located. Not all of them bother with a call sign, of course.

Also, there's an increasing number of stations calling for other stations, but neglecting to give their own call sign, e.g. "G4PPB, are you on here, Eddie?" It's one thing to blame new licensees, ex-CBers more than likely, BUT, what are their instructors teaching them about on-air protocols?

I heard this on 2m yesterday, a station, we'll use the fictitious call sign G1XXX gave a call for another station but didn't get a reply. Another station, who obviously knows the G1XXX station came on and said, "K..... how are you doing?" G1XXX didn't reply. (I hope it was because the other guy hadn't given a call sign). This elicited the reponse, " Do you copy, K.....?". Still no reply from G1XXX. Then in a quiet voice the anonymous caller asked, "Have I offended you in some way, K.....?" Thankfully G1XXX again didn't respond.

Ah well, that's progress, NOT!

[G0BHD]

I've noticed a very large increase in the number of requests for "radio checks" in the last few years. I feel like commenting, "One nine for a rig check,"
but I just bite my tongue. E.G. Station A calls station B a couple of times without reply. Very quickly he now asks for a radio check because 2 calls without a reply probably means his radio is dead or his antenna has vaporised or something. This then leads to 5 minutes of other stations giving him reports and where they are located. Not all of them bother with a call sign, of course.

Also, there's an increasing number of stations calling for other stations, but neglecting to give their own call sign, e.g. "G4PPB, are you on here, Eddie?" It's one thing to blame new licensees, ex-CBers more than likely, BUT, what are their instructors teaching them about on-air protocols?

I heard this on 2m yesterday, a station, we'll use the fictitious call sign G1XXX gave a call for another station but didn't get a reply. Another station, who obviously knows the G1XXX station came on and said, "K..... how are you doing?" G1XXX didn't reply. (I hope it was because the other guy hadn't given a call sign). This elicited the reponse, " Do you copy, K.....?". Still no reply from G1XXX. Then in a quiet voice the anonymous caller asked, "Have I offended you in some way, K.....?" Thankfully G1XXX again didn't respond.

Ah well, that's progress, NOT!

It has had a long period of deterioration!
Many years ago you would hear an exchange of call signs on every over, religiously.
Then slowly the "Give it out every 15 minutes" mentality crept in, followed by the "Give it out very occasionally when deemed necessary during a long net or conversation", and onward's to today where I often hear locally calls on say 2 meters S20, that go along the lines of....."You in there Jim?" (or whatever name)......"Yeah mate, got ya!"....."Take it to the usual mate!"......followed by silence, and not a single call sign mentioned full stop during the exchange before they venture wherever they are going, and I am sure not even mentioned once they get there either!

[G6CSL]

The rot set in when they invented the microphone.

[G0BHD]

The rot set in when they invented the microphone.

You are not wrong I suspect!

[Sangoma]

I hear a lot of it, an have commented on here about call signs.

But it is not usually FL holders who are guilty, it is full licence holders in the main.

[VK5TM]

There's plenty of Old Timers that behave in the same manner, so it's not only the newcomers.

Then again, in this climate of "I want it now", what can you expect.

[G0BHD]

Oh I completely agree with the previous couple of comments, its a bad habit that has crept in across the whole spectrum of licence levels and full licence holding old timers are plentiful among the worst transgressors.
I guess bad habits are easily picked up with time, and if not corrected after a while just become "the new normal" for many.