Homo Ignoramicus Technicus

The New Ham Species: Homo Ignoramicus Technicus

Ah yes — the new ham. A fascinating creature that has somehow managed to pass a licensing exam yet cannot identify which end of a coax cable to hold. You’ve met them. We’ve all met them. The ones who buy a shiny new transceiver, connect it to something vaguely wire-shaped, and when it doesn’t work… immediately conclude: “It must be broken.”

So this week, one of these rare specimens appeared in the wild — let’s call him Operator Zero. His radio wouldn’t transmit. So I asked a few basic questions:

• “Can you measure the current draw?”
• “Do you have a power meter?”
• “Maybe an antenna analyzer?”
• “And a dummy load?”

No, no, no, and of course not. The man had a $1000 transceiver, a $20 antenna, and zero diagnostic tools. Not even a dummy load — the most basic test device known to humankind. His entire troubleshooting process consisted of “turning it off and on again.”

Apparently, measuring current is something reserved for NASA and ancient druids, not modern radio amateurs. “Oh, I just plug it in and talk,” he said, proudly. Talk to what, exactly? The ether? The ghosts of Marconi?

Back in the day, hams were tinkerers — if something didn’t work, you grabbed your soldering iron, a scope, and maybe a sacrificial fuse or two, and you found out why. Today’s ham opens a Facebook group and posts:

“Help, my rig not working, antenna OK, SWR unknown, help fast pls.”

And then waits for divine intervention via comment section.

Let’s be clear: owning a transceiver does not make you a radio amateur. It makes you a radio consumer. If you can’t measure voltage, current, or SWR — you’re not operating; you’re hoping.

But the new ham species doesn’t care. They have apps. They have Bluetooth tuners. They have YouTube experts who tell them which end of the PL-259 goes where.

Ask them about Ohm’s law and they’ll think it’s a Netflix series. Ask them to build a dipole and they’ll Google “where to buy dipole prebuilt for me.” Ask them about ferrites and they’ll say, “Oh, I think my charger has those.”

And when their radio dies? The first reaction is, of course, to blame the manufacturer. Because clearly, it’s easier to believe that a $2000 Icom failed than to imagine you miswired your own power lead. Or — heaven forbid — didn’t test it into a dummy load.

Somewhere, an old ham sits in his shack, surrounded by test gear, quietly crying into his Tektronix.

Stay tuned — next week, we’ll explore another subspecies: The USB-C Adapter Ham, who believes every problem in RF can be solved by changing cables until something lights up.

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