Praying for Rain

GB, I'm not one bit surprised you'd know him "personally". Shouldn't form opinions based on his posts here? Are you kidding?

And by the way w/woman the Amateur Radio Service is the ONLY communications service that has the capabilities to set up worldwide communications in case of any global or national disaster immediately not within an hour but immediately in the case of any communications blackout solar or otherwise.

Hams can prove communications unassisted for extended periods of time internationally regardless of language or political barriers. That is the reason Amateur Radio owns more frequencies that any other service and is unrestricted in experimental regions of the spectrum and the only group other than the military that is licensed to experiment with spread spectrum technology.

I'm sorry ok, where did I mention anything about a ham radio operator? Take your meds, you're confused about who you're posting your lies to.

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Good grief, not only are you an atheist unoi you’re a CB’r. hahaha no wonder I don’t like you. LOL.

What’s you “handle”? and you lied about using a CB in your business. I know what business you are in and you don’t use a CB Radio. You liiiiiiiiiiiied.

DA, I'm going to be charitable toward you here, and assume you were unaware of all the good ham radio operators do. THEY SAVE LIVES. Instead of ridiculing GB, you should be THANKING him.

During any type of natural disaster, like tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, or floods, very often ALL communications are out EXCEPT ham radios. And ham radio operators are trained and ready to do whatever is necessary to help.

Here are just a few out of the hundreds of articles about what they have done, from Katrina to the April tornadoes in Alabama:

http://www.alabamawx.com/?p=47462

http://www.arrl.org/news/amate...new-mexico-wildfires

http://radio.about.com/od/amat...wave/a/aa090405a.htm

http://www.arrl.org/news/amate...ons-support-in-haiti

BS, and I don't mean black sheep.

Jesus H. Christ people. The only reason I laughed at Ok and GK is because they seem to think it makes them some sort of intellectuals because they can work a HAM radio. I have a 15 year old nephew that has one set up in his bedroom, and has since he was 10. Also with today's technology it is only really useful in situations like natural disasters ie, tornadoes.

They would not be of any use at all if say... we had a EMP attack. Which is a very real threat.

No one said that they were not useful at anytime, I just don't think a couple of old HAM radio guys should go around thinking they are some how intellectual giants based solely on their ability to turn some knobs and speak clearly. LOL

QED

ever heard of valve radios dark nagel?

dark, I'm beginning to suspect you as one of unoi's employees. possibly the kid that drove the Mustang. If not, whatever happend to that kid unoi?

At a certain age it becomes "retro" and then it's cool again. It's old school in a way that old schoolers can't be because they went to the old school. That's what the kids say anyway.

Just plainly wrong.  I never insinuated or said such.  Not that there are not highly intellectual people in the hobby.   Many astronauts, Engineers and Researchers or other highly technical people also study and take the test for the license and privilege.  Kings and various politicians as well as some Actors and some Singers and performers enjoy the hobby and yes many middle schoolers and young people as well as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts so it doesn't take brain surgeons or Rocket Scientist although many of them are Hams also.  Essentially what I was doing, with Okuok was clowning around, with the post I made, not thinking that someone would be on here trying to turn it into something totally different.  

As for Uno's comments you must really have a burning grudge for some reason or something biting at you but no one is trying to pull your chain to deserve the retorts that you came back with.  I used to be a CB'er as well ( KBD5746 was my FCC CB License ).  Hams are quick to distinguish themselves from CB not because they are any more special but because they each endured long and extensive study and practice to get their privilege to operate and use the vast frequencies we have.  I personally had to learn, over time, and pass an FCC Test of 20 Words per minute Morse Code and advanced Electronics theory as well as Rules and Regs in order to qualify for my license so it is something we appreciate, not laud over people's heads.  Anyone can do it and I would encourage anyone to go for it especially since the FCC Dropped the requirement for Morse Code.

Like the Boy Scout motto to "Be Prepared" (not a boy scout so can't say that's 100% right) Hams prepare for all kinds of contingencies as well as EMP.  I myself have a radio contained within a shielded lined metal box and have battery ability and wire aside for making antennas if such was to happen I would have ability to still respond.  Others do the same.   

DA,  You actually started all this so just realize it was your remark about what age we were and that cool remark as if we were trying to say we were cool by having that ability.  Again my post to Okuok was in jest such as one might kid saying space cadet .. surfing the web or surfing the troposphere.   O No also responded to address that Amateur Radio serves a purpose and does some good from Volunteers.    That's all it's about.   The only one's that I can recall injecting intelligence or intellect and genius or the like in it was either you or Unob or one of the others.  I'm certainly not the brightest bulb on the tree but like all other Ham's and Amateur Operators I know and have met reject the term idiot as well.  What is so difficult at times to grasp, I suppose, with some of you is that someone that has a measure of some intelligence or thinking ability actually believes in God and claims allegiance and dedication to God and that must blow your minds that the adjectives and demeaning remarks that so many Atheist like to attribute to Christians just doesn't always fit or are justified outside of maybe your own minds.

It is not any special ability that we laud but respecting the personal investment that all of us have put in to achieve so that we would not only be in the place to provide specialized assistance when requested but the knowledge and ability to allow us to do so in the worst situations where all normal channels and avenues break down.  We are proud of what we have each accomplished and therefore none of us want to allow them to be diminished by someone who wants to treat it as something trivial.  If you posted what you did because you somehow thought someone was saying they were more special than you in some certain way then I'm sorry but as for myself you are mistaken if that is what you thought for that was not the intent nor purpose.

One more thing.  As a HAM who knows our hobby is losing more and more people and participants as older people and operators die off without more coming into the ranks wishes that each one on the forum would investigate what it takes to obtain a license as it isn't that difficult and anyone that wanted and half way put their mind to it could do so.  If you enjoy debating on here the same thing happens, well not the same thing as most Operators are very respective to each other even in disagreements.   In our debates we do so across the city/state/country/world using our voice, packet data, morse code and the like and many discussion get heated but never have I heard disrespectful.  There are many atheist, and Christians, Democrats and Republicans and College Football talk on the radio that discuss a variety thing things and have fun in debates and discussions.  No one calls the other idiots although we disagree because we all respect each other and know we all paid the same dues to get our privileges.  

As a HAM who wants to keep the reservoir of experienced and educated Radio Operators I wish everyone on here would and could get their license.  It is a wonderful and fulfilling hobby and I've met, or talked to, some very fascinating people.  During the Cold War you would especially look for operators behind the "Iron Curtain" as you knew then you had a real good solid "Party Member" for they didn't allow just anyone to have a radio like that.   You never knew who would answer your general call for someone to Chat, called CQ in Ham speak.  If you wonder who else are Ham's here are some URLS with famous Hams either by what they do or did in their life.  There is some duplication from one site to the next.  

• http://www.radcomms.net/Hall_of_Fame.html
• http://users.tellurian.com/gjurrens/famous_hams.html
• http://ku4ay.net/famous.html
• http://www.dx-qsl.com/famous-ham-radio-operators.html
• http://www.qsl.net/w5www/famous.html
• http://www.hamsexy.com/cms/?p=272   ( hey not cool but sexxy)

Okay I've worn this thread/topic out so I'll attempt to crawl back under my mushroom, or rock as some of you might like to think of it as.

Do you still have to learn Morse Code?

No.  

The FCC Reduced the speed of the Morse Code test to 5 words per minute but then removed the requirement all together.  Current test requirements are mentioned in the link below:

http://www.radioing.com/hamstart/license.html

http://www.470arg.com/cms/node/8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...in_the_United_States

There are also several sites on the web where the questions are provided along with the multiple choice answers from the question pool so that people can see what the questions are.  The actual FCC Test is taken from these question pools.  There are also various sites that offer study helps to help prepare for the test.  Here is one site that contains the question pools:

http://www.arrl.org/question-pools

actual Technician Question pool is at this link: http://www.ncvec.org/downloads...ed%20Element%202.Pdf

actual General Class License test pool questions are at:

http://www.ncvec.org/downloads...ement%203%20Pool.pdf

Extra class License Question pool is at the following:  

http://www.ncvec.org/downloads...l%202008%20Extra.pdf

There may be a separate link to check for diagrams associated with the above questions.

My apologies.  I had no idea Ham operators were such incredible, selfless heroes.  Thanks for enlightening me, Ono. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Your days to be enlightened have passed Opie.

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GK says:

"The only one's that I can recall injecting intelligence or intellect and genius or the like in it was either you or Unob or one of the others."

So GK, you and okuok didn't say you were more intelligent than others here because you can operate a HAM radio? Liar..  You didn't think there would be more than 1 or 2 people "smart" enough to understand what you were talking about. Get over yourself. You can't even grasp Evolution!  So far even that well evidenced fact escapes you and shows the limited amount of brain power you actually have.

The Wierd Al, and Star Wars references still just cracks me up....yeah, you two are mental and social giants. LOL

O No,, this is what I responded to. I am not backpeddling. You came back with a post on how heroic and useful HAM operators are, trying to change the discussion to something it was not.

I see you still won't answer the question I ask. You have been taking lessons from ole Bill haven't you?

Lets see if I can address this specifically.   I was responding to okuok's post claiming he was being very over flattering in his remarks toward me referring to him as silver tongued saying he should consider changing his ID.  I suppose he was choosing to defend me to another person on here that takes opportunity in demeaning me and he was disagreeing and taking my defense for me (I suppose).  I choose personally not to respond to such childish remarks and name calling or step into the same trashy ditch.  I consider myself defined by my post and not by what another forum member might say about me.  Often I consider it a badge of honor when addressed so for usually that means that the person doing so has expended all ability to rationally confront me in an argument or topic and just resorts to name calling which always (in my opinion) reduces the status of the accuser.

My statement about the space station not resonating was saying simply that only a few people that are familiar with the subject would actually know what he meant by the term, being specific as it was.  It's not a comment on a person's intelligence but just it's not common knowledge unless someone is familiar with Radio terminology.  The remainder was just bantering between he (okuok) and I.  I worded it using the terms I did because okuok is a Ham and since it was to him specifically I used language and terms I knew he would be very familiar with for banter.  I'm sorry you took some personal objection to it feeling we were somehow commenting on you.  I have no reason why you would be so sensitive to it such that you had a chip on your shoulder, so to say, but each person has their own sensitivities.  Still he, nor I, in any way made any reference to intelligence, you somehow fabricated this out of your own mind.  

I am not a liar, as you say, for I did not say, infer, or intend to indicate that I was more intelligent.  You apparently have no problem misjudging another person though.   Maybe you find some satisfaction in it but to you and all others I did not and still say do not make such a statement.  Any person with a working knowledge of google or any search engine could easily put in any of the terms that was in the post, as for any post, and get a sense or idea of what was being discussed so any thought that anyone could demonstrate some measure of intelligence or IQ by what they type, subject wise, is deceiving themselves.  

If we had some deliberate intent to be illusive of keep something from someone or the like we may have attempted to use a coded form to do so but we didn't expect someone to be so hyper sensitive, as you have been, in making something out of nothing then in some vain attempt to regain some kind of composure strike out declaring me to be a liar about it and jumping on O No again.   I not only told you before that was not my intent but just in case it was mistakenly taken that way I apologized for it just in case it was taken as such.  YOU are the only one that cannot let it drop and have some personal problem with it that you have to bring all this back up calling people liars or jumping on O NO for taking your response for what it actually was.  May I remind you that YOU started all this with you Hyper sensitivity and then jumping in with your remarks about age, Ham Radio not being cool anymore as if we were saying it was and the like.

I made my post to okuok thinking that anyone should have been able to understand that it was directed to and at okuok but didn't think about someone with a chip on their shoulder somehow thinking it was directed to them (It wasn't).  So let me clearly say and state, for the record and your understanding.  My post was solely directed at and to okuok.  Any reference that you (or anyone else) somehow took personally as to cast some disparage your own understanding or intellect was not intentional.  

Your intent, or reason for your reply post however was clearly understood to be as you meant it and therefore was responded to in kind, by me and by O NO.  Since you continually seem obsessed to bring up or inject mental aspects or abilities or mental standing  into the equation there must be some insecurity, on your part, that somehow makes you so sensitive to something that was not implied or inferred but you will have to deal with those issues at their source.  I cannot speak for okuok but for myself I claim no mental superiority over anyone else, to worry about doing so would demonstrate some form of insecurity.  

O NO replied to the perception that you were being demeaning to Ham Radio, which it seemed you were and which I also sensed from your reply, and she, like I, simply pointed out that the participants in that hobby or most of them, are volunteers who volunteer their own personal time, equipment, and talents to help others and that it should be appreciated and not demeaned in the way you attempted to do it for they all paid dues for their right to hold that honor.  Simply you were caught and possibly shamed and just are trying to compensate by again misdirecting the discussion back to saying my post to okuok was something it wasn't somehow justifying your response about Ham Radio.   Again anyone could have picked that up by googling the terms if they didn't know what they were so there was no attempt to hide anything.  If someone wanted to be evasive or secretive then they would use Private Messages or dialogs.  You are the only one injecting intelligence or mental abilities into the discussion acting as if okuok or myself somehow were making remarks or boasting about such.

Your response to this only reveals some sensitivity that you somehow have regarding the issue for you seem determined to bring it up again and again somehow justify what you typed.

DA, I've answered that question in so many different forms over the past couple of years that I'm tired of it. As I told Unob, you guys should number them so you don't have to type so much.

My answer to that question is the same as it was to the question about survivors of the tornadoes being saved because they prayed. It's the same as my answer to the question about God CAUSING natural disasters. It's the same as my answer to the question about God saving some from injury in an auto accident but not others.

I have said many many times that I believe God set up the natural laws as part of His creation. Weather patterns are part of the natural processes of the Earth. They follow the laws of nature, the laws of science that GID CREATED. I believe that there are times when God intervienes in these natural events, USING the laws of science that He set up. When He does this, I believe it is because it is part of a much grander plan than mere humans can figure out. Mine is the mind of a human, not the mind of God. But I trust Him, so whether it is His will to answer a specific prayer in one way or another, I accept it as being what is best in the grand shceme of things.

So in short, maybe in this case He DID cause it to rain, or maybe it would have happened anyway due to weather patterns. But I DO believe that there have been times when something like this surely DID  happened.

If He could turn the water into wine, He could certainly make it rain.

GBRK, you are a liar. Go back and read the words I put in bold in those messages and then tell me again that nothing was said about intelligence. Why can't you just be truthful about this? I can drop the whole matter completely if you would just be truthful and stop making up lies. You seem to do this a lot. You write 10 paragraphs saying the same thing over and over hoping that if you repeat the lie enough then others will just start to believe it.

You are right about one thing. You are defined by your post here. I have learned from your writings that you will lie when you could tell the truth and that you will change the meaning of what you say if you get backed into a corner.

O No, thank you for that answer. You might think that we should remember what you have said in the past but there are as many answers to questions about Christianity and it practices as there are Christians. I sometimes have a hard time remembering which Christian believes what. There are some that do not believe that God intervenes in their lives and some that do.

I will try and remember that you are on the side of an intervening God next time. Promise.

Frankly it's your problem if you are so hyper sensitive that you have some insecurity to take what I typed to refer to intelligence or more specifically your own capacity.  It simply stated that the terminology is not in everyone's vocabulary (not their ability to understand) as it's a specialized field and a very specialized part of Ham Radio.  Many Hams are not even familiar with Space Stations much less anyone that is not a Ham.  If I had wanted to make it about your or someone elses intelligence I would have written something like this   I would have said to okuok, these mental weaklings couldn't understand what a space stations is but I didn't and wouldn't.  You must though have some comprehension difficulty for, being the one who typed itI should know what I meant, I have said over and over to you that I did not have that intent or meaning when I typed it that way and was sorry you took it that way.   Just what is so hard to comprehend about that statement???

Your continual insistence on my lying is your own BIAS and prejudice showing through.  If there is any examples of people who demean other's intellect, intelligence or mental capacity you should look no further than your own type who make it a habit to do that to us Christians ALL THE TIME account of our Belief in God.  Another fine example of hypocrisy and accusing others of doing the very things atheist and unbelievers say about Christian believers.

O,

This aspect of a believer's understanding has always seemed very problematic. If humans can't possibly figure out the mind and intentions of Gid how can a human know that what they are interpreting and doing is what God intends? Especially considering the existence of millions of diverging personal opinions and interpretations about what God "actually", "really" and "truly" "wants" for us and by us, even among Jesus' very own followers.

Great...here's another one...

Psychopaths  atheists are notorious for their hair-trigger tempers. They are highly reactive to perceived insults and slights, and throw tantrums over trivialities. Their tantrums are often short-lived, and they can revert to a perfectly calm state moments later. Although their aggression is poorly inhibited, it is generally not uncontrolled. Their aggression lacks the intense emotional turmoil normal people feel when they lose their temper, and thus they do not actually go "mad with rage".

I realize that to be the normal answer but it never accounts for why the Holy Ghost leads millions of actual Christians in diverging and often conflicting directions about their one and only God. Can you reconcile this?

That's easy, A. Just as in a large orchestra, we each have our part to play. The oboes don't often play the same notes as the violins, and the clarinets play different notes from the french horn, but when it is all put together, there is harmony.

Now, if you listen to some of the more modern classical, you might find that the different instruments are playing not only different notes, but in different TIME SIGNATURES! That will often bring a sound of seeming chaos. Listen to some Stravinsky or Shostakovich and you'll hear what I mean. But the overall affect of even these pieces is what the composer INTENDED.

In the same way, while the Holy Spirit might lead us to think say or do things that seem on the surface to conflict with each other and make Christianity seem chaotic, the "composer" (God), knows what He's doing.

As a Christian who trusts her Lord completely, I am proud and eager to play whatever part He gives me.

Well golly gee whiz doo doo,,,,I thought that was Green Tea.

Would one toke hurt, if not over the line?  Jesus only knows.

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Well invictus you just wait til the reverand bill sees that avatar. You'll be sorry then.

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I'll just tell him it's catholic thyme. (he's stupid)

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You were obviously never in your high school band or any other band. Jesus is probably very disappointed in your lack of understanding of the tones he placed on this Earth.

GO, you're obviously another Opie, and I usually don't respond to trolls, but I have played with and written for a chamber group, and I have been in jazz bands most of my life too. I teach music for a living. Now, would YOU like to learn something about music? 

Yes. If you had to pick, do you fall in the Strat camp, or are you more of a Tele person? And why?

And O No!, check with a french horn player about who can cover his or her solo note for note with simple sight reading. Or ask your favorite conductor. 

As I read your response I realized that we've probably done this Q&A before  My issue remains that if the above were true, then your god's master plan includes his followers playing the musical part of literally murdering each other by the millions for the past couple of millennia as guided by the Holy Spirit. It seems an odd dichotomy between an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving creator and his play things.

That's easy, A. Just as in a large orchestra, we each have our part to play. The oboes don't often play the same notes as the violins, and the clarinets play different notes from the french horn, but when it is all put together, there is harmony.

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Ono, can you cite an example of this "harmony" between any three-or-more christians in this forum?

I certainly see "harmony" between the bitter knuckle-dragging droolers such as Invictus and Rram. You and Release the Elephant certainly seem to share a cup of hatred. But I really can't think of any other Christians here that are in harmony with each other. In fact, it seems that most of you have very little tolerance of each other, much less those who call BS on your silly beliefs.

In fact, the only ones who seem to be in near-perfect harmony with each others intentions, beliefs and passions are us atheists.  Think about, Arob, Not Shallow, Dark Angel, Bestworking, Frog, Glass Onion, me, and many others that all seem to get along with each other perfectly fine, without exception.  We are all in harmony with (and in awe of) reality.

Perhaps God has left you and has decided to guide us?