Jim Idelson, K1IR, writes on the YCCC mailing list:
This is an article by author Kristen Haring to give her 2008 book, Ham Radio’s Technical Culture, a fresh marketing boost.
She focuses on the culture of ham radio from 1930 to the mid-70s – perhaps a period we could call the Golden Age of amateur radio. She has some interesting observations and commentary on ham radio in the context of society-at-large. There is precious little material about ham radio targeted towards general audiences, so the existence of this book is a good thing. That’s the good news.
Haring is not a ham. She builds her perspective primarily from what she’s been able to gather from a wide range of archived written materials, including large and small publications (magazines and newsletters). She does not include direct interviews with actual hams who ‘lived it’.
The excerpt has a lot of correct observations, but gets some things clearly wrong. Given the author’s lack of direct exposure to the topic, the book would have benefited greatly from conversations and editorial review with real hams.
Probably more important are the facts that a) the focus is on that quaint period 50 to 75 years ago and, b) the perspective is from 2008.
A lot has been learned since 2008, which probably makes the analysis less informed than it would be if written today. And, the focus on a period ending in the 1970s may create and reinforce some of the unhelpful stereotypes that hold us back in the 21st century.
At $19.95, I might still buy a copy!
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73 Jim K1IR
73 Jim K1IR