It's All Over Now...

  Over the past three months, I've experienced several unpleasant encounters locally -- both on analogue and digital. There's also been a slow, but steady, decline in activity. The quality of the activity that remains is also declining. There seems to be a general jockeying for 'position' between the micro-empires, the various cliques, and between those considering themselves to be 'experts' and those designated as 'dumbasses'. I could go into detail, but it doesn't matter to me any more. 

  I get on the air because it's fun. I enjoy talking to people, and I'm good at it. When it becomes something other than fun, I think twice about even turning my rig on. Over the past year, I've felt a sense of personal responsibility to create quality activity and support the local amateur community. I've attempted to use this blog to support positive developments, and to point out the consequences of counter-productive attitudes (e.g. arrogance, elitism, enforced conformity of opinion, scape-goating, self-delusion, etc.). Instead, I've experienced increased harassment, slander, arrogant condescension, and "rig-shaming". 

  After one particularly ugly incident, I decided to take a month off from amateur radio. A few weeks into this, I turned on my DMR rig to try to catch up on the scene. What I found was one operator slandering me, and another operator (that I've always respected) simply nodding along with him. It was at this point that I realised the sorry state of affairs was too far gone to justify my further involvement. In addition, returning to the air will only 'prove' that I will "get over" any ill treatment, thus ensuring even more ill treatment in the future.

  I'll still remain on APRS and GMRS, but my days on the local amateur scene are over. This blog has always been a journal of my experiences in the hobby. Everything in it (at least the parts that I've written) have been driven by my participation. Since I'm no longer participating, there is no more justification to create new content. I don't think that APRS alone is a rich enough source of content for future posts. 

  The previously-written material will remain here, but there will be no more updates. I have a couple of draft posts that are "opinion pieces", and those will be published soon. Beyond that, it's over. 

  Comments have been disabled. I don't want to continue to keep the blog clear of spammers and trolls. Previously-made comments will remain. Co-authors' access has been removed. The blog will remain off search engines, as this policy has been reasonably effective at curbing vehement abuse from my 'superiors'. You've had three years to submit your posts and rebuttals. That door is now closed. 

  I expect that things will remain this way for several years. I'm unwilling to rule out a return, but I'm hard-pressed to imagine a situation that would justify it. Perhaps some new technology or a profound shift in operators' attitudes would compel me to re-evaluate things. I'll keep my licence active and become one of those "inactive Techs" that we tell ourselves don't exist. I'll keep my radios for camping and hiking. I consider my gear to be "sunk costs", and I don't need the money (or hassle) to be gained from selling anything. My donations to amateur organisations and individuals will cease -- until, and if, I ever do return to the hobby. 

  This blog has generated intense responses. It seems that people either really like it or really despise it. There's an opening here for some other enterprising individual to fill the void, and I'd consider writing a few guest posts to assist in getting another effort off the ground. I'll continue to write about other subjects, because I enjoy it and I'm good at it. 

  Since comments are disabled, I'll pre-emptively address the most likely responses: 

•  "Good riddance!" --  Thanks for that. It makes my decision much easier. 

•  "I'll miss this blog" --  Sadly, the warped social environment of the hobby can't tolerate something like this blog at the moment. Many people wish that I'd simply say "the right things", or they imagine that I'm too stupid to know what "the right things" are. You should consider writing a 'better' replacement that expresses "the right things". 

•  "I'll miss you on the air" --  Odds are pretty good that I'll miss you, too. I'm simply unwilling to embrace the requisite ugliness that goes along with talking to you, though. And I'll still be on GMRS. 

• "You're a hypocrite/idiot/threat to the hobby!" --  Celebrate my departure from the hobby, then. Things should really improve now that the scapegoat is leaving, right? 

•  "We'll get along just fine without you" -- Great! While I hope that things change to a more open and less arrogant model, I still see potential in amateur radio to bring people together, break down social isolation, and get people to stop talking at each other. The odds are pretty good that you see that as fatal to the hobby, though -- "too much like CB". Odds are also pretty good that you will 'dynamically re-define' the terms "getting along" and "just fine" to be "whatever the current situation is". I hope that works well for you. 

•  "You don't understand amateur radio" -- Well, I've been participating in it for over three years now. If it takes longer than that to 'understand' it, the hobby has a tough sell to newcomers. Oddly, it seems that people are deemed to 'understand' ham radio right about the time that they start parroting "the right things" and begin sucking up to their "superiors". Strange, isn't it?

•  "This isn't a SOLUTION!" -- Nope, it's not. It's a reaction. Making me into a scapegoat, harassing me, talking down to me as if I'm an idiot, and promoting pointless, artificial hierarchies isn't a solution, either. Strange how you're okay with those things, though. You've made a toxic mess in order to boost a few egos and let a relative few continue to believe that the world of thirty years ago is still valid and relevant. I don't particularly care for those kind of 'solutions'. 

•  "You'll be back!" --  Hey, who knows? How would you treat me if I did come back? Because the answer to that is how the community is going to get out this toxic mess, or relegate it to a slow death. I don't make plans beyond several years' time, so I can't unequivocally state that I won't ever come back. Even if I were to return, I'd leave right away as soon as it stopped being fun. If you find some sort of feeble validation in that, it says more about you than it does about me. 

As always, thanks for reading. I wish that things had been different, but I live in the real world.