Works For Me!

Thought for the day:  I am often asked how radio works. Well, you see, wire telegraphy is like a very long cat. You yank his tail in New York, and he meows in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? Now, radio is exactly the same, except that there is no cat.  [Albert Einstein]

As you can probably tell by the thought for the day, my theme for this A-Z challenge will be radio. Amateur radio, to be exact, and what better way to begin than with the word AMATEUR itself?

According to my Funk & Wagnalls, an amateur is one who practices an art or science for his own pleasure, rather than as a profession. Still, some amateur radio operators, AKA hams, think the word not only carries a negative connotation, but denigrates their abilities and the valuable services they provide. Me?  I embrace the term, and I'll tell you why.

After Guglielmo Marconi successfully sent the letter S ... dit-dit-dit ... across the Atlantic Ocean via radio wave in 1901, he became like a veritable rock star ... and was lauded worldwide as the Father of Radio. (Others played considerable roles, too, but I guess Marconi had a better PR guy.)

Anyway, in a world fired up by Marconi's amazing accomplishment, experimenters, engineers, inventors, educators, and hobbyists started directing their efforts into this new field called wireless, and these enthusiasts were collectively known as amateurs.






VROOM! VROOM! VROOM! Fast forward to the Chicago World's Fair of 1933,  where members of a local amateur radio club displayed some of the equipment they'd designed and built ...

Guess who happened to visit that World's Fair?

Yep, you got it. Marconi.

Natch, he stopped to look at that display of radio equipment. Can you imagine how the locals felt when they realized one of the guys examining their equipment was Marconi? And how they felt when he actually praised its design and workmanship?

One of the locals was especially taken aback, and stammered, "But, sir, we're just a bunch of amateurs".

To which the great Marconi allegedly replied, "I have always thought of myself as an amateur."

So I say ...  if it was good enough for Marconi, it's more than good enough for me.

         Remember: Professionals built the Titanic, but an amateur built the ark.

Marconi, late 1800s

[Amateur radio operators must pass a battery of tests in order to receive a license and call sign from their country's governing body. In the U.S., that body is the Federal Communication Commission, and my call sign is AF4FO.]