why this site?why do I want this site to be W3C compliant?
- Maybe for improving my typing skills? And if everybody else can brag about his/her exploits, why couldn't I?
is Microsoft Internet Explorer really that bad?
- because if everybody uses the standards life is so much easier. And, sorry to disappoint you, Bill Gates does not set the standards!
why HAM radio?
- the answer can be found here on the site of the College of Engineering - Colorado State University (tnx ON4KB for the link!)
what is HAM radio?
- it's far better for my mental health than the usual junk all 30+ TV stations try to make me watch at night
what is the difference between HAM radio and CB?
- have a look [here], last time I had a look there were some 2 910 000 answers.
- Wikipedia also gives a pretty accurate answer
Hey, I heard you can't talk about religion and politics or transmit music, what do you guys talk about on your radio then?
- now it gets more interesting! A CB-operator uses a small black box, lots of cables and a piece of aluminium to talk to his friends.
A HAM does the same... only, (most) HAMs try to know what happens inside the black box and the piece of aluminium and some HAMs are even crazy enough to try to make the black box or piece of aluminium themselves.
The black box is usually called a transceiver and the piece of aluminium an antenna. Transceiver + antenna + cables + ... are called a station.you also do contests, what is that all about?
- we talk about what happens in the station mentioned in the question above, or, we brag about the performance of the new black box we bought or made...
I see strange lines on my TV sometimes, is that your fault?
- in contests we usually try to make as many contacts as possible in a certain limited time, for example 24 or 48 hours. Is it really communication? I don't know but it's the best way there is to see how good our skills are and how well our station (see above) is doing... And, again, it gives us something to brag about. Some of us even get their picture in QST after a contest!
Why is this site in English and not in Dutch?
- Nope, check for crop circles in your neighborhood, it's probably an attack of the Borg. {Resistance is futile - you will be assimilated}.
- Seriously, if there's a HAM in your neighborhood, pay him a visit. Most of us are nice people and we will be glad to try to help you out in solving the problem.
Why is there no hitcounter on this site?
- some stupid commission is changing the spelling rules in Dutch about every 6 months and I can't keep up with them anymore...
- "Pour les Flamands la même chose" (If you don't understand this, never mind. All Flemish people do)
Why is the Tips & Tricks page on the site of ON4KB?
- most (freeware) counters are only made as spyware so they jeopardise the visitors' privacy
- there are only 2 types of people who care about their number of visitors:
- 14 year olds - and even if I maybe sometimes act like one, I'm a little more than twice that age...
- people who make a living out of their website(s) - and, yes, I have a fulltime job and this website is just for (my) fun...
Will there never be a Tips & Tricks page on this site?
- Jan and I have pretty similar interests
- Jan is far better in programming this database stuff for his website
- there's absolutely no use in fragmenting the data over 2 sites
- neither of us really cares about the number of visitors to his website so no need to lure the visitors to one site or the other.
- Wasn't there a "Bond, James Bond" movie about this topic?
- Sooner or later there might be but then about specific topics that don't really intrest ON4KB (e.g. the K2)