Research suggests that happy people complain less (I'll leave you to validate that statement, if you wish to). Whether this means happy people have less to complain about, understand less about the problems they and others face, or simply are happier because they avoid complaining, is not as clear. For my part, I find that there's nothing quite so human as people complaining about the complaints of others (as such research against complaining and those who promote it inherently do!). As I am human, I wish to take a few minutes to do just that.

Ham radio has an interesting passive-aggressive side, which is regularly observable in voice or digital conversation. It manifests itself at times through operators voicing grievances about operating practices in such a way that many can receive them. Operators are aware that their communications are received (and in the case of digital, sometimes logged for reading later) by operators who aren't primary parties in those communications, and they shape their conversation to make or dig at a point, for the whole radio world to hear or read. If I often have QSOs with my buddy, and we regularly spend a portion of our QSO complaining to one another about some failing in the operating practices of other operators on the band/mode, what are we doing but broadcasting our opinions to the world?

Since ham radio doesn't offer an avenue for broadcasting (indeed, broadcasting is illegal for amateur license holders, with very few exceptions), this secondary form of mass over-the-air communication is, perhaps, quite productive and useful. It gives people an outlet, let's them express themselves; even if it does annoy the rest of us.

Replying over-the-air to such by interrupting their QSO—or worse, by passive-aggressively broadcasting competing views in your own QSO next to or after theirs—is not productive; and therefore, it is the common practice to do so. I don't say all this to prove any point, I'm just stating what I have observed. And to be entirely clear, I don't claim that I've never participated. To me, it is just interesting to observe the humanity in it.

Of course, a communication that I saw on JS8Call prompted this post. The station in question was complaining about what he called "heartbeat activity above 1000hz". I'm certain I've seen this same station air this same grievance at least once in the past couple weeks, possibly more—broadcasting their grief to the world. The complaint is in response, it seems, to group activity, not HB activity: NCS or a group member sends out a request for SNR (or MSG ACK or INFO, etc) from his or her group, prompting auto-replies across the waterfall. Since these aren't heartbeat responses, they will auto-transmit from wherever the users are camping. Since HB responses contain an SNR report, I guess I can see how they might confuse the two.

And so, I'm complaining that this operator's complaint isn't accurate, which makes me a nitpicker, which is even worse than a complainer! But in reality, there are many instances where I would agree with their complaint, if it were more accurately stated. Therefore, I'll re-state it more accurately for them: it's obnoxious for individuals and/or groups on JS8Call to step all over an ongoing QSO that is already established. Now, let's talk about it.

First, there are quite legitimate reasons for sending an SNR, MSG, or INFO/STATUS/other request to your group. I wouldn't suggest that the solution is to never communicate with a group, or to never prompt an auto-response from a large group of operators at one time. These are valuable tools of JS8Call that should be used more, not less.

Second, there are illegitimate times to operate in the aforementioned manner. If you're part of a group that is large enough to cover the waterfall when an auto-response is triggered, and you insist on using the standard frequencies, then it is incumbent upon you to be careful when you do so! Any reasonable operator would know or at least accept that, and would be capable of understanding how to mitigate issues. Here are some ideas:

• Before you start querying your group, observe band activity. Are you about to ruin one or more QSOs that were there before you?
• Are multiple operators in your group sending out SNR requests repeatedly in a short period, triggering replies across the waterfall over and over? If so training might be in order, as such behavior is not at all friendly.
• If your group has a scheduled net and you insist on using the standard frequencies, then you ought to try to warn any existing QSOs of your net start. Remember, at least one party of the QSO has a good chance of decoding your message, especially if sent more than once and timed properly. They could choose to QSY to avoid issues with unmanned stations in your group.
• If your group operators are at their station at net time, and can see that a QSO is happening where they are parked on the waterfall, then moving is in order. It only takes a second to do, and just because you are parked there doesn't mean you own that portion of the band. Remember, those in the QSO may have no idea you were "there first".
• If your group uses SNR for net checkin, then operators should consider disabling TX (just click the button at the top right!) after they've checked in once. This has multiple benefits: it clears up the bands, avoids QRM with other net participants, and lets operators observe net activity and relay in stations that aren't reaching NCS.

Additional research on happiness and complaining shows that there are different types of complaining. The most useful type is solution-based; and so, I comfort myself in thinking that I'm doing something good with my rambling, instead of something detrimental to myself and/or others. And I'm very thankful for the internet, and the ability to broadcast legally and without pestering anyone (after all, you came here of your own accord, right?)!

The above are, of course, only suggestions and not at all comprehensive. Based on my own experience, groups on JS8Call could stand more a more thoughtful approach, especially if they're using the standard frequencies to operate. This includes groups that I'm a part of (but do not lead). The airwaves are for all of us, and it's up to all of us to make them fun and useful for all.

73 and GL!