How will we fight it? Saying amateur radio is primarily a technical
service
doesn't prove anything more than the old "trained pool or operators"
mantra.

We won't be able to fight it, will we? How on earth can Pro-Coders fight
it when we lost the last war against the arguments presented by the No
Coders, and how are the No-Coders going to fight against the same
arguments that they had once used so successfully?


Hello all .... The above represents some of the "soundest" logic I have
read on this group. The groundwork has been laid over the last 10-15 years
regarding change and the perceived or not necessity for it. Time will tell
if the CW mode will stand on its own, wither and die or .....grow. I wish
I could be more of an optimist regarding the service in the future. This
feeling is based over what I have read over the years in this and other
sources. The "love of radio" has been turned into the "love of
computers-internet" This sounds corney but does the magic of radio have a
counterpart in the computer-internet users ??? ....I don't have an answer
here. What was once secure, or thought so, is now under attack on many
fronts. Who wudda thunk that we would get begging letters from the ARRL who
apparently took lessons from the NRA. People 50 years ago would have
laughed if someone would have listed the infringments on a Constitutional
right ....no that would never happen ... guess what folks. Add to that the
fact that there is nothing in the bill of rights regarding pounding brass on
80 or yaking on 20.

It will be interesting however to see how the members of our community will
react both pro and con to the issuing of cereal box licenses which I feel
will eventually come based on the "proper - correct" philosophy of the day.

There is, on a good note, light at the end of the tunnel. This will be if a
fiber optic system can pass the economic muster and render RF really
antique. In our lifetime ???. I do wish for a long a happy life for the
service and hope that it will continue to give others as much pleasure as it
has for me over the last 40 years.

God Bless 73 Tom Popovic KI3R Belle Vernon Pa