RadioBanter - View Single Post

February 7th 04, 09:23 PM

On 07 Feb 2004 06:57:36 GMT, (Len Over 21) wrote:

In article , Leo
writes:

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 05:34:03 GMT, Dave Heil
wrote:

Len Five Decades Over 21 but not acting a day over eleven wrote:

If you're waiting for radio
amateurs to be impressed by your professional credentials, you're likely
going to be disappointed.

I must admit, I've taken a shot or three at Len over exactly the same
issue - no Amateur callsign = no valid opinion on Amateur issues.

No problem to me. :-) Somebody shoots at me in the newsgroup
and I shoot back...which bothers the hokey heck out some. :-)

Me too - which is how our original - um - exchage of opinions got
started in the first place. Water under the bridge.....

snip

...consider also benevolent, grandfatherly VEs over here, such
as the ones "passing" the written exams of two six year olds about
three years (?) or so ago. :-)

Yup, we have them too - and there is a big fanfare when anyone under
the age of 16 tests for a license. Which makes sense - we are trying
to encourage young kids to get interested in the hobby, so that it
doesn't die out.

Doesn't mean that we should make the testing process so easy as to be
meaningless, though! Or deify kids who manage to memorize their way
to the top.....

snip

Actually, I'm not absolutely interested in "being qualified" by a
pretty certificate (suitable for framing) from our FCC. I got
really and truly qualified to do that a half century ago, operating
HF transmitters having RF power outputs of 1 to 40 KW. The
operating word ought to be "authorized," not qualified. Our FCC
exists to regulate U.S. civil radio and interstate communications
(NTIA oversees military and government agency communications)
and their use of licenses is as a regulatory tool.

Agreed - I see the Amateur license as an authorization, not
qualification. A license to learn, per se....not proof that the
learning has been completed.

Besides, my 'first phone got changed to a General Radiotelephone
(Commercial) license some time ago. Watch this space since the
resident gunnery nurse is going to come in on that with six-guns
blazing, cussing up a storm but getting only misfires and overcast.
:-) heh heh heh.

Over 40 years ago I joined a grass-roots campaign for a young
senator from Massachusetts wanting to become President of the
USA. J.F.K. was Catholic but I had no desire to become Catholic.
Neither did I want any political position, favor, or anything else as a
result of such voluntary work on his behalf. Kennedy won by a
narrow margin. It was a "cause" that was just personal, nothing else
to justify it.

Some of the anal-retentive olde-tyme hammes in here DEMAND a
justification for action, all but invoking a death penalty if one doesn't
live up to their demands. Good grief, those are Charley Browns that
Sparky never drew...except the maybe beagle dreaming of being a
WW1 fighter ace in his Sopwith Camel. They dream of Being In
Charge, of being some kind of "ace" in radio through their mighty
macho morsemanship. [that kind of "ace" is not spelled with a C or E but
with two Ss...:-) ] Maybe its some kind of "radio testosterone"?
Most of the time those MMMs just try to use a humiliation ploy with the
incessant "I've got a license and you ain't, nyah, nyah, nyah." Geez,
its only a HOBBY license but you would think they got promoted to
Chief of Staff of Amateur Signals with some kind of field grade rank
(colonel to general, complete with flag on front car bumper)... :-)

My only objective overall is to be one of many advocating the elimination
of the morse code test for a license. That's it. But, there's another
element that may be at work with some of the MMMs: If the morse
code test is eliminated, they will lose bragging rights to their fabled
rank, their status as guru radio operator gods in amateurism. That is
extremely hard on their personal self-esteem and they get all steamed
over such perceived blows to their boilers. They elevated themselves
(without "bootstrap" circuit) to lofty positions and had most of their
pedestals yanked away. They lost federal support for their mental
hernias. They are but mortal and their works are not that mighty after
all (to paraphrase Tenneyson). Nobody cares to admire their deeds
and doings to standards and practices of 70 years ago, a time when
they did not exist.

As far as I'm concerned, by all objective measure, there's just no need
for any government to require a morse code test for any amateur radio
license. There's no ITU requirement to "obey." Not since July of last
year. The IARU agrees, despite the spin of the ARRL trying to indicate
otherwise. The ARRL doesn't agree. PCTAs don't, indeed can't agree
since the loss of the code test as a requirement would be an ego
blow equivalent to mass destruction.

The familiar argument heard in here is to the effect that "ONLY
amateurs can discuss, direct, or implement rules and regulations
of and about amateurs." That's a base falsity. The United States
Constitution, in its First Amendment, grants the right of ALL U.S.
citizens to petition our government for the redress of grievances.
We have a number of similar rights which don't discriminate in the
favor of elitist, special interest groups. Our FCC was created by an
Act of our Congress in 1934. In all the time since then (almost 70
years) there has been absolutely NO law or condition that any
Commissioner or staff member hold any amateur radio license in
order to make, change, or enforce amateur radio regulations. None.
No such law exists...except in the imaginary posse commitatus
fantasy of a small group of would-be tyrants of opinion...some of them
in here parading around in the false patriotism of "honor and respect
and tradition for 'the service.'" BS...a food group already processed
through by male bovines.

All of the MMMs who parrot their false patriotism and elitism are
really only trying to elevate themselves to lofty but imaginary positions
of glory and gradeur that don't exist. Not a good role model for
enhancing any interest in a fun, recreational activity involving radio.
But, it satisfies them no end for, in their imaginary ego world, they
are absolute champions of whatever they have done. All others are
non-existant.

Actually, in such an environment, there is no possibility of rational,
civilized discussion. Except for one little thing.

This is (so far) an open, public newsgroup, unmoderated. There are no
guards checking credentials at any door, there are only the self-styled
Waffen SS equivalents roaming about, snarling about "qualifications."

Interesting place, this newsgroup. Kraft-Ebbing could have had a
second edition to cover it for the psychiatric professionals. Some get
oriongasms even... :-)

I suspect that Masters and Johnson would have found inspiration here
too......

LHA / WMD

73, Leo