RadioBanter - View Single Post

September 24th 04, 11:57 AM

In article ,
(Brian Kelly) writes:

(N2EY) wrote in message
.com...
(Brian Kelly) wrote in message
. com...
PAMNO (N2EY) wrote in message
...

Which at this point is a
dead topic since the code test is obviously not going away within any
visible timframe if ever.

Frankly, I'm amazed that FCC didn't MO&O it out of existence last
summer.

I think the code test flap is a universally dead issue at this point
in history. Except in this toxic no-counter swamp. Cecil got it right,
5wpm is "good enough" under today's condx and I agree with that and I
suspect that the FCC and the ARRL also silently agree too. The matter
was a helluva brawl back when shreikers from both poles were going at
each other here and elsewhere. Whatever. It's all worn out as is this
NG. The way I see it another reasonable and not unexpected regulatory
compromise has been reached. The NCTAs killed the 13 & 20wpm code
tests but didn't achieve their ultimate objective. Us PCTAs lost the
13 & 20wpm code tests but the 5wpm test lives on.

And the real truth may be even simpler. FCC enacted medical waivers back in
1990 at the request of a now-dead King via Papa Bush.

Those waivers effectively meant that nobody really had to go beyond the 5 wpm
test to get a US ham license. All it took was a doctor's note from *any* MD or
DO, and you could write the letter and get the doc to sign it. You didn't need
a diagnosis of any particular problem, nor any sort of permanent condition,
just a rather vague certification that for medical reasons it would be harder
for you to pass the test than the average bloke.

Do you know of *anyone* who tried and couldn't get a waiver? Or *any* doc who
was even questioned by FCC? I don't. But there was a lot of complaining in some
quarters about waivers, so FCC made 'em go away.

So I expect the
5wpm test to continue to be required for some considerable time
without further ado.

14 months since WRC2003 and nothing's changed....

Nobody got everything they wanted and nobody lost
everything. It's a typical compromise solution for a regulatory hot
potato. Welcome to America.

Yup.

On the other hand the FCC could drop the code test on Monday and life
would go on as usual.

Double yup.

So Cecil, Hare, innumerable others and even
Carl Anderson

Stevenson

Heh . . duh? Reminds me . . I owe him some e-mail . . he was having
some issues with the base of the big used Trylon tower I spotted for
him.

Like I said about ham antennas being more ME than EE...

for cripes sake, the Honcho Maximo of NCI wised up and
bailed out of here long ago leaving us to bicker mindlesssly,
circularly and endlessly with dim lights like Burke and the other
Anderson. WE'RE the RRAP stupids for bothering with any of it
Miccolis.

Who is bothering? I read a few posts, write a few, discuss interesting
topics with KB3EIA, N8UZE, and some others. Filtering what one reads
works wonders.

RRAP will prolly dribble along for years but it's pretty obvious that
it's slowly "losing membership".

Nothing slow about it...

Refresh me here James, I think it was around the time that I logged XG
that I/we started to hear a lot more signals from very far off places
than I/we could hear from US FD stations. So to hell with FD, let's
get back to basics and go dxing I sayithed to self. Worked the JA who
was in some other contest. Logged him too. Apparently Newington did
not disallow that one.

DX contacts count for FD. They give you a signal report, it counts.

They simpy doan give a **** abt FD logs good or
bogus.

Not true! The QSOs were good. There was one SP handing 'em out 2-3 a
minute later on - remember? They all counted.

DX qsos count; it's just that DX stations' logs aren't counted
competitively in the listings.

That's nice. You're the reason I don't bother reading the FD rules
'cause I know that you'll have 'em memorized, analyzed and carved six
ways from Sunday into yer headbone. Which spares me from all that
drudgery. It's always nice to have a "detail guy" like you on tap.

'zactly. Want a quick history of what the rules used to be, how the dates and
operating times evolved and when the first FD was?

Didn't think so.

A year or two ago the definition was changed so that FD covers not
just North America but SA too.

At least I caught that change. That ZF1 9A catagory bunch musta had a
blast.

Yeah mon.

Which means N2EY/Tierra del Fuego could
compete...

Oh just GO for it! Should I hold my breath?

Not really...

. . In the meanwhile the aformentioned collection of bull****ers
wasn't more than eight feet from him throuhout all of it. I gotta tell
you that in all my half century on the bands that was the worst of the
worst of the bad experiences I've had in the game. Madonna was right:
It's a material world. Yes, I fear for the future of ham radio.

I did not know that story. Makes me sick.

Now watch, somebody will spin it into being *your* fault.

I could care less.

But do not fear for the future of amateur radio too much. Here's why:

Back when you started, and to a lesser extent even when I started, ham
radio was populated mostly by folks who took it very seriously. "Radio
for its own sake" wasn't something most people were interested in. The
license process, operating skill requirements and equipment costs
alone insured that most hams had a considerable personal investment -
and the money was the least of it. Sure, there were some clueless folk
but they either learned or were really frustrated.

I agree with most of that.

Then a bunch of things happened. The cb boom made 2 way radio popular
and practical for lots of folks, the development of ssb and then fm
transceivers and solidstate made the equipment small, less expensive
and easier to use, etc. We got a lot of good hams, of course, but also
a sizable number who are only "sort of" interested, and who don't take
it that seriously, nor have a big personal investment. The whole code
test issue is really just an iceberg-tip for the concept of personal
investment.

Now we have the internet and cheap cell phones and GMRS/FRS. Which
have pulled away a lot of the folks who were "sort of" interested in
ham radio. That's why repeater use and 'honeydew' licensing is down -
much easier to just use the cell phone or FRS.

So the future of ham radio relies on those who are really interested
in radio for its own sake and are a lot more than "sort of"
interested.

That would take out probably 70% of the current licensees.

Most of that 70% which are inactive anyway.

Those folks are out there, and will continue to be. But
they will not be attracted by lowering the requirements or trying to
make ham radio a sort of rf version of the internet.

I think you're 95% right on all counts.

TU

All depends what you think the goal is. You're thinking the goal is to
put up
an antenna. It's not.

Right: PLONK again.

Another technique to watch for is the misremembering of a past event
in order to get your panties in a snarl. Such as the whole Cecil
thing. Or the whole K8MN A1 op thing. Or the way I've been
misquoted/misinterpreted...

I ignore the circle-jerk games around here, I can't be bothered.

'zactly.

I dumped the bait over the transom, I'm chumming for an on-the-air QSO
with NØIMD via the end-fed wire he claims he has. It's put up or shut
time time again around here. Tally Freaking Ho, this oughta be a real
gooder.

Don't hold yer breath. Watch - there will be all kinds of reasons it
won't happen. Like a certain Extra license that is still in its box.

We'll see. The prior RRAP vaguely similar event was not put together
overnight.

But when it came down to it, "pulling a Cecil" meant actually getting on the
air and meeting others on the air. *Cecil* was a stand-up guy about the whole
thing. The other Brian isn't. That's the bottom line.

And it will be spun so that somehow it's *your* fault...

Yawn.

Didja read my UP/URS-2 story about what probably really happened in T5? Wanna
bet that it's pretty darn close to the truth?

Not that we'll ever get the real story or even a straight answer...

73 de Jim, N2EY