Frank Dresser wrote:


"DickCarroll" wrote in message
om...
"Frank Dresser" analogdial@worldnet




Hey Frank, where'd you ever get the idea that radio *isn't* open to
the public?
I never knew anyone whatever who wanted a ham radio license who was
barred from getting one. There is a small matter of qualifying for it,
of course, as there is in every endeavor where others can and will be
impacted when the licensee knows not which way is up. But it has
always been open to all comers.


OK, amateur radio is open to the public. But nearly all amateur radio
activity is either contacts between hams or some sort of test. I'm under
the impression that amatuers broadcasting what might be considered
entertainment programming to the public is banned. Am I wrong about that?

No, you're absolutely right. Amateur broadcasting is banned-only point
to point comms between hams are allowed. In fact, what you could call
amateur broadcasting is banned on ALL bands. Nobody wants to listen to
the Liberty Net, or be limited by archaic rules made in the 1920s as to
what types of comms hams are limited to.



Now if you're talking "open" like CB is open, that's a horse of an
entirely different color.

Dick

More like pirate radio. I've heard some very entertaining stuff, and I hope
to hear alot more. I know that time can be bought on an independent
broadcaster, but I'd really like to know why what Alan Maxwell and the other
do is illegal. I think hobby broadcasting would bring alot of positive
interest to SW radio.

The FCC's standard excuse is that band space is a finite resource. True
enough. But if there's enough room for point to point hams on SW, then a
portion of band spectrum could easily be allocated for amateur
broadcasting-like pirate radio except with licenses and allocated
frequencies. Take an old utility band and use it for broadcasting.
Licensing of amateur broadcasting would allow the Alan Maxwells of the
US to do what they do while giving the FCC a stick to use against truly
malicious operators, like the guys who used to interrupt police radios,
or the pirates who choose international air freqs. And the best part
would be that people wouldn't have to break the law and risk absurd
fines (the highest in the world, from what I've heard) to be hobbyists.
I fail to see how amateur broadcasting on SW endangers the audiences of
mainstream AM and FM stations.

One final note, many of radio's pioneers were amateur broadcasters. Like
Charles Herrold of San Jose (CA) who was broadcasting phonograph music
before there were any radio regulations at ALL. He would identify each
broadcast by reading the address of his engineering college over the
air. Or Fessenden or whatever his name was who broadcast music and
voices to ship radio ops (at a time when Morse code was all that was
allowed). Early on, amateur and ship licenses were the only ones
available, so amateurs DID broadcast. Once Westinghouse showed there was
a profitable market for general broadcasting, the hams were summarily
booted off AM (550-1500 khz then) and moved up to "useless" shortwave.