K=D8HB wrote:
My original questions weren't very well worded. I wanted to engage us in=
two
"thought exercises".

1. Is amateur radio a hobby which significantly appeals to experimenters=
and
tinkerers, or does it continue to flourish only because of the wide avail=
ability
of commercial equipment?

in the US I don't think there an either/or answer

the answer to that question becomes Yes

Ham radio appeals to experiments etc in part becuase florishes due to
the numbers of people to expeirment with driven by the avability of
Comercail gear

an Example is CW and it's contiued use

If folks were prevented from buying comercail CW gear I don't think the
homebrewers of the US could sustain enough to allow Cw use to continue


During the 60's-70's there was an interesting "real world" test of this n=
otion.
The US and western European hams had readily available and affordable com=
mercial
equipment, while the USSR hams did not. During that period USSR hams hom=
ebrewed
most all their equipment, or converted military surplus stuff (sound fami=
liar?),
their numbers grew at a much higher rate than US numbers, and they were
generally acknowledged to be among the best operators on the air.

The Soviets are Not americans


2. My second "thought exercise" (unrelated to the first) probably should =
have
been stated: "Supposing that amateur radio first came under government
regulation in 2005 (instead of 1912), would a Morse test be included in t=
he
qualification process?"

Of Course Not

73, de Hans, K0HB
--
Member:
ARRL http://www.arrl.org
SOC http://www.qsl.net/soc
VWOA http://www.vwoa.org
A-1 Operator Club http://www.arrl.org/awards/a1-op/
TCDXA http://www.tcdxa.org
MWA http://www.w0aa.org
TCFMC http://www.tcfmc.org
FISTS http://www.fists.org
LVDXA http://www.upstel.net/borken/lvdxa.htm
NCI http://www.nocode.org