From: on Fri 5 Aug 2005 09:36


John Smith wrote:
Here the NCI offers proof and spells it out, just in case these old key
tappers are in danger of pulling some wool over your eyes...

http://www.nocode.org/articles/filter.html

As some have noted in the past, "There are liars, and there are DAMN LIARS!"

Omission of relevant facts can be a form of lying.

Jimmie! That's called "the Sin of Omission!" Ain't "lying."

The ARRL does that a LOT.

Of course, to you, the ARRL always tells the "truth" and all others
are "liars." [or, at least, a "form" of liars...]

Tsk, you've gone over to the Dark Side wherein Stebie dwells.

Here's the whole story:

I read that bit of W5YI propaganda, and also the original articles in
"200 Meters And Down" and the QSTs of the time.

...and, to you, the ARRL "tells the only truth!" :-)

(have you done so?)

The referenced article does not give all the relevant facts.

True, the ARRL "history" omits a LOT of facts. According to
you, omitting facts is equivalent to LYING! Tsk, tsk.



To get a clear picture of what was actually happening, it is important to
understand what ham radio was like back in those days. After WW1, ham radio
almost ceased to exist. It was brought back to life by the dedicated efforts
of a few enthusiasts.

"Hiram Goes To Washington, Saves Ham Radio!" :-)

Hello? You've heard of the Radio Club of America? Formed in
1909 and still active.

Ever hear of Thomas H. White? He's got a very detailed lengthy
website on the History of Radio in the United States. Covers
Everything in radio.

Amateur radio was not even recognized by international treaty until 1927. The
1927 treaty resulted in stricter new rules and much-narrowed bands.

Did that disturb you at the time or were you indifferent to
your design of state-of-the-art ham radios?

There's more Real History of "treaty" matters at the ITU
(International Telecommunications Union) website. A UN body,
the ITU superseded the CCITT for international communications.

By 1929 there were about 16,000 hams in the US. Almost
all of them were on the 160, 80, 40, and 20 meter bands. A typical ham
transmitter was a self-controlled power oscillator, and a typical ham receiver
was a three tube regenerative. Sure, more advanced techniques existed, but few
hams could afford them in thos Great Depression years.

Tell us all about the Great Depression, Jimmie. You were THERE,
right? Your Dad was unemployed during the Depression, right?

Code skill was important in almost all radio services. 10 wpm was not
considered as anything like professional level - 25 or 30 wpm was more
like it. (This was with semiautomatic keys for sending and manual
typewriters for highspeed copy).

You are familiar with "almost all radio services?" Tell us about
"Type C Carrier" that was the first modulation source of the first
SSB transmission contents, such as from Hilversum to the Netherlands
Antilles.


But the Depression and the new regs had a surprising effect on ham radio. The
number of hams took a sharp upturn in the early thirties. By 1935 there were
over 46,000 hams - almost TRIPLING the number of just five years
earlier! But the turnover in amateur radio was approaching 40% per year.

Tsk. You forgot a "minor" item...The Communications Act of 1934
and the newest U.S. radio regulating agency, the FCC. You can
read about that on the FCC's own webpage along with some historical
letters (some from FDR) concerning who should control what in
interstate and international communications (which includes radio).

Of course, if you wanted to read a LOT more on the Real History
of Electronics, you could hustle on down to a technical library
and peruse McGraw-Hill's ELECTRONICS magazine anniversary issue
of April 17, 1980.

In that ELECTRONICS issue you'll find a few facts such as the
public's identification with radio growing by leaps and bounds
now that AM broadcasting had become widespread. "Hams" really did
have OTHER forms of information input other than the ARRL...

This meant that most hams were raw newcomers, with relatively little technical
knowledge or operating skills. A ham with 5 years on the air was a
veteran, one with 10 years was a grizzled old timer. Problems of
interference and crowding abounded. Complaints from other services
threatened the existence of ham radio.

Wow, sounds like Hams of the 20s and 30s were just like CBers!

The problem was that thousands of newcomers were learning just enough to pass
the tests, assembling simple stations with little understanding of proper
design, adjustment, or operation, and putting them on the air. Many of these
newcomers lost interest quickly, particularly when the limitations of their
knowledge and skills became apparent.

Wow, sounds like the Hams of the 20s and 30s were now Just Like
the lowly underclass Technicians!!

The newly formed FCC was concerned, as was the ARRL.

The FCC was "concerned?" Really? Big "fans" of Hams, were they?

Formed in 1934, the FCC was still getting its act together in those
early thirties and so was the rest of the federal government.
There's
LOTS MORE politics involved with ALL forms of communications at the
time, not JUST the simplistic involvement of radio amateurs.

The action proposed by the ARRL to the FCC was in two parts: Raise the code
speed SLIGHTLY, (10 to 12-1/2 wpm) and make the written test more
comprehensive. The changes to the written tests are all but ignored by
the NCI article.

Does WT Docket 05-235 concern itself with WRITTEN TESTS? NO!

The goal was NOT to limit the total number of hams, nor to hinder or
deter anyone from getting a license, but to control the flood of
newcomers, and make sure that the new folks had the necessary skills
and knowledge.

Crap! The ARRL was then LED by the morsemen and, through its profit
in publishing amateur-related periodicals and handbooks could afford
legal representation in DC to swing government decisions its way.
T.O.M. survived into the thirties and prior to that, as a virtual
president-for-life, had gathered around him fellow morsemen to
spread the "CW" word.

"CW" technology was simpler than AM and the publisher's editors
could understand the simpler stuff. The "advanced technology"
information out of Newington at the time was very basic stuff.
Ready-built amateur radio products weren't much
better...regenerative
receivers like the National Radio "Thrillbox!" (what a name!) and,
what few AM ham rigs existed used the brute-force audio power
amplifier to swing the final amp's plate supply. Wow! "high tech!"
The superheterodyne receiver was invented in 1918 and the Phase
Locked Loop in 1932...

Look at the complete picture, and the action of the FCC in 1936 makes
sense.

Looking at the COMPLETE PICTURE will only make a mockery of what
the ARRL chooses to tell hams. COMPLETE, Jimmie, not the spoon-
fed pap interspersed with self-congratulatory League praise of
itself. Things have CHANGED now, Jimmie, and there's lots of free
Real History available for everyone on the Internet. One very good
place to start is:

http://earlyradiohistory.us

by Thomas H. White, a huge collection of information, many scans
of documents covering early radio history from 1897 to 1926. It
is not colored or spin-doctored as some membership organization's
"histories" are for self-promotion purposes.

The History page of the FCC's own website has more. [FCC is not
a membership organization]

job non