From: Leo on Sat, Feb 3 2007 11:07 pm

On 3 Feb 2007 12:46:59 -0800, " wrote:
From: Leo on Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:42:17 -0500
On 1 Feb 2007 15:40:19 -0800, wrote:
On Feb 1, 5:01?pm, Leo wrote:

How about a hint on how the Canadians are feeling about
their southern neighbor's amateur radio regulation
changes? I be most curious about that. Haven't had the
time to surf the 'net to some of the Canadian ham sites
to look in.

Good question - other than announcements stating that code testing was
ending down there, I haven't seen much discussion on the subject.

Agreed. After a few days I looked around more and
didn't see near as much talk on it. Of course, that
was primarily a "southerner" thing (relatively
speaking from northerners' point of view).

The great code test debate was settled here a while back with little
fanfare - and surprisingly little mudslinging between the two sides.
Probably the same down there - this little corner of heaven
notwithstanding.....

NOT so down here. :-( Interestingly, www.qrz.com
seemed to have deliberately down-played the whole
thing. www.eham.net did not. Of course "QRZ" is also
a business and can't alienate one group v. another
without risking some loss. ARRL is playing it cagey
now and won't commit much of an opinion...but their
publishing part of their house must keep making a
profit in order to survive.

And the world did not end! (doomsayers take note)

Now, THAT's debateable! :-)

In USA amateur radio history since 1934, FCC 06-178 may
go down as the premiere earth-shattering event, even
more than the cessation of amaterur operations due to
our involvement in WW II. Never before had morse code
testing been totally eliminated in the 73-year span of
our FCC. Hadn't happened in the three previous radio
regulating agencies here, either, not since 1912.

Next up looks like a new "Foundation" licence category may be on the
way, to encourage those who only want to communicate using simple ham
radios to join in. This license would require bare minimum study and
testing - after all, using one of the modern 2-meter handhelds isn't
any more complex than using an FRS handheld - add how to use a
repeater, and some simple procedures and protocol, and they're good to
go! (Australia and England have already done this, IIRC).

I've seen a few things on the "Foundation" license but
haven't gauged it. There were also a few hit remarks
from certain types in the yew-kai about that. I was
bouyed in spirit by the Australians about radio in
general for years. All across the 'classes' and that
may be due to their 'last frontier' spirit having vast
spaces of not much and begun after the USA revolted.
All kinds of parts stores/vendors on the web, activity
websites, etc. New Zealand, too, although smaller yet
the distances are still vast.

I've always wondered if Canada was going to be infected
by nearness of certain American opinions/bigotry.
Sharing an immense border and proximity of so many large
urban areas at the border would seem to invite some kind
of social cross-pollination. Looking back, I'd say that
Canada has NOT been polluted, but has remained relatively
independent. I applaud that.

Wonder if that's something which will start up down your way too? (or
perhaps the Tech license already fills this requirement?) I'd bet
that discussion would keep the 'regulars' on this group busy for the
next decade!

The only thing I've seen were a few Petitions to the
FCC and some scattered nattering. Most of the olde-
tyme vocal hammes here look down at Techs as kiddies
in radio. They TOLERATE them in the main, but seldom
regard them as anything close to equals. That's a pity
here since Techs now make up HALF of all US amateur
licensees. Sort of like the French Revolution with the
"royalty" minority represented by the olde-tyme
morsemen and a huge, huge group of "commoners" (Techs)
that have begun "storming the Bastille." Or another
analogy, the "storming of the Winter Palace." Da? :-)

However, the little FRS handhelds have been quietly
out-pacing ALL the multi-button ham HTs. In the 2003
transcript of the FCC's panel on overviewing "Part 15"
devices (unlicensed radios), one of the panelsts said
that FRS radios "now" (2003) numbered 15 MILLION here.
In numbers, that's on par with CB, a much much older
radio service. The usual pooh-pooh attitude from the
olde-tymers is that they are "short range." Heh, AS
IF those olde-tymers were all Collossi standing astride
continents! With 40 to 100 W PEP and at the mercy of
the ionosphere at HF, they could talk "long distances"
any time they felt like doing so? No way.

Between FRS, CB, and cell phones down here the USA has
roughly 130 MILLION two-way radios, all unlicensed,
useable by ordinary citizens. Toss in all the R-C
for modelers, Bluetooth and IEEE 802 wireless links,
all the WLANS, wireless doorbells, wireless security
cameras, cordless telephones, etc., and there's
maybe another 50 million unlicensed radios working
away here. Somehow those things just don't penetrate
the USA olde-tymer's heads. They can't understand
that 1950s paradigms just don't apply any more.
Those old paradigms aren't worth two cents now.
But, the olde-tymers are undaunted and proceed AS IF
time had stood still while they stood on ornate
crumbly-clay pedestals. :-(

Hej,
LA