AF6AY wrote:
xxx wrote on Thu, 19 Apr 2007 07:41:27 EDT:

Once upon a time, ham radio was a great source of innovation. I
remember hearing about how this or that essential device that we now
take for granted was invented / improved upon / perfected / etc. by hams
who did that sort of thing as part of their hobby. It has been a very
long time since I last heard that said.

"Once upon a time" is approximately the time period prior to
World War II...the first 44 years of "radio" as a communications
medium.


I would have extended that time frame into the 1960's or even the
1970's when moonbounce experiments still made the news.


Trying to judge progress in a technology area involving
hobbyists solely by the information contained in hobbyist
publications is inaccurate, if not outright braggadocio by
hobbyists.


I'm not sure how you got the idea that I had done that.


"Radio" as a communications medium is now 111 years
old. The innovation, invention, and quantum-jumps in increases
of the communications (and radio) arts of the last 67 years have
totally eclipsed those early pioneering days done by everyone
involved with any RF emission activity. Some of the highlights:


[... deleted in the interest of brevity]


Your point is not clear. Are you claiming that since those
technologies originated with other radio services that the
contribution by hams was small or are you claiming that since hams
developed and popularized those technologies that hams' contribution
was large?


[...]
Ham radio ceased to be forward
looking and innovative and has devolved into something more akin to
stamp collecting - interesting to practitioners, useless to the world at
large.

"Xxx," to paraphrase Hans Brakob, I would "throw that out with
great force."

The activity of amateur radio is basically a hobby, an activity
done primarily for personal enjoyment...worldwide, I might add.
It is a fascinating one, a technically-challenging one, one of
use in communicating with like-minded enthusiasts, local to
worldwide. Hobbies are FUN for their participants. There is
nothing at all "wrong" with having FUN doing anything, whether
stamp collecting, rebuilding classic cars, flying model aircraft
by radio control, or being advisors for Scouts.

Radio amateurs, by and large, are not into amateur radio for the
sake of being inventors, scientific researchers, manufacturers
of radio-electronics devices, or being emergency and disaster
volunteers. They CAN, of course, as can any citizen without an
amateur radio license.


If you look at the foundational documents of ham radio (FCC Part
97, current test question pools), it is made quite clear that ham
radio exists for the primary purpose of having trained radio
operators available in case of emergency. Contributing to the
advancement of the radio art comes next. Having an enjoyable hobby is
not even mentioned.

[...]

Ham radio will not grow until and unless it is seen to provide value
to the larger community. Once, it was considered to be a source of
competitive advantage to the economy by contributing to the
technological base (a post-Sputnik point of view).

Please feel free to document all those "advantages to the
economy." I see very few such cases of the last 111 years of
"radio." What I have seen are a number of claims for same
that very conveniently "sin by omission" [of incorrect
attribution to the overall world of radio and electronics]...
something that marketeers know by the simple acronym of "PR."

My guess is that the
FCC was willing to ignore the complaints of the ARRL and the old Morse
code cultists because they (the FCC) see it that way, as well.

I must disagree with that as well. Since the FCC must regulate
ALL United States civil radio RF emissions, they are chartered
to be aware and informed of almost everything in regards to
"radio." They DO that on a technical level, including having an
Office of Engineering and Technology for their own advisement.
The FCC is aware of nearly ALL radio use, not only in the USA
but worldwide (we are globally interconnected in many
communications ways). The FCC also asks for advice on use and
technology and, as chartered by law, input from ALL citizens.
Such "input" is made available to the public at large, freely.

Anyone can fault the FCC for some alleged political bias. That
is frequent and also many-sided. Such is normal in politics,
but it is not per se some "truth." The ARRL ("my" club) is
no more a paragon of truth than any membership organization
and the FCC is not bound to 'obey' the ARRL 'advice' than any
other special-interest group.


Nevertheless, they have 'outsourced' most of the administrative
overhead of ham radio to the ARRL. If you want to talk about the
political aspects of the subject, I recently wondered, after looking
at some VE testing schedules, what the presidential candidates would
say about a situation where the work of a federal agency is performed
by a group of volunteers who work out of church basements. The
separation of church and state issue alone would provide a basis for
a great deal of debate.



The FCC made a decision on a contentious subject in amateur
radio license examinations. The FCC has the final say on who
is licensed and who is not. The public comment period was long
and over 3,700 citizens commented. The FCC took about a year
to reach a decision on the matter, then made it law by legal
means. Let us accept that and go forward.


Your comments don't follow from mine. I stated that the FCC, in
effect, 'overruled' the ARRL and the old hams when it eliminated the
code test. The key question is 'WHY did the FCC do that.' I am
convinced that the FCC perceived the code requirement as being at the
root of ham radio's failure to innovate or provide training to
subsequent generations. The FCC killed it in order to end ham radio's
decades-long stagnation.