On 10/18/2011 4:59 PM, Phil Kane wrote:
On Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:23:20 EDT, wrote:
So,
let's lobby our federal lawmakers to pass such a law. That's the way
the TV industry got the FCC to override CC&Rs and HOAs for TV
receiving antennas.
There has been a bill to that effect introduced in the last three (or
is it four now) sessions and it dies in committee. One of the
powerful leaders of the House is a ham. The League is on top of it.
Bottom line -- Money talks.
OK, I'm going to be the one who opens the box Pandora left lying around:
get ready for some fireworks.
I'm going to ask a serious, and seriously discomfiting, question -
Do Hams _DESERVE_ special treatment?
I'm not going to mince words: if we're going to overcome HOA/CC&R
restrictions, we need to have a real, believable, valid argument that
can convince legislatures and neighbors that we deserve it, and I can't
think of one: there are hams seriously dedicated to public service and
EmCom, but their numbers are small, and I don't think that hams have
enough of a claim on the government's pool of good will to warrant being
given special privileges to rescind contract provisions which we don't like.
I've written about this before, and it's as applicable to this debate as
to arguments about what frequency assignments we're "entitled to", or
being excepted from the laws against having a radio that can listen to
the police channels, or to getting a discount on vanity license plates.
I'm open to suggestions, but I don't see how ham radio can dig itself
out of the hole that changing technology and computer-synthesized
frequency-agile public safety radio networks have put us in.
* It's not enough to say that we know Morse code: even if it were still
required, it wouldn't be relevant.
*It's not enough to say that we know things that others don't: the
expertise which used to be required to make disparate networks and
radios inter-operate has been programmed into LSIC chips inside public
safety transceivers, and changing them to form a new team is a matter of
a few minutes time.
* It's not enough to claim that we can carry messages: public safety
agencies have had the capacity to communicate outside of disaster areas
for years, and "Heatlh and Welfare" traffic is a "feel good" capability
that doesn't translate into votes.
I'm not saying that ham radio is dead: that's not the question here. The
question is if "we" deserve special consideration from the government
because we're hams.
Look, guys, Pandora left a box behind!
Bill, W1AC
--
Bill Horne
(Filter QRM to email me directly)