RadioBanter - View Single Post

July 13th 03, 01:59 AM

On 13 Jul 2003 05:53:16 GMT, ospam (Larry Roll K3LT)
wrote:

My belief that "Morse makes the ham" is based on the fact that radio amateurs,
as members of a voluntary, hobbyist-based radio communications service, can
justify our existence, and hold on vast amounts of commercially viable
spectrum,
only if we have communications skills that give us an "edge" under difficult
communications conditions.

Morse is only one such advantage that hams have. A few others:

1. When disaster renders the normal communications systems of local
governmental agencies inoperable, it needs to be repaired or replaced.
There are procedures to be followed to spend money to buy new gear or
have the old gear repaired. Ever try to solicit bids for a new radio
system when your town hall is flooded halfway to the ceiling? I don't
recommend it.

Enter ham radio operators, who collectively have literally tons of
radio gear, along with methods of powering it, stockpiled at no
expense to the taxpayers. We're the built-in backups in a community,
and that's true whether we use SSB, CW, or carrier pigeons. As long as
we get the job done.

2. Most public safety professionals (by which I mean law enforcement,
fire supression, EMS, and SAR personnel) know precisely this about the
radios they use on the job: Either it works or it doesn't. Either the
city cops can talk directly to the county sheriffs or they can't.
Change to a different radio? Sure...just get a new radio...see item
number (1) above for the problem with that.

Enter ham radio operators, who, if one frequency doesn't work, will
keep trying another, and then another, and then another, until we find
one that does work. It's intrinsic to the way we operate, our
equipment is designed with that in mind (unlike most commercial gear
used by public safety professionals, which is designed with entirely
different considerations in mind). We think nothing of it, but to the
average cop or fireman with a radio that has one repeater frequency
and one talkaround (both on the same band) it's wizardry.

Want me to continue?

Morse/CW does this in ways which you most
certainly are aware of, but must reject out of deference to your anti-code test
agenda. With all due respect, the "quasi-religious-faith belief" seems to
exist
on the side of those who insist that Morse code proficiency is somehow
irrelevant
to the ARS now and in the future.

I think it's on both sides. I also think it's rather silly to keep
arguing good-thing/bad-thing at this point. Regardless of what you may
think or what I may think, or Arnie or Kim or anyone else, I think we
can all predict what's eventually going to happen. Therefore, the
subject for debate ought to be what we're going to do when it does.

73 DE John, KC2HMZ