RadioBanter - View Single Post

August 10th 03, 10:19 AM

(Len Over 21) wrote in message ...
In article , Dwight Stewart
writes:

The pool of trained operators concept relates to our ability to do the
other things outlined in 97.1 (public service, international goodwill, and
so on). At one time, code was a necessary part of at least some of that.
That is much less so today, hence the move to change the code testing
requirement.

Dwight, that statement in 97.1 is an OLD thing going back decades.

Regardless of how long it was put there, it's still there today,
ergo just as binding as it was then.

It was put in there to rationalize the existance of amateur radio among
all the other very commercial radio services.

Every radio service MUST be justified (not rationalized) to
exist. The electromagnetic spectrum IS finnite and therefore a
valuable resource that must be conserved and used wisely.

Three to four decades ago there MIGHT have been a "need" for "trained
operators" for the military draft. [the USA still had a draft and the Cold
War was very warm indeed] Never mind that the military already HAD
ways of training in the "radio arts."

The need for a "pool of trained operators" continues to exist to
this day. Events as recent as TODAY prove that.

Does national defense or the various aid agencies NEED amateurs who
are "trained" in DX contesting and sitting around telling old war stories
about when Kode Vas King? I don't think so.

You "don't think so" because you're an idiot and a troll.

"National defense" is more than Morse operators. Hundreds of
thousands of dollars are being poured into Emergency Services training
for Amateurs specifically because they ARE licensed operators...seems
someone is sufficiently satisfied with the idea of our abilities to
warrant the spending of scarce funding.

(snip) And public service. (snip)

I'm not aware of the use of code by any of the typical served agencies
(Red Cross, MARS, and so on).

Morse code use will keep out the eveavsdropers and bad people from
the content of communications, thus not letting them know the deep
dark, very secret ways of the ham. Secure.

So I've been told.

So it has been. It's kept YOU out, Lennie.

(snip) Besides, everything hams do is either "for
enjoyment" or public service. Does that mean none
of it should be tested?

Huh? I thought I was fairly clear about all this. Code was once necessary
for the goals and purposes outlined in 97.1. At the very least, that is much
less so today (some would say it is not at all so today). That severely
weakens the justification for a unique license requirement. If the license
requirement is actually removed, code will then be tested on an equal
footing with the other operating modes (written theory). Nothing in that is
an argument for or against testing anything else.

Holier-than-thou old-timers just can't live with that, Dwight!

FCC "must" keep the "tradition" of morsemanship!

shrug

Morse code is not necessary to meet the criteria laid out in
97.1, and was only incidental to it. Amateur Radio (as a community)
meets all points of 97.1 with ot without it, in any number of modes.

And that's a fact YOU can't seem to live WITH, Your Scumminess!

Steve, K4YZ