On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 17:25:28 -0800, Roy Lewallen
wrote:

... Or do like most amateurs do -- make the coils,
discover that you can talk to far away places "barefoot", and declare
that they "work".

Roy,

As we dumb amateur radio down to make it attractive to the
disinterested masses in a desperate and mistaken persuit of increasing
the number of licenced hams, this is becoming the new standard of
understanding in the redefined amateur radio.

I wrote comment on an a recent article in Australia's ham radio
magazine "Amateur Radio" that was an example of the declaration of not
just something that works, but "something that really works" though it
looks to be quite inefficient on at least one band. The comment is at

http://www.vk1od.net/blog/index.php?...Id=21&blogId=1
..

Supporters argue "amateur radio is about having QSOs, so if you have
QSOs then the antenna works... QED".

Though antenna systems remains one of the few areas of amateur radio
where hams can cost effectively design solutions specific to their
location and needs, the lower competency standard of the new
"communicator" style amateur does not support a soundly based
understanding of antenna systems. We frequently hear the argument that
there is no need to understand electronics for modern amateur radio
where commercial radios are the norm, but forget electronics for a
moment, how many hams understand a common three component passive
network that is so often employed with variable results, the ATU.

Get used to it! Amateur radio is being transformed to "I just wanna
talk on the radio".

Owen
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