They [B&N] are not a library but a business.

B&N is a very successful business. When they think the 'library'
chairs are losing them money, the chairs will be removed.

The chairs and atmosphere are so you can SAMPLE the reading
material not spend the day reading.

I *sampled* QST and *bought* another magazine or book. The bottom line
$$ for B&N was the same or more. Your tears are for the wrong entity.
B&N made money because I was drawn to their 'free sample' QST
magazine. QST is the one who lost money, but then that's what voting
with your wallet is all about...

Perhaps it is your hope that Amateur Radio not be represented or supported?
Perhaps only by the FCC?

I support ARRL because without them we would have been squeezed off the air
a long time ago. The ARRL is full of imperfect people though, and we need
to help out rather than throw monkey wrenches. I don't base my support on
freebies. Germany went fascist for the perks and went to hell over it.

"AJ Lake" wrote in message
news
"JB" wrote:

I find it calming and even kind of cool that I can walk around the house
and
follow a QSO in CW

I use wireless headphones when working CW as I find the corded
headphones very confining. Also I can hit the sandbox or icebox while
the other guy is transmitting.

Wired headphones are (almost) obsolete...

I have remote speakers throughout the house. I have a long mic cord that
goes anywhere but the kitchen. It occurs to me that a keyed 1kc tone might
be the quick answer though. Software can be brought up in a couple of
places to control the radio. Wireless mic and key are the next project.

"AJ Lake" wrote in message
...
Bob wrote:

CW /certainly/ isn't obsolete!

CW is quite obsolete in the commercial radio world. However I agree CW
still can be fun to use in the ham radio hobby.

I can make QSOs with just a few Watts...

I would agree that CW works better than most other modes under adverse
conditions. That's one of the reasons I've been using it for so many
years. My HOA required stealth antenna is a very poor radiator, and
even though I'm running 50 watts, my ERP is probably just a couple of
watts...

Actually, a lot of third world countries still use CW for distress calls,
but who wants to get pulled off course to rescue a bunch of boat people?

"JB" wrote:

Perhaps it is your hope that Amateur Radio not be represented or supported?

ARRL is just one ham organization that tries to influence the FCC.
There are others. I'm sure that they would be happy to step in should
my personal boycott of ARRL become successful...

"JB" wrote:

a lot of third world countries still use CW for distress calls,

Some 3rd world countries also still use animals for plowing.

"AJ Lake" wrote in message
...
"JB" wrote:

Perhaps it is your hope that Amateur Radio not be represented or
supported?

ARRL is just one ham organization that tries to influence the FCC.
There are others. I'm sure that they would be happy to step in should
my personal boycott of ARRL become successful...

I'm sure there are plenty of organizations besides ham radio that would be
happy to step into the power vacuum. Look at Iraq. I'm sure ARRL is not
nearly as bad as Sadaam to warrant a scorched earth solution.

a lot of third world countries still use CW for distress calls,

Some 3rd world countries also still use animals for plowing.

Some people in this country actually buy what these people produce.

And some people in this country put jewelry in their noses, lips, ears and
other odd places.

Others go out and buy cell phone/TVs and pay $200+ a month for their
communications.

Some people build model airplanes from WW2 or do needlepoint or collect
antiques as a hobby.

We could write a book full of this stuff.

"JB" wrote:

We could write a book full of this stuff.

I think we already have.

On Sep 22, 2:36*pm, AJ Lake wrote:
"JB" wrote:
having the patience to learn a skill will in fact tend to protect a valuable
resource from degradation by being flooded with impulsive personalities.

The old having to learn the code will keep the whacko's out just
doesn't stand up. The biggest offenders on the SSB 75M mess are code
tested Extras...

But what mode are the using when they offend on 75 meters? It's not
Morse Code.

73 de Jim, N2EY

On Sep 24, 9:00*pm, AJ Lake wrote:
wrote:
A weeder test can be relevant.

The trouble seems to be that we have different ideas of what a "weeder
test" means. I could find no specific definition in any reference
material, so I'll just no longer use the phrase.

Simply put, there is no reason for a code test in the modern world.

Yes, there is. In ham radio, anyway.

The reason is this:

A license test for an amateur radio operator license should test
things hams actually do on the air.
Hams use Morse Code on the air in 2008.

If
someone wants to use CW he simply learns it or fires up his computer.

That same logic can be applied to anything in the written test too, so
why have a written test?

There once were valid reasons to learn the code, but they haven't
existed for decades.

Some reasons have gone away. Not all. And it hasn't been "decades",
either.

That the code test survived so long was simply ham politics.

Not really. The treaty wasn't written by hams.

By testing, we make people prove they actually learned a few things...

When an 8 year old child can pass the Extra exam, I think you can
safely say that it can be passed without *knowing* the electronics
theory that it pretends to test for.

How do you know for sure that the 8-year-old didn't know the material
on the test?

Bit of history:

Way back in 1948, the old Class B exam was passed on the first try by
Jane Bieberman, W3OVV (sk), at the Philadelphia FCC office. She was 9
years old at the time.

In those days, the Class B exams we

13 wpm Morse Code receiving, minimum 1 minute solid legible copy out
of 5 minutes
13 wpm Morse Code sending with a straight key
50 question written exam that included:
- essay questions
- draw-a-diagram (schematic and block) questions
- show-your-work calculation questions
- multiple-choice questions

No published question-and-answer pools. No partial credit. No CSCEs.
No Bash books.

Now maybe W3OVV didn't understand every subtlety of every question,
but she did well enough to satisfy the FCC examiner.

But having observed what happens when people
are trusted to learn on their own, (cb as one example),

Darn, if only they had started out with a CB code test
*all would be well now...

Yes, it probably would be.

Do you think amateur radio should be more like CB? One license class,
no tests, everybody the same, people trusted to learn what they are
interested in and not have to learn stuff...

Yeah, that's been shown to work really well in radio.

73 de Jim, N2EY