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#20
August 19th 06, 12:26 AM
posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna,rec.radio.amateur.policy,rec.radio.scanner
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license renewal
" wrote in
ups.com: From: Pin-medic on Fri, Aug 18 2006 10:30 am I agree Bob, and maybe we'd have better operators as a result. Considering the waning interest in our dying hobby though, all that would probably do is eliminate even more operators from the ranks, leading the FCC to reduce our bands even more by selling them to the highest bidder. 1. The FCC has NOT "reduced 'your' bands," nor is it somehow threatening to "sell them" to anyone. Had you bothered to look at this process of AUCTIONING certain COMMERCIAL bands and the Congressional laws establishing it, you would have seen that it does NOT apply to radio amateurs. 2. Since WARC-79 'you' have gotten MORE BANDS and that has increased up to a few years ago when 'you' got the five 60m channels. 3. There doesn't seem to be any "waning interest" in USA amateur radio considering the overall licensee numbers. The newcomer licensees are - just managing - to keep the licensee numbers in numeric bouyancy, almost keeping pace with those letting their licenses lapse. See www.hamdata. com FCC data page. 4. "Dying hobby" must be entirely subjective since there is no real sign that amateur radio equipment and supplies companies are closing down nor has the ARRL threatened to dissolve their $15M per annum profit publishing business. Since 1990 three INDEPENDENT amateur radio publications have ceased, primarily due to lack of advertising revenue, NOT for interest in the hobby. Ham radio was so much better back in the late 70's, when I first became licensed. People were polite, and the radio had a mystique to it. I find that highly subjective, primarily in comparison to the times of the mid-50s. Let's look at the "mystique" of the late 1970s insofar as radio communications are concerned: 1. Communications satellites were well-established for international video-audio relay with thousands of circuits for voice and data. More would come in the next three decades until the geosynchronous orbit positions were filled before the 1990s were over. 2. HF spectrum users, the majority being commercial- government prior to the 1970s, were LEAVING HF for more reliable 24/7 circuit throughput IN the beginning of the 1970s. The peak use of HF occurred during the mid- 1950s to 1960. 3. Tens of thousands of radio communications licensees (with all their users and equipment) were ALREADY up and communicating from low-VHF on up. That would continue to grow in the next three decades until the FCC and NTIA had to expand the VHF-and-up spectrum for such radio services as PLMRS (Private Land Mobile Radio Services), maritime radio (for private boat owners and inland-waterway and harbor comms). 4. MILLIONS of Citizen Band radios existed, CB (on HF) was created in 1958, two decades before the late-1970s. Licensing of CB had been dropped and the off-shore radio makers had established themselves in the radio market, including CB. 5. "Radio" was KNOWN to the general public as a means to communicate and had been known for decades. "Known" in a sense beyond the obvious of TV and AM and FM broadcasting and international telecasts. The public did NOT "know" that morse code modes were used except perhaps for watching the last of the "Westerns" on TV and old WW2 movies. 6. In the mid-1950s the BIG communicators on HF were already in a process of change of mode. Teleprinter data was the overwhelming majority mode for written communications for commercial and government users of the ONLY long-haul comm circuits. Microwave radio relay for both short and long distances on land had already begun. Only the maritime world held to their morse code modes with, rarely, voice on AM. 7. In the late 1970s 'you' already had solid-state HF radios (transmitters barely reaching 100 W PEP) with the beginnings of synthesized frequencies. VFOs, now reliable and stable, were a standard feature for frequency control. In the mid-1950s frequency control of the then-standard tube type radios was essentially one-crystal/one-frequency type unless one could afford a very expensive (then) "Collins" (or equivalent) manufactured radio. 8. The Semiconductor Era had already begun in ALL of electronics and new techniques and methods were the order of the day in comparison to the limitations of tube architecture in the mid-1950s. In that regard, there IS a "mystique." I would state that a vast cornucopia of things were suddenly opened by the many-plateau advances in electronics technology, sometimes happening at a rate of advancement that was near overwhelming. Having been a part of the electronics industry for 53 years I not only saw it but was immersed in it, doing it while keeping up with it. With the internet and the immediate gratification that everyone seems to expect these days, Ham Radio is undesirable; having to hunt for contacts when you can just IM someone? Having to work for a license? Not anymore, no one wants to put any effort into anything when they have an easier alternative. Unless there has been some "stealth" action of government to redefine FCC rules, amateur radio has ALWAYS been considered a non-commercial AVOCATION. It is a HOBBY without having to be stated as such in Parts 1 and 97 of Title 47 C.F.R. There is NO legal necessity to "WORK" for a hobby pursuit, is there? Absolutely YES, I will opt for an "easier alternative" to ANYTHING! When I began in Big-Time HF radio communications, the "easier alternative" ALREADY existed in the products of Teletype Corporation. The teleprinter had already displaced manual morse code modes for the majority of messaging even before WW2 (in business and government and the military). So, if 'we' all do this 'work' thing, who is going to give 'us' this permission to exist on the same planet as all you extras? Would 'we' be FIRED if 'we' didn't 'work?" [delusions of Donald Trump there?] Ah..."not enough EFFORT being put forth" by us not-licensed- in-the-AMATEUR-radio-service? Right...some of us have been professionals in radio and electronics for decades, WITHOUT any morsemanship tests! Even though we've put our own time into keeping up with radio and electronics for all those decades (without renumeration for those efforts), that isn't good enough for you? Here, have a [rude Italian hand gesture] The FCC was NEVER chartered as an academic institution and those valued [suitable for framing] licenses are NOT "grades earned" (after all that 'work'). The job of the FCC is just regulate, mitigate ALL civil radio in the USA. Mere 'tenure' as a radio amateur does NOT make someone better nor does all the snarling about "nobody wants to 'work' for their license" change anything. You want the US amateur radio regulations to FREEZE in those old days ways? Fine, send in your proposal to the FCC and tell them why it should remain in the freezer. They MUST, by law, examine ALL proposals submitted by citizens. [I wouldn't expect that they actually put forth an NPRM on keeping regs on ice, but they WILL look at it] Unfortunately, the good old days are gone, and ham radio is in the sunset of its existence. 1. Take your sunglasses off or step out from behind the curtains. It is a BRIGHT day with sun HIGH in the sky for amateur radio...unless you are one of the olde- tymers who refuse to acknowledge change. 2. There exist new medications that can alleviate depression and, perhaps, a feeling of ennui. See your doctor about that. 3. "The good old days are gone?" THANK GOD! I was IN those 'good old days' and am damn glad that radio and electronics has improved, gotten easier, enabled us (except morsemen) to do more and better things! I look FORWARD to each and every improvement that makes things EASIER! I've already done lots of things with lots of personal labor and I sincerely APPRECIATE whatever labor-saving, work-saving things that are available now. Hey, if you WORK real hard, study real hard, maybe you can come up with a TIME MACHINE! Yeah, right, it could take you back to those "good old days" that you seem to like so much. Like back to a time when "ham" was a pejorative expressed by professional morsemen? :-) 1: No more automatic renewals. Individuals must retest and pass all elements required for their license class. 2: The passing score for written exams needs to be raised to 85%. 3: Code elements should be 13 wpm for General, and 20 wpm for Extra. 4: Make the no-code license one year non-renewable. Let's take back ham radio. 73 |
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