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#16
October 30th 06, 12:57 AM
posted to rec.radio.amateur.policy
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What is the ARRL's thought on having good amateurs?
" wrote in
oups.com: From: Dee Flint on Sun, Oct 29 2006 8:48 am wrote in message Dee Flint wrote: wrote in message Dee Flint wrote: wrote in message No I do not say that all those who learned the code are highly proficient. I am saying that setting someone up with CWGet for a contest is a recipe for failure and a very unenjoyable contest experience. When I first started cw contesting, I had to listen to the station many times through picking out their call letter by letter over a dozen exchanges before throwing in my call. I also sent PSE QRS 5 on many occasions to get the balance of the exchange. But it worked. If they choose to view as merely a hurdle to pass and never try it, that's sad but that's their problem. Never been a problem to me. I can't see any personal enjoyment in "contesting," using kilodollars worth of equipment just to accumulate the most radio contacts in a short period of time. But, if that's your Thing, go for it. I started out in HF radio with the mission of keeping communications channels open and working 24/7. Not my thing to hop all over some small band and making transitory contact with some individual one will probably never "work" again. I put that on par with being a fan of "Wheel of Fortune." :-) The FCC has nothing on "contesting," doesn't require it of any licensee. Then there are the majority of hams who have no-code licenses... While they have numbers, way too many of them are inactive or have low activity levels. You don't hear them so they don't exist?!? When I work VHF/UHF contests, I sometimes check the call signs of the people worked. Most are Extras, some are Generals, and I've only worked ONE Technician. And that's in a voice contest. Why is that? They have full band privileges and full power privileges yet they don't use them. Why? Same deal with the grid square hunters. And so on. Tsk. VHF-UHF is LOS stuff regularly, sometimes "DX" when there are atmospheric inversion layers for ducting or other weird effects. Did it ever occur to you that OTHER people on ham bands are NOT really into 'contesting?" Maybe they LIKE to get to know the other party on a radio circuit? The ITU has a standard definition of what constitutes International Morse Code that is sufficient for the purpose. It's a date-update of an old CCITT *TELEGRAM* standard. Would you like a copy? :-) IT DOES NOT SPECIFY WORD *RATE*! The FCC doesn't need to define it. They say we must pass the International Morse Code. The FCC *references* the CCITT-ITU document in Definitions. The FCC does NOT LEGALLY DEFINE word rate. Sunnuvagun. Now, if the FCC ever gets the 2004 "Omnibus" R&O published in the Federal Register, we will see if they bothered to update the old CCITT document to the current ITU document. :-) Most engineering jobs do not require that one even have a PE license or registration or whatever they call it these days. 'Professional Engineer' is a STATE license thing. Requirements vary between states, but not a great deal. The state PE license is a nice LEGAL thing because the LEGAL system is set up to recognize it. Corporations and businesses who DO THE WORK are less interested in the number of diplomas and licenses one has...they want people who can DO THE WORK. If they can DO THE WORK, they are paid accordingly. Getting PAID for services rendered IS a legally-acceptible definition of 'professional' activity. Ergo, an engineer who does engineering work, has engineering responsibility, and CAN DO THE WORK is generally referred to as a professional. Really. So you do use ohm's law and theory, you just don't think it belongs in amateur licensing? No I did not say that. I believe that they do belong in the licensing setup as again for amateur radio, they are basics of the field. Just because my usage of them is low doesn't mean they don't belong there. But, but, but...an amateur MUST learn morse code?!? :-) Lots of amateurs tossed their code keys, had "key burial" ceremonies after getting their license, and continued to have fun as licensed amateurs. There's lots and lots of hypocrisy running around loose in there... :-( One needs to learn the basics as they don't yet know what direction their hobby will take them. Learning the basics helps them decide which and when or if they want to further explore various branches of amateur radio. In crowded, congested ham bands it would seem mo' bettah to LEARN how to maintain, repair, calibrate their radios. The FCC has lots technical requirements on radios which licensees are REQUIRED to obey. Not to worry. The ready-built designer-manufacturers of today's ham radios have done all the ADVANCED work for you. No need to sweat actually LEARNING some beyond-basic knowledge. Just plug it in and go. You can read the operating manual as you go along. You keep stressing the NEED to do radiotelegraphy. I don't see it. The rest of the world isn't stressing any of that "CW" need...they just gave up on morse code. Similarly, there were several courses I took as part of the basics of engineering but seldom used. I've never done fast fourier transforms in my work as my career did not go that direction. I've rarely used calculus. On the other hand, I spent a significant chunk of my career (12 years out of 33 years) writing engineering software using Fortran and later Visual Basic. Sunnuvagun! In 1973 I managed to access the RCA corporate mainframe to do my first FORTRAN coding. I got the basics from Dan McCracken's large softcover on Programming in FORTRAN IV. 33 years ago! Took me only about three months (of my own time) to get acquainted with FORTRAN...was much more difficult 'selling' the group bean counter to get access. By 1975 I had 6 programs in the RCA Central Software Library that I'd written and debugged. Wasn't all that hard. Oh, and Dartmouth BASIC was already in industry use 33 years ago. Visual Basic hasn't been out near that long. Power Basic for Windows 8 is the present package I have, sufficiently like FORTRAN to make an easy transition. Computer programming is NOT for everyone. Some haven't got the aptitude for it. Programming does NOT teach one how to MAKE a computer, just how to USE it in ONE kind of application. [like morse proficiency is "supposed to make one a good radio operator" but doesn't teach squat in how a radio works or how to fix one] What is much better for radio amateurs *OR* just radio and electronics hobbyists in regards to basic theory knowledge is using a SPICE program set. Linear Technology Corp. has made a modern SPICE program set absolutely FREE, just download it at www.linear.com. "LTSpice/SwitcherCAD." Use the Search box at the home page. The single download is an automatically- unpacking .EXE file, just run it and it installs by itself. It's got a fairly simple Schematic drawing feature that automatically generates Netlists. A fair selection of common active device models is supplied in its Library. Only for Windows OS up to XP as far as I know. SPICE program packages *ALL* take some time on the learning curve. The lovely part of them is that they do NOT require parts, NO workbench, NO test equipment. At first they are frustrating in a large amount of program commands and conventions that must be observed. Once over that hump, they can be marvelous instruction machines in allowing quick changes of a circuit to see the effect on Transient (time-domain) or Linear AC (frequency-domain) response. They can handle simple, medium, or large scale circuits...anything from just an R-C network to fancy oscillators to complex filters, passive or active. In working on a "SPICE bench" there is a subtle input to the mind. The pathways there are opened to first understand the interrelationships of components in a circuit...and what those components are made of, electrically. Once those pathways are opened, it becomes easier to understand the more complex theory behind the circuitry. All that can be done without lots of expensive (or cheap) parts, no danger of "burning out" something, no smoke and fire. :-) "All electronics works by smoke. If the smoke leaks out, it won't work." - anon. There's a product at the drug store you might want to try: Gas-X. It should be pretty close to the 'Depends' isle you're familiar with. SC |
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