RadioBanter - FEDUP CALL TO ACTION

Website: www.freeweb.com/fed_up

Thank you to those who have responded to the previous posting. We are
working hard to catch up on correspondence. Apparently there are a lot more
hams who are disgusted with the deterioration of the hobby than we thought.
As for the emails we have received with threatening or obscene (and many,
just plain stupid) comments, thank you; we plan to post the most ridiculous
ones on our website when it is fully assembled.
For those of you who missed the first posting, the original CALL TO ACTION -
CW ADVOCACY GROUP FORMING newsgroup posting follows. For you supercillious
phonies who bellyache that this if "off topic", may we remind you that you
sat by and said nothing during all of the anti-CW postings that have
appeared here. Apparently those were "on topic." It matters not whether we
are "granpaws" (sic) or "dinosaurs" or whatever other epithets you feel you
wish to sling; one thing is sure, that you are a prime example of the death
of free speech which should be a cornerstone of any communication service in
a free society. Besides that, what makes you think that a "granpaw" has lost
his right to expressing his opinion? Perhaps in YOUR world you would deny
your own "granpaw" his right to an opinion. Perhaps in your world you need
to remember that you are not getting any younger either and, sooner or
later, you'll be there too. By the way, this writer is hardly a "granpaw,"
so your assertion doesn't stick.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------

CALL TO ACTION - CW ADVOCACY GROUP FORMING

This is not a warm and fuzzy “feel good” letter like much of the
baloney you read in the ham radio press. If you are one of those individuals
who don’t mind a little sand kicked in your face as long as you have your
grandchildren on your lap yakking away on your Kensu Pro Mark III, we urge
you to read no further. Ugly truth follows. But, as they say, the “devil
that you know is better than the one you don’t.”

The time has come (and it may indeed have passed) for trying to fix
what ails ham radio. Ham radio has gone down “for the count.” It has been
sucker-punched with corrupt referees allowing much “dirty fighting” and
knees to the groin. Regardless of the grand schemes of the ham radio
aristocracy, the numbers are down. People aren’t getting licenses anymore
for many reasons but largely, because it has become a meaningless exercise.
It is no longer an achievement of anything. So, they drift away. Years ago
the ham population was a fraction of the size it is today and no one worried
about how many hams there were. The only reason they keep dragging out this
silly numbers issue is because of how many magazine subscriptions and
transceiver sales it represents. THAT IS IT. Follow the money trail and you
will always be led to the culprit. It has nothing whatsoever to do with any
noble concern over sharing the ham radio experience with as many people as
possible. It’s pure greed.

It is time we CW operators grow some hair on our chests. We have sat by
and watched the FCC, Newington, manufacturers (you know which ones) and “No
Code International” playing freely with this once great avocation. We CW
operators have bootlicked and tried to remain passive and gentlemanly while
they vandalized and stole from us. We have tried so hard to abide by Paul
Segal’s “Amateurs’ Creed” that was pounded into us that we were fearful that
our speaking up would break one of his sacred commandments.

It is insulting that lobbying by the “no code” idiots and those who
stand to benefit from amateur radio entrepreneurship have succeeded in
weakening the licensing requirements. They continue to chisel away at the
license and enable people with little investment in learning and commitment
to share the same spectrum with true ham operators.

We propose a federation of real amateur radio operators who are fed up
with the diminished requirements cheapening the license achievement they
were once proud to have. We propose a federation of people who are disgusted
with the beating that the Morse code and the integrity of the licensing
examination have taken. We propose to fight back. The mountain is steep and
our adversaries have been able to get better footing. We probably cannot
win…. It may simply be too late. But maybe we can soften how bad the impact
will be when ham radio crashes to the ground. Also we can at least show
those who are solely responsible for the end of the amateur radio service
(which some have predicted could be within 10 years) that they personally
destroyed a great communications service.

Earnest and dedicated ham operators must express outrage. Those
puff-headed sycophants who we hear spewing the propaganda about "need for
change" need to be challenged. Amateur radio is NOT about enabling kids to
mumble nonsense on a 2-meter handi-talkie or how many secretaries in the
front office in Newington got their faux- “Extra” class license. By reducing
requirements and making a ham license easier to obtain DOES NOT MAKE FOR ANY
SORT OF AN ACCOMPLISHMENT. Period. Amateur radio at one time was steeped in
solid traditions and pride of accomplishing what it took to wear the title.
Amateur radio was The Genuine Article. It was real. It had solid
requirements and those who aspired to fulfill those requirements had reason
to be proud of their achievement. NPRMs have repeatedly received
overwhelming rejection but yet they are made into law. Why aren’t they
listening to the respondents? Why are the only ones they listen to the
minority? The answer is this: because there is no respect for the playground
weaklings.

FED UP CALLING FREQUENCIES – Bottom of “new” phone band
(e.g 3600 KHZ , 7100 KHZ
etc)

CW operators have just suffered a slap to the face by the diminished CW
sub-bands in the so-called “Omnibus bill.” We propose all CW operators
register disapproval by continuing to use the old sub-bands. PLEASE NOTE:
Before the angry emails start, understand that we are NOT advocating
intentional interference to phone operations! We CAN co-exist. God knows we
US CW operators have been putting up with Canadian phone QRM in our US CW
bands for years. Shouldn’t “What’s good for the goose is good for the
gander” prevail here? Why are the phone operators treated as such hothouse
orchids? . For starters, on each amateur radio band, we propose the
frequency that separates the CW and the phone sub-bands become a CW calling
frequency for FEDUP hams to share thoughts and camaraderie with like
individuals (For instance, 3600 KHz). Since CW operations are permitted from
3500 to 4000 khz, our operation on the bottom end of the “new” phone band is
not violating anything. Phone operators, however, will be restricted from
using this frequency since splatter would fall outside of their sub-band.

We propose establishment of an organization to be known as FEDERATION
FOR UNCOMPROMISED PROFICIENCY (FED UP). To this end we are soliciting people
willing to help write letters (FCC commissioners, congressmen, USA Today,
agencies, manufacturers, magazine advertisers that use anti-CW
publications...anyone influential to whom we can express our dissatisfaction
as to what has been going on in this communications service). We are also
soliciting hams with expertise in legal matters, media, business and
marketing who would like to help us. Our goal is establishment of a
professional lobbying effort to reverse the damage that has been done to the
amateur radio service, the license, the quality of operators and the future
of the service. The primary focus is re-establishment of proficiency to the
amateur radio license and awarding levels of proficiency with privileges.
Yes, this has been tried as recently as the last couple of years. Like we
said earlier we are going uphill and it is not “politically correct” in
today’s amateur radio environment. But WE NEED TO BECOME MORE VOCAL. We need
to stop being fainting goats. We need to get some FIRE IN OUR BELLIES and
fight!

If you are interested in helping us put together an organization to
challenge the horrific FCC rules and regulations and the idiotic policies
that have been imposed on ham radio operators, we invite you to contact us.
When we see what the interest level is we can better assess a potential
group’s structure. Obviously our first order of business will be
establishment of a core mission and an executive staff to drive this effort.
Please email us at . Please be patient for our reply. We
will respond to all serious inquiries personally. No doubt we will get a lot
of moronic and angry emails, which will simply be deleted. Even so, it no
doubt will take time to wade through the legitimate ones. And
confidentiality will be maintained because we know none of you wish to put
up with an e-mail inbox full of messages from goofballs.

We have been ignored because we’ve consistently lied down and complied.
The bullies always pick on the kid who is most passive. We’ve been in such
a rush to show how agreeable we are with all the “crap propaganda” coming
out of the ham magazines, that we didn’t even notice how the good things
were slipping away. Our attention was diverted from their erosion of
technical proficiency and abilities as a well-rounded communications
operator (including knowing the Morse code) while they distracted us with
the razzle-dazzle of vanity callsign giveaways and a host of scary-but-bogus
threats to the welfare of ham radio.

If you’ve got any fight left in you we’d like to hear from you.

73, ZUT and QTX

Organizational Committee
Federation for Uncompromised Proficiency (Fed UP)