From: Alun L. Palmer on Nov 6, 8:57 am

"Usenet Central" wrote in
"Alun L. Palmer" wrote in message


: Any way you look at it though, more than half the comments are in
: favour of the NPRM and less than a third against,

Not in fact is it ANY WAY (every way) you look at it. If Lenards
tally is accurate, your issue seems almost exactly an even race since
the official Federal Register publication of the NRPM with 50.41% in
favor or dropping Morse and 49.59% in sympathy to retain at least some
Morse examination. Based on your presidents election experience you
should exam for perhaps hanging chads in some preceints in Florida.

BGO [probably Barnabus Grumwich Overbite]


It's only an even race if you count those who want to retain a code test
for Extra only as being in the anti camp. I guarantee that the FCC will be
able to think of no reason to retain it only for Extras. In your dreams,
maybe.

Speaking of paradoxes, the code test for extra people allow
the "lesser classes" to be free of federal code testing for a
license. They are the classic mugwumps sitting astride the
code-test-fence, one foot on each side.

So, which way to count them? :-)

We can all go to AH0A.ORG and use Speroni's "unbiased" (Ha!)
lumping of the code-test-only-for-extras comments as being
Absolutely FOR CW! [no red strike-outs on THOSE icons!]

Of course, Joe Speroni is an unabashed morseman since way back.
He also had a couple Petitions DENIED by the FCC. shrug

Jimmie say Speroni is MORE ACCURATE. He is a morseman, ergo,
he is "accurate." shrug wink, wink... :-)

My analysis put the code-test-only-for-extras in a separate
category, neither for nor against the NPRM. Readers will
have to decide for themselves how to "rate" them.

What the Commission will actually DO in the future is up to
them. Some poor guy/gal or small group there has got a
whale of an analysis task to wade through nearly 3700 filings
after 14 November 2005 and try to get a feeling of what the
"public" wants. That's going to take quite a while, I'd say
more than the 10+ months between 15 Jan 99 and late December
1999 on WT Docket 98-143 for Restructuring. 98-143 had no
more than about 2200 filings between official start and end
times of Comments/Replies.

FCC once said it wanted a "consensus" on opinions in amateur
radio. It should be blatantly obvious that there is NO such
"consensus" with regard to WT Docket 05-235 and NPRM 05-143.

Nitpickers can make all the "finger-pointing" they want about
"illusionary four decimal place percentages" but the opinions
filed so far have a damn close near-even split betweeen For
and Against.

Whichever way the final R&O goes, we've all seen a part of
history in the making in regards to U.S. amateur radio.
Democracy in action, visible on the FCC ECFS! Good thing!