From: an_old_friend on Jan 1, 2:42 pm


wrote:
From: on Sat, Dec 31 2005 3:29 pm
wrote:
From: on Dec 30, 5:56 pm
wrote:


Ghettos. Reminds me of some European social engineering of the 30's.

Good grief, we CAN'T speak like that in here!

The "lower end" of "the bands" MUST be kept open for the
PRIVELEGED CLASS to beep in total comfort. So "it has always
been and so shall it always be..."

indeed the ARRL tried to pander to people Jim with code for extra class
proposal

I disagree but only slightly. Don't forget that the ARRL
officers ARE the olde-tymers of morse code. Naturally they
would pressure for more privileges in what they liked or
could do best.

There is no quantitative "factual" accounting of that
opinion other than the obvious private-party exchanges
(mostly off-line). The league can't admit that it does
what it did and merely "sin by omission" of NOT saying
anything bad about itself. [they will not since they
are the self-styled "representative" of amateur radio
and cannot keep memberships by being self-negative]




As far as I'm concerned, the "NEED" to do morse code at any
rate was an arbitrary, unneccessary regulation back in the
60s. Ancient morsemen didn't think so and pressured the
government to keep that "vital" necessity (or whatever they
called it before Homeland Security needed morse for "the war
on terror). So the morse code test stayed in.


We could have done away with Morse Code tsts as early as the first AM
voice set, might have been a bit choatic at first, but it have been
done logicaly have done away when ever there was first voice

Not possible for the administration committed to honoring
the USA membership in the ITU and its radio regulations.
The first widely-heard AM radio transmission was in 1906,
hardly a time for AM to become universal. Forget about
FM and PM then until the vacuum tube was perfected; the
first triode was created in 1906. AM broadcasting did not
become practical until the 1920s.

The change in amateur radio regulations COULD have been
broached at WARC-79 but - as far as amateur radio was
concerned - the year 1979 at WARC was the matter of the
"40m issue" between amateurs and SW BC people. That
didn't get any firm resolution for 24 more years (WRC-03).

However, BY 2003, the IARU had swung around to eliminate
the compulsory radio regulation (S25.5) requiring manual
morse code testing for any license having below-30-MHz
privileges. That was a change that was LONG overdue.

Those that control the influences in amateur radio are
generally the olde-tymers who were grounded in the older
traditions...such as the "need" to demonstrate morse skill
vital to a much earlier era. The league is a good example
of extreme conservatism insofar as amateur radio licensing
is concerned. The IARU has swung around from such extreme
conservatism despite being composed of the (generally) same
lot of olde-tymers. They CAN see the future more clearly
than the American league (of self-distinguished gentlemen).

At one time in the PAST there was a need to demonstrate
manual radiotelegraphy skills. The problem with so many
is that they keep on venerating the past with a passion,
a nostalgia for times before they existed. Tradition
is a fine thing but it loses value when it is codified
into law as a requirement for all.