Maybe out of yours... Politics and Ham Radio don't mix. Discussing politics OTA is not good operating practice. And, when you are not engaging in good operating practices it makes you a LID. The people down (or up depending on your perspective) on that other band just love to argue and fight. That would be the perfect place for you to discuss politics OTA. WQ4G
Oh, BTW I am neither Republican or Democrat... So watch where you point that loaded finger of yours.... WQ4G
Reading some of the replies I'm thinking this must be what sites like Facebook look like. Where else do some of these folks get their information or lack thereof? I'll just keep voice and voice mail on my old flip phone...thank you very much.
This thread really should be merged with the other news thread posted earlier - or simply closed given that its gone off into the politics dance.
Thirded, as this is a dupe of https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?th...ng-fee-structure-new-fees-for-ham-radio.72202 anyway.
I don't have a difficulty with a fee per se. I paid for original Commercial license & testing fee, my GMRS license fee, and way back when, my Amateur Radio license & testing fee. Currently we pay a VE some amount to proctor the test and submit the paperwork to the FCC (but a renewal costs us nothing). Yes people abuse the vanity call system, but that's life. Like the auto plates, I don't have an issue for people who want a specific call to pay an extra fee. However, it seems to me (and this may not be historically accurate but is my opinion) that in the 80's or 90's the FCC was moving away from wanting to deal with non-commercial radio of any kind. They dropped the licensing fee to zero, and the ARRL took over the testing via the Volunteer Examiner program. The FCC just had to register the license and send out the ticket. Now they don't even want to send out a ticket, want us to continue to self test/ self regulate, and now charge us a fee for doing so. If the FCC wants to step up, restore services that they delegated to the Amateur Radio Community, then I'm OK with them charging a fee.
You don’t find it even a little bit hypocritical to be scolding others about talking politics OTA when, on a ham radio forum, each of your posts is accompanied by leftist propaganda?
Short link for comment filing: https://bit.ly/32O7WLi Comments just opened today, so if you submitted before 9/1 you probably attached your comments to the wrong proceeding.
Has anyone been able to find ARRL's position on this and whether or not they are going to lobby this bill? All I have been able to find is them sending out information to post comments but not revealing their own thoughts.