I've worked West Virginia from the parking lot of a popular Connecticut Beach--maybe 20 feet above sea level--400 miles on 10GHz CW. Zak W1VT
We're just aware of them more now that we have the Internet and everyone has a platform to show their best/worst. Perhaps the ratio of hams/prima-donna types has always been the same. Before the 'Zed, I sure didn't know as many of either.
When I was restricted to above 50Mhz the high orbiter satellites kept me engaged in the hobby. Limited power but high gain antennas taught me so much. Ten watts got me out to MA100+ on many of the birds. Bring back the Molynia orbits, GEO doesn't teach you tracking, beam width power ratio, varying power and receive loss etc. LEO's while accessible with lower grade licenses don't stir the passion of talking to other cultures, forget about digital, has humans we are programed to pick out the nature of voice and all the personality indicators that come with it. HEO's SSB transponders would encourage so many to upgrade to HF as another tool to verbally communicate with other Hams of a different culture. Just saying.
Wow what a bunfight here ! Typical of the way that Amateurs play with each other. G R O W U P !!! Smell the roses. Work TOGETHER to KEEP ON SMELLING THE ROSES. Support ALL AR EFFORTS .... I restate I am a HF man; yet I spend a considerable amount of effort trying to save VHF, UHF and SHF modes that Amateurs use. I will never use most UHF and SHF as my interests and resources do not lie here- but If I do not support these efforts then where will be the users of these bands be when HF is attacked with technologies that I have seen and have participated in the development of ??? I am also very much a QRO man; yet I also actively support QRP and SOTA rights ! QRO is QRP's greatest ally ! As I stated the infighting and bitchiness is what is driving AR backwards. The base story here DEMONSTRATES how entry level licenses CAN BE AND ARE a success. Yet the warning is there and is heard loudly ... we cannot give access to AR spectrum via tokens in "Cornflakes Boxes".... HAM - Help All mankind. And drop the arrogance. Work together ! Support each other. Use stories like the one here to unify and focus on the positives and advancement !!!!
It is widely known ten-watt-powered, Japanese-made radios sold at home are fairly limited compared to class-4 licencees in number. JL1DCA (class 2)
Yes... who with an intro licence buys a 10W radio ! They are sold predominantly to those with higher classes of licence and used with amps ;-)
A 10-watt exciter will sure answer the best to drive a Kw when thinking of the cost. I'd suppose Ham dealers in Akihabara don't have 10watt models in stock. JL1DCA
Perhaps you should say, "Because (most) people follow the power limit rules on bands like 30m and 60m just like they're told to do all the time." As an avid 30m CW op, I sometimes wonder when I hear some U.S. stations calling a rare DX station in the heat of a pileup and their signals are way above the normal level of 200W stations using multi-element yagis. Just sayin'. Getting back to the OP, thank you for the information. And I applaud you, VK3VM, for your positive and constructive comments. Well said!
It's a mixed bag of benefits and liabilities but I don't believe taking the risk of intra/inter-band interference and misuse from what are basically sub-amateurs is a sound decision. It invites laziness in an age where people don't need an excuse to be unmotivated.
As @N2EY pointed out (link below) one must keep in mind that the number of Japanese operator licenses include all those issued since 1952, because they never expire. So it isn't even a rough estimate of how many are still active, unlike in the US where licenses must be renewed every 10 years. https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/number-of-hams-by-country.624043/#post-4764999
Anyone with a license can't be a "sub-amateur", since having a license is what defines an "amateur radio operator". A sub-amateur might be a CBer or GMRS operator that has some interest in ham radio, but has never studied for, or taken the test. I'm not sure what this has to do with laziness, since that has always existed in all walks of life, including amateur radio.
Hmm...I am now curious about how many current Station Licenses there are in Japan. (Not operator licenses) Additionally, this thread has provided a few more to the ignore list. Selective squelch is very nice.
