This is a long time ago. However if this is some sort of campaign to lesson the requirements in the here and now, it is my experience any thing worth having is worth working for, and if there is no pride of accomplishment it won't be long until the novelty will wear off. When this happens the newbies will simply move on to something else.
My impression from the article is that QRP ops must be big in Japan. Given the housing situation over there, they must have some interesting antenna designs to get the most from their 10 watts on HF. Low power on VHF and UHF means little due to repeaters but making a good time of being on air with 10 watts on the HF bands requires some real thought. Good propagation conditions sure help too!
Back when I lived on the west coast, we'd work these guys by the bushel basket full, pretty much any day, any band, but particularly on the 10 and 15 meter bands when open. Every afternoon, with the beam pointed toward Asia, you would hear a buzzing sound, that would eventually grow to be many, many stations calling CQ. That was much more fun than listening to a dead band. I bet they're having a ball with JT8 and JT4 today. Yes, this is old news. Anybody who lives on the west coast and operates HF knows that 10 watts is plenty for people to have fun with radio. At least, the JA hams seem to be having lots of fun. Japan decided to ignore the international rules in regard to code tests, but even today, there are many proficient CW ops there.
Let's just do away with Licensing all together, that way anyone can use all the bands with no restrictions, oh I forgot they already did that in the 70s, with citizen Band, look how well this worked out.
I am sure that this is what our Regulator wants. You read their spectrum review and outlooks (i.e. https://www.communications.gov.au/what-we-do/spectrum/spectrum-review and https://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Spectrum/Spectrum-projects/5-Year-Spectrum-Outlook ) and you will note the term "administrative inconvenience" occurring frequently. "Administrative inconvenience" only means lack of ability to effectively perform the role. Here in Australia representative bodies / lobby groups have been told that we only have tests and standards because "that is what we want". Its also interesting to note that our ACMA is seeking feedback on CB and the swill/chaos therein. There have been a number of legal rulings of late in VK4 and VK6 that have prompted this. I am sure that any international observations would not go astray on this matter. Contact: lais@acma.gov.au (that is a front-of-house contact).
