What It's Going to take...

The ink is not dry on the NPRM and already the next phase of "kill CW" begins. Lets take spectrum from the best behaved amateurs in the hobby and give it to the skip talkers. Eh roger, good buddy!

More idiots will flock to phone. How do I know? Because you already hear them on repeaters, see them at hamfests, and at club meetings. They will be able to pass the written test because it is not a test, it is a memory drill. Ask Alaska Steve about the class he taught of Generals and NCTs upgrading. After studying and being able to pass the practice tests, none of them could quote OHM's Law. When they complained that was too technical, he asked them what the wavelength of 20M was. Nobody knew. Two guys wanted the "conversion factor".

More dim-wits on phone will mean more pressure for more spectrum. A real mob mentality will prevail. The group of well behaved, knowledgable CW ops will be shouted down by the mob. Look at the comments above if you don't think it hasn't started already. Even the many well behaved phone ops today will be caught up in the stampede.

Predictions that Amateur Radio will not get nastier and more contentious are Pollyannaish.

 

Sanity seems to be returning to this thread.

Calling Amateur radio dead reminds me of a skit out of a Monty Python movie.  You've probably heard of it before.  The one where two younger men argue bout how to dispose of the not quite dead yet but likely will die any minute old man's body.

Every one seems so quick to declare Amateur radio dead that no one seems to bother to find out what went wrong, or even if there is any thing wrong at all.

The Amateur radio that existed in 1955 is dead, we have a new Amateur radio in 2005.  Just like the Amateur radio that existed in 1905 did not exist in 1955.  Amateur radio evolves and will continue to do so as long as we allow it.  It can only die if we allow it to stagnate.  This is not the first time a change has been made in Amateur radio and it won't be the last.

If Amateur radio is going to die any way then let's not dally about.  End all testing, and revoke all current licenses.  Have a couple years of "quiet time" to make sure no one is transmitting domestically.  Then start over.  Create new laws, band plans, license classes (if we decide to have a class structure at all), and testing requirements.  A very simple, if extreme, way to "save" Amateur radio.

Given that the above is not likely to happen, excepting a war on the scale of World War II, how about we go and make minor changes to the laws, band plans, license structure, and testing requirements as the needs of Amateur radio and society as a whole change.  But wait... that's exactly what we ARE doing.

Imagine for a moment that we do wipe the slate clean and start over, does anyone honestly think that the FCC would make Morse code knowledge a requirement for Amateur radio?

 

To any one is still reading this thread,
That sanity part in my last post... forget about it.

 

We all know that would never happen. Sorry, but we have eliminated the one true filter for EFFORT that amateur radio ever had. No one is going to make the written tests more difficult. Instead it will become even easier than it is now. We have history on our side. Anyone with a brain can see the TREND.

Charlie isn't Nostradamus, but he doesn't need to be in this case. It is not difficult to see where we are headed. His post is right on the mark.

 

Charlie, Charlie,

that was not nice! It just asks for rebuttal and that's what you are going to get.

But this time, not from me. I need my strength to hold my mike on 20, LOL!

Maybe this thread is not so dead after all, we will see.

CQ 20, CQ 20,....sorry, wrong device.

73s to y'all de Hans, yet another OT

 

So, let's see if I have this right.  Amateur radio is on a downward spiral.  There is no way in Hades' realm that it can be turned around.  The one and only way to slow this decline is by keeping the Morse code requirement.  Is that about right?

It seems to me that no one is even trying to "save" Amateur radio.  I'm not even sure what we're supposed to be "saving" it from.

The mantra seems to be "make the tests harder" without any description of how to do so, excepting Morse code testing.  That seems to be the response from the FCC, "Harder? How?"  Another response from the FCC is that if there needs to be a change in the test question pool then talk to the QPC.  Leave the FCC out of it if you can, they move at a bureaucratic pace.  That would be somewhere between glacial and snail's pace, leaning toward glacial.

The question pools for the VE testing gets reviewed every four years.  That would seem to be the place your frustration in the testing system if you want a change any time soon.  A whole new question pool could be on the books for Extra even before the NPRM takes effect if people wanted to do so. The General test is due for a change in 2008.

The FCC has given the Amateur radio community great powers to administer itself and we need to take advantage of that.

We make our own bed, and we need to sleep in it.

 

Yep, its in a downward spiral. The only way to clean it up his to change the testing AND increase the enforcement. The fcc will do neither.

The VEC's have no incentive to make the tests more difficult. They want to cattledrive as many as they can through the door to get their 14 bucks a head. How do you stop that? The ARRL is no better as they want potential new members. How do you stop that?

The VEC'S AND THE ARRL ARE THE ONES THAT WANT LARGER NUMBERS. The Fcc could care less.

 

Oh, and btw, it was also the ONLY common thread(prior to 1991) between every single amateur worldwide.  People talk about the fraternity of amateur radio, well that WAS the fraternity.

 

I agree with Charlie in that the NPRM is still just that, an NPRM, and already we have discussions about stealing bandwidth from efficient narrow band operations to provide more room for slack-jawed slop bucket operators.

Why lie about it ... if you want to kill cw, then just do it.  I just love how everyone says "we don't wish to kill cw", but every now and then someone slips and talks about stealing spectrum set aside for narrow band modes (the majority of which is cw).

Liars.  If you want to kill the service, start taking spectrum away from cw operators.  That should do it just fine.

Even the FCC lies, stating that this NPRM will promote more "efficient" use of the spectrum. Bull****!!!  I wonder if they understand the definition of "efficiency"?

But I guess its OK for everyone to lie since the FCC obviously thinks it's OK to do so.

 

Farewell Ole Friend CW   --… /…--  / …-.- / …-.-

Where has all the DIT/DAs gone...
Long time passing...
Where has all the DIT/DAs gone...
Long long time ago.....

Where has all the DIT/DAs gone...
Gone to Side-band everyone....

When will they ever know....
When will they ever know....

Where has all the DIT/DAs gone...
Long time passing...
Where has all the DIT/DAs gone...
Long long time ago.....

Where has all the DIT/DAs gone...
Gone to bone yards everyone....

When will they ever know....
When will they ever know....

Where has all the Frequencies gone...
Long time passing...
Where has all the Frequencies gone...
From long long time ago.....

Where has all the Frequencies gone...
Gone to CB everyone...

When will they ever learn....
When will they ever learn....

:0

 

Are you going to enforce copyright on this ditty or can we quote it whereever?

tim ab0wr

 

Hmmmmmm........

 

The Kingston Trio version or the Peter, Paul, and Mary version??? That was well done.
73

 

Amateur radio in 1955 was a "change" from 1905 in
terms of technology, but "civility" still remained,--
the difference from 1955 to 2005 is also technology
BUT "civility" has degenerated, in many cases.IMO

                        73, K1MVP

 

You may be right. Guess I am wondering why I should smile while someone is telling me how my way of enjoying amateur radio is no longer valid, and I should just resolve myself to giving up what I enjoy so he can shoot skip.

In 1905, 1955 they held accomplishment and knowledge high. In 2005, people are proud of being under achievers. Go figure.