QRZ! Ham Radio 4/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 4.iso/digests/policy/940239.txt

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Date: Sun,  5 Jun 94 04:30:14 PDT
From: Ham-Policy Mailing List and Newsgroup <[e-mail]>
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Subject: Ham-Policy Digest V94 #239
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Ham-Policy Digest           Sun,  5 Jun 94       Volume 94 : Issue  239

Today's Topics:
               CW speed? When will the wingers stop ??
                  Usefulness of the amateur service

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We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text
herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official
policies or positions of any party.  Your mileage may vary.  So there.
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Date: Sun, 5 Jun 94 03:05:40 -0500
From: news.delphi.com![e-mail]
Subject: CW speed? When will the wingers stop ??
To: [e-mail]

Redvers Llewellyn Davies <[e-mail]> writes:

>1)      It is required by international treaty.

Nope, that requirement can be waived by any administration on notification to
the ITU.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 4 Jun 1994 23:36:57 GMT
From: world![e-mail]
Subject: Usefulness of the amateur service
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Michael P. Deignan) writes:
>Other than occasional disaster-relief assistance, what benefit to
>the nation do amateur operators really provide?

>I daresay that you would be hardpressed to find one good example
>where amateur operators are a benefit - a benefit which couldn't be matched
>or even bettered by an alternative arrangement.

Michael, I cant speak for the Amateur Service as a *whole*, but I can
offer my observations:
1) It's difficult for me to put this in words, but, if one were to
try to gain access to the wealth of knowledge, know-how, equipment,
experience, and excitement that is available in this Amateur service,
the cost would be prohibitive!   Traditional education, centered on
testing, grades, matriculation, etc can't convey the skills, both
technical, and interpersonal that are gained as a direct result of
this activity.
I am really in awe of the contribution that Amateur Radio has made
in my personal and professional life, and to the end that me, and others
like me have prospered, and grown, and contributed.
When you consider that the electron wasn't even "discovered" until
1895 (less than 100 years ago), we have come a long way with
Amatuer satellites etc.  There's a long way to go.  There are many
contributions that technical people will make to the country
and to society at large, and I daresay that Amateur Radio service
is a great way to break down traditional barriers to knowledge
transfer (patents, copyrights, trade secrets, business strategies, etc)
and allow a 15 year old the opportunity to sit with a 55 year old, and
both be enriched.
This actually happens in the Amateur service.  It's a little like
the "Apprentice" method.
In school, there are opportunities, to be sure, but the Amateur
"experience" is far less threatening (IMHO) a theatre to explore
in than school or business.

Please don't misconstrue my comment about breaking copyrights as a
scofflaw attitude.  I mean only to say, that people tend (and rightly
so from a business standpoint) to horde knowledge, and to use that
knowledge for their gain, and that there are many constructs to support
that.  Amateur Service (and the Internet I might add) are counter-
balancing forces to these tendencies that serve to prevent knowledge
transfer.

If you want to count emergency preparedness and service as the *only*
tangible service that the Amateur Radio Service offers, I'll suggest
that you are looking far too shallow, and that below the chit-chat,
below the DX contesting games, below the Foxhunts, etc, is a deep
pool of knowledge, and experience, and a vehicle to inspire others.

Barnaby AA1IB   [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 5 Jun 94 03:01:50 -0500
From: news.delphi.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <2rmci7$[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <2ro54f$[e-mail]>
Subject : Re: FCC license tariff

Jeffrey Modlin <[e-mail]> writes:

>Just as we support the ARRL as our lobby to the FCC, I feel that the cost
>of administering ham radio should be felt by the hams and other
>customer's of the FCC rather thaen the general tax paying public.  THis

The problem with that theory is that the FCC is supposed to be regulating radio
in the PUBLIC interest.  To me that means that the cost of said regulation
should be borne by the public; to have amateurs pay the full cost of regulating
the Amateur Radio Service would logically lead to the conclusion that the
manner of that regulation should be skewed to benefit licensed amateurs alone
rather than the country as a whole.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 5 Jun 94 03:18:45 -0500
From: news.delphi.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <2sfn3r$[e-mail]>, <2sn671$[e-mail]>
Subject : Re: Ham Radio few problem

Gene Wolford <[e-mail]> writes:

>Playing Devil's Advocate here, I'd have to say that folks bought their 440
>gear under the apparently erroneous impression that that FCC ticket they
>earned actually did give them access to the bands listed in the manual.

There is an immense difference between having access to the BAND and having
access to a given REPEATER.  As has been stated over and over here, any repeater
licensee has every right to prevent you from using his station.  That does NOT
mean that you are prevented from using a given BAND, even if the licensees of
every repeater you can reach deny you access.  You can still work simplex, or
even build your own repeater.

-- Ed Ellers, KD4AWQ

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 5 Jun 1994 10:39:55 GMT
From: netcomsv!netcom.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>
Subject : Re: Usefulness of the amateur service

Richard L Barnaby ([e-mail]) wrote:
: [e-mail] (Michael P. Deignan) writes:
: >Other than occasional disaster-relief assistance, what benefit to
: >the nation do amateur operators really provide?
(snip)

: Michael, I cant speak for the Amateur Service as a *whole*, but I can
: offer my observations:
: 1) It's difficult for me to put this in words, but, if one were to
: try to gain access to the wealth of knowledge, know-how, equipment,
: experience, and excitement that is available in this Amateur service,
: the cost would be prohibitive!   Traditional education, centered on
: testing, grades, matriculation, etc can't convey the skills, both
: technical, and interpersonal that are gained as a direct result of
: this activity.

I met my flight instructor through amateur radio.  I am convinced that I
had some of the best flight instruction that money could buy because I
met this person.  He had thousands of hours of search & rescue flying
experience and he currently works for a major airline.  Unfortunately for
the non-hams who would like to become pilots, this man does not associate
himself with any flight schools locally and does not advertise.  But if
you were to call him up on ham radio and ask him if he would like to
teach you how to fly airplanes (right, as he would say), he will gladly
meet you at the airport.

Ham radio also in itself offers a way for folks to meet and
interact in a forum where everyone (usually) has at least a casual
respect for the other person due to the fact that the other person has
gone through the "trouble" to get a license also.

: I am really in awe of the contribution that Amateur Radio has made
: in my personal and professional life, and to the end that me, and others
: like me have prospered, and grown, and contributed.

I agree.  Where else can you find people willing to teach others about
such highly technical topics as tcp/ip protocols and digital radio links
via UHF, VHF, HF, etc that won't charge you for it?  All in the interest
of helping you get a little more enjoyment out of your station and with
the only string attached that you help someone else along the way?

: When you consider that the electron wasn't even "discovered" until
: 1895 (less than 100 years ago), we have come a long way with
: Amatuer satellites etc.  There's a long way to go.  There are many
: contributions that technical people will make to the country
: and to society at large, and I daresay that Amateur Radio service
: is a great way to break down traditional barriers to knowledge
: transfer (patents, copyrights, trade secrets, business strategies, etc)
: and allow a 15 year old the opportunity to sit with a 55 year old, and
: both be enriched.

Agreed.  I got a chance to sit down with Wes Farnsworth ("author" of the
Farnsworth method of teaching morse code) the year before his death and
talk about hamming and antennas.  I had been a ham a total of 3-4 months
at the time, but Wes patiently explained many things to me about antennas
that I would never have known otherwise.

: If you want to count emergency preparedness and service as the *only*
: tangible service that the Amateur Radio Service offers, I'll suggest
: that you are looking far too shallow, and that below the chit-chat,
: below the DX contesting games, below the Foxhunts, etc, is a deep
: pool of knowledge, and experience, and a vehicle to inspire others.

Who would my relatives go to with their "mad scientist" type questions if
it weren't for the fact that they know I'm a ham?  ;-)

--
Regards,
Nate Duehr

[e-mail]

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End of Ham-Policy Digest V94 #239
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