I'm sorry but you need to do a little more historical research. Amateur Radio was/is primarily authorized because of items 97.1 (b)(c)(d). Amateur Radio has been around, recognized, and authorized by the US Government since the early 1900's. Early amateurs were recognized for their contributions to the radio art and as trained operators, especially for the military. Emcomms did not exist in the early days of amateur radio and was not why Amateur Radio was allocated the frequency bands we currently enjoy.
One of the histories shows that "In 1924, Amateurs received new bands at 80, 40, 20, and 5 meters." At the time, they were considered pretty unimportant. I am sure these allocations weren't made because of our contributions to emcomms. Do a google on "history of amateur radio" and read some of the many articles and pages devoted to our history. You won't find emcomms mentioned anywhere until relatively recently! And, Part 97.1 (a) implicitly recognizes other values of the amateur service by the simple mention of just one of them. This mention of one item (emergency communications) does not mean it is the 'primary' reason that amateur radio is authorized. If they meant 'primary', in other words more important than the others, then that is what they would have said. Instead, the rules use the word 'particularly' which is a totally different connotation, i.e. special attention given to this one item. Also, I am not a lawyer so maybe someone who is can give a better or more accurate interpretation, but in my training of dealing with labor law and union contracts, if the authors intended one principle to be more important than another, they would have said so in no uncertain terms. With no indication that the principles are ranked in order of importance, one must assume that they are all equal. Jim WA0LYK --- In digitalradio@yahoogroups.com, KV9U <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > In the U.S., amateur radio is primarily authorized because of the > potential for emergency communications. It is listed as the first of the > 5 principles and I always point that out when I teach an entry level > class for potential new hams. I would not weigh the 5 principles as > equal, but rather as supporting the overall concept. > > My understanding is that in some countries, amateur radio is considered > more of a hobby to provide activities for the citizens. In the past, > Japan had a low power HF license without a CW requirement even though > this conflicted with international agreements. Their view was that this > was good government policy and took precedence over agreements that they > had signed. > <snip> > > The final analysis is that here in the U.S., amateur radio is an > activity that is promoted by the government due to the 5 principles. > Self improvement in radio communications is a "hobby" or avocation, no > different than learning other hobby disciplines. The only difference > being that you have to be licensed by the government to take part in > transmitting a signal. > > An active radio amateur will participate in most of these principles at > one time or another. Those who have a casual interest, will not acquire > the same knowlege and ability and the more active participants. > > 73, > > Rick, KV9U > > > Dave Bernstein wrote: > > > As you can see from 97.1 below, there are 5 principles underlying > > the amateur radio service, one of which is to provide emergency > > communications. > > > > By definition, an activity undertaken by an amateur is a hobby. > > > > 73, > > > > Dave, AA6YQ > > > > > > > > Part 97 : Sec. 97.1 Basis and Purpose > > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > The rules and regulations in this part are designed to provide an > > amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in > > the following principles: > > > > (a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service > > to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, > > particularly with respect to providing emergency communications. > > > > (b) Continuation and extension of the amateur's proven ability to > > contribute to the advancement of the radio art. > > > > (c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through > > rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication > > and technical phases of the art. > > > > (d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio > > service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts. > > > > (e) Continuation and extension of the amateur's unique ability to > > enhance international goodwill. > > > > Need a Digital mode QSO? Connect to Telnet://cluster.dynalias.org Other areas of interest: The MixW Reflector : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themixwgroup/ DigiPol: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Digipol (band plan policy discussion) Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalradio/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
