Don: It is equally apparent to me that you've seized on one sentence I said and are taking it totally out of context. I don't doubt that we need people with good "business sense" in some ways, but amateur radio is not about business anymore than it's about specturm. All the spectrum in the world does no good if you lack the authority to or means of utilizing it.That's the real issue, justifying our existence. Why would any intelligent government leave huges chunks of spectrum vacant for an organization like the ARRL when their main concern is making money? As someone pointed out earlier, you really don't need commercial Harris rigs in a ham radio organization. Why not good ol' American made Ten Tec gear throughout? (We have the Harris gear in our EOC, I know how much it costs and how over priced it is). Why not a working classic radio position?
The references to AM, CW, and 220 were merely to outline specific areas that (at least until recently) didn't receive anywhere near the support, publicity, or praise that SSB and 2 meter VHF have from the ARRL. The references to business were in regard to their approach to selling books and radios for their advertisers and making that their #1 priority. The last time I was a member, they had a series of articles called 'Mike and Wally'(?) or such, about the new no-code tech and how the old timer W1 station was wrong, bad, evil for not accepting him. Afterall, the no code tech had gotten his license after buying "The ARRL License guide". And his wife as a good person too because she bought "Now You're Talking" etc etc. Basically these ARRL columns were nothing but advertisements for their publications, and chose to chastise current hams in favor of the newbies because the newbies were buying ARRL products. It was and is a farce. It became clear to me at that point where the League's priorities were, and it's been reinforced repeatedly by some of their people here in New England. An orginazation that professes to be the 'voice of the amateur radio community' should be that, not a business seeking to sign up more members to sell more subscriptions, books, or radios for their advertisers. They should do their best to hold their members to the highest standards, not dumb down the requirements in favor of higher numbers. When you earn something, you tend to appreciate and respect it more than if it's given to you. Nothing invested? No great loss if it's gone. Instead of making an amateur radio license a skill and tool worth honing and using, the emphasis has instead been shifted to making it as simple as possible for anyone to join, not realizing that *most* of the people you attract this way will grow bored and be gone before long. IMHO, you don't 'save amateur radio' by turning it into something meaningless. They already tried that by giving away CB licenses and selling cheap radios. Honestly, why would the government or any agency turn to amateur radio for help in an emergency if they have no apparent level of competence? What sets us apart from CBers or any ol' person with a radio stuffed into their mitts is a *working* knowledge of RADIO, including specifics such as CW which is still used in emergency situations when no other means of communications are available (the sunken Russian sub comes to mind). I've had ARRL people tell me that it's no longer important that hams understand how a radio works or its major components because "no one but an engineer could fix it if it broke anyhow". In an emergency situation, a real ham could likely come up with something to work using this knowledge, or at least know where to look for a problem beyond the ON/OFF switch. I know extra class licensees who can't even program their HTs. Is this *really* what we want for the future of ham radio? Is this approach of selecting what will likely bring in the most users or new licensees really a good idea? Obviously not if the ARRL has been "saving ham radio" for the last 10+ years and it's gotten worse to the point of having to lessen requirements with the dumbing down approach. Put the business sense to work in Washington and put basic, practical sense to work in the field. Personally it irks me a bit that the ARRL did it their way and failed repeatedly, but since everything else has been tried *now* they're willing to try to some attention to basic radio issues and history. Is it any wonder so few want to be a part of such an organization? One of the primary reasons for the amateur radio "service" is to provide a source of trained radio operators to help out in times of local and national emergency. This seems to have gotten lost long ago in the rush to promote amateur radio as a hobby. As far as the railroads go, they were still in operation last I knew. Maybe cheaper trucks and gasoline had something to do with a more convenient and economical way of shipping? I bet 5-10 freight and 2 AMTRAK trains roll through my dinky little town each day. More than even 8 years ago when I moved there. People stopped riding trains when automobiles became affordable I think. It was more a case of personal freedom over train schedules perhaps? Wait - REA went out of business a while back too, so did St. Johnsbury trucking. I hope that wasn't also the fault of "people like" me? (o: This has been a healthy discussion, but I've said enough. I'll leave it to others to discuss. de Todd/'Boomer' KA1KAQ Merz Donald S wrote: > Todd: > > >From the quote below, it is clear that you have missed the whole point. An > >organization that makes sure it takes care of BUSINESS FIRST is what we MUST > >HAVE. When we focus on "RADIO" we are defining the problem too narrowly. > >Paradoxically, "Amateur Radio" IS NOT ABOUT RADIO. It's about SPECTRUM. If > >we have no spectrum, we have no RADIO. And spectrum is BUSINESS. So what we > >need is an organization that protects our spectrum and responds to threats > >by being a player in the process we call "free enterprise". > > Let me give you an example of what your kind of thinking did to a great > American industry. The American railroads thought that their business was > railroading--rails, trains, freight, schedules, etc. But this narrow > definition of their business cost them their business. What they failed to > appreciate was that their real business was transportation. And what they > really should have defined as the key elements of their business was > interstate tariffs and federal subsidies for the National Defense Highway > System. The railroads missed the point and they are (basically) gone. > > As soon as anyone starts talking about the ARRL in terms of "CW" and "AM" and > "220". they are already in the trees, having forgotten about the forest. The > ARRL today clearly makes spectrum protection and legislative action their TOP > PRIORITIES. This is correct. This is what we must have to survive as a > service and a hobby. > > Like the railroads, we too will be gone if too many of us think like you do. > > 73, Don Merz, N3RHT >
