Mike (W3SLK),
You make some valid points and I have to agree with you that TOM is probably
spinning in his grave over what is going on in our hobby. Please consider
though that he did not abandon the hobby or the ARRL because of conflicts and
poor decisions by some of the hams in his time. He gave us the Wouff-Hong and
other instruments - such as the ballot - to give feedback and guidance to those
we feel are out of line.
We can't easily change the ARRL but grass roots input can have an impact as
was demonstrated in their abandonment of RM-11306. Did they just listen to
just ARRL members? I seriously doubt that but, on the other hand, members'
voices had to be more clear because they are carried on money.
Did the ARRL abandon the bandwidth vs mode band allocation approach? They
say no in their announcement. Is that just saving face? - probably. Will the
day come when there are many fewer of us AM practitioners and many many more
digital mode hams and it will be appropriate - probably so. Is that today -
no! We can't depend upon a groundswell of inputs to the FCC to deflect the
next half-baked idea. We need to tell the ARRL directly what we want now - and
also what we want for the future. Like training some animals, a smart rap on
the nose can be very effective.
We need to recognize that they do represent all of us to the international
community (like it or not). The IARU recognizes the ARRL as representing the
interests of amateur radio in the USA. The IARU is the voice of all hams in
the international defense of our frequencies. This is where the battle for
frequencies happens - lose here and we are off the air.
The ARRL does a lot of good in support of ARES, education, fighting BPL,
advocating ham antenna rights, etc. It is not an all bad organization.
Through our feedback to our directors and through the ballot we can clearly
tell them our feelings. Dropping out is not the way to make changes.
With respect and 73
Mac
WQ8U
Hillsborough, NC
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