Come on now Todd, don't hold back, tell us what you
really think! LOL
Mack Rogers
N4VGB
--- "Todd, KA1KAQ" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 6:39 AM, EP Swynar
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Hi Paul et al,
>
> > I honestly HAVE tried to engage the folks in
> Newington in the matter of
> > League policy on several occasions, before
> ultimately letting my membership
> > lapse --- and all I ever got back for my efforts
> was the proverbial
> > "stonewall", or the usual "party line."
>
> My experience as well, Eddy. Tried membership when I
> was first
> licensed in the early 80s, got discouraged and
> dropped it after a few
> years. A decade or so later, some big promises about
> the League
> listening and acting on the member's wishes were
> promoted ("you need
> to be a member to have a voice" and other BS), gave
> in another try for
> 3 years. Ended up feeling like I'd been lied to in
> order to raise
> membership numbers.
>
> Not only were my reps not listening, they were
> openly hostile to
> anything involving tubes, AM, and so on. When asking
> one Tom Frenaye
> why they wouldn't run some basic articles on a
> simple 1 or 2 tube 40m
> CW transmitter or such to teach newcomers the basics
> and offer them a
> means beyond buying a new Yaecomwood to get on the
> air, I received the
> ARRL official eye-roll, explanations about no one
> being interested in
> 'that stuff', new rigs being too complex for users
> to maintain
> themselves, and so on. This happened on several
> occasions, generally
> accompanied by the 'oh, great - another one of them'
> comments between
> the ARRL rep and the guy at the table selling ARRL
> books. They just
> shook their heads in disgust and talked down to me,
> apparently hoping
> to discourage me from pursuing my current interest
> in amateur radio.
>
> It had the exact opposite result, of course: it made
> me see just how
> broken and backwards the ARRL had become, and made
> clear to me why
> some 80% of licensed hams opt *not* to be members.
> As Irb used to say,
> "That's quite a message!"
>
> In all my years, I've never heard any AMer or
> classic gear user
> suggest or support the banning of any mode - SSB,
> CW, or otherwise.
> Not once. I have heard many complaints about the
> level of
> intelligence, sloppy operating habits, etc of some
> SSB users, but that
> issue is not mode-specific.
>
> We've all heard folks from other modes call for the
> banning of AM, and
> despite the occasional 'pay no attention to that man
> behind the
> curtain' remarks from the ARRL, it's quite clear
> that they do not
> support the mode of AM to the same level as, say -
> SSB contesting - if
> at all.
>
> The fact that QST is no longer promoted as a
> technical publication is
> a clear indication of the path taken by the League,
> and no doubt helps
> explain why some of us refer to them as the Amateur
> Radio Retail
> Lobby. Not only do they not promote the basics of
> amateur radio like
> homebrewing (old or new technology), they downright
> discourage it.
> That is not an opinion, it is based on factual
> comments by the ARRL
> director for our area and others.
>
> IMO, it's not up to us to go back and give them yet
> *another*
> opportunity to kick us in the teeth. It's up to them
> to demonstrate to
> us that they clearly support all modes and interests
> in the amateur
> radio theater equally, regardless of numbers
> involved or advertising
> revenue. Only then will they get my support and
> membership again. Lip
> service won't cut it.
>
> ~ Todd, KA1KAQ
>
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