I am very sorry to read about the return of your cancer, nasty plague upon humanity that. I have prayed in agreement for God's healing and wisdom for the medical professionals.
I was pleased to read your reference to the abuse of common courtesy and voluntary spectrum sharing that occurs during many (most?) contests and what that suggests about the probability of future conflict among users of various modes should the proposal to abandon all boundaries be approved. I have used multiple digital modes in the past and anticipate doing so in the future. When Pactor changed from an open protocol to a costly proprietary one I stopped using it. Winlink has never been an option because I use Linux and Winlink is another proprietary protocol. Considering all of the open source/non- proprietary digital modes neither Pactor II/III or Winlink are necessary to the enjoyment or strategic use of digital modes. However, one does not need to be a drunk to understand that the abuse of alcohol is destructive to the body, nor does one need to operate any specific mode to observe and/or understand the way it is used in the real world. Let's not attempt to narrow legitimate input only to Pactor and Winlink operators. I fail to discern any value in questioning the legitimacy of the commonly used terms to describe direct operator control, semi-automatic control, and full automatic control, they are self-defining and represent the three categories of real-world operation. Their relative legality is a matter for the FCC to clarify, but they certainly do exist, often in actual & documented practice though denied by the tiny minority who are misusing them. Unless the FCC budgets a large increase in enforcement resources Amateur Radio will remain a largely self- policing hobby. This means that the FCC must establish clear boundaries, mandatory common-mode identification of all transmissions, and rapid-response resolution of chronic conflicts. In the big picture this is less about digital modes and more about a sensible policy that redirects Hams away from their natural human selfishness and toward more courteous conduct - before the conflicts - not wisely minimized, balloons further out of control. > I have known for a long time that some of the complainers about > Pactor and Winlink have never operated or even copied a single > word of the mode. I ask that you read with open mind the comments > made by Steve, K4CJX and the PFD attached file. It hits the nail > right on the head. > > I'm not looking for a big debate on the list about Pactor and Winlink. > It is just for your information. Besides I will be in the hospital all > of next week. Seems that the cancer has return. > > John, W0JAB -- Thanks! & 73, doc, KD4E Personal: http://bibleseven.com/kd4e.html http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ham-macguyver/ Ham House & 10 Acres For Sale in Florida: http://mysite.verizon.net/kd4e/
