It became a cesspool of illegality right from the start
and soon began its process of causing the general public to think of CB
and ham radio as one and the same, since most people had no
knowledge of the difference between the two. The advent of CB was the
first giant step in the bastardization
I am still reflecting on K4MK's remarks, and He is right on
target. I too am old enough to have made a legal amateur radio
contact on 11 meters with my mighty Harvey Wells TBS-50D. I was
licensed as a novice in November of 1957, and became a general in January
of 1958. In January 1963 I became Extra Class. It wasn't long
after January of 1958 that I started chasing DX. I don't remember
putting up with the BS that we do today when a rare country(entity) is on
the bands. Pile-ups yes. Intentional QRM, VERY little.
Let me preface the following remarks by saying that I have been a
lifetime League member since 1962.(yep, they lost money on me) I
believe in The League, and support it fully. Having said that, I am
forced to recognize that none of us are infallible. The advent of
the "grow amateur radio at any cost" mentality was the
beginning of the end for amateur radio being a respectable fraternity.
This trend has continued with Low-code No-code licensing and multiple
choice exams. If we look at the current licensing structure, we
aren't a helluva lot different than CB'ers. I wonder how many
current licensees would have become hams if they had to draw schematics
and do an Ohm's law calculation. I have no doubt that there are
those among us who are ex CB'ers that have become good hams who respect
the traditions of the hobby. There are far more who do not, and
from this group comes the freebander attitude. If you think this attitude
doesn't exist in amateur radio, go listen on 75 meter fone for a while.
We are on a downhill slide that is likely irreversible. Therefore
we MUST do everything possible to maintain what respect we have left. If
that includes squealing on known violators so be it. K4MK is
right. Most of the crap that we have to endure today comes from the
attitude of lawlessness brought into our hobby by ex CB-ers. If
this offends some of you, so be it. Come down on 7005 and we will
duke it out at 35 wpm in a pile-up. I yield the floor.
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