This thread was discussed a couple of months ago.... To reiterate my premise,
" ARRL, INC. is in the PUBLISHING BUSINESS".... Membership dues are a small
portion of the total income of THEIR business... Once any
club/service-organization becomes self perpetuating it is no longer a
warm/fuzzy/feelgood fraternity... It is a business - and will be operated as
such... (The Dayton 'HAMVENTION' is a case in point) When you observe/analyze
the activities of ARRL, INC. you have to keep this firmly in mind, otherwise
their decisions make little sense... The career people on charge of the daily
activities of ARRL, INC. have payrolls to meet, Keogh's/IRA's to fund,
expense accounts to reimburse, mortgage payments to make, and careers to
protect... These are the driving needs of their corporate culture...
Obviously their marketing department believes that a jazzy/consumer-oriented
cover gets them into the CQ / 73 magazine rack, sales game, and increases
cash flow... They are probably correct... That this is not the direction
which many (of us on this server) consider important, is of little/no concern
to them... (see corporate culture above)... This does not make them the bad
guys... They are playing their roles as they see them...
Any change in the current direction of the ARRL would require radical surgery
of the board and the executive administration... It is not clear that such a
change is desireable... By keeping the ARRL financially strong (even if we
disagree with the methods) we keep the ARRL around to represent us in
Washington, where being a special interest group with money to spend is the
only way to be heard...
Cheers ... Denny
>From H. L. Serra" <hlserra@pwa.acusd.edu Wed Jul 26 22:04:42 1995
From: H. L. Serra" <hlserra@pwa.acusd.edu (H. L. Serra)
Subject: Filters from In'tl Radio & Computer
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9507261344.A6342-0100000@pwa.acusd.edu>
Does anyone know how to crack the code with these folks? I FAXed them,
then called them on the phone and was told by a relatively polite southern
belle that they were just too busy, they had radios stacked up waiting
for filter installation, they were having trouble getting filters from
Japan, maybe try gain in late August, da-dah, da-dah, like that.
Is there any way to get them to sell and/or install filters?
Is there any other company in U. S. or elsewhere that sells these good
filters? Any help will be appreciated. 73 Larry N6AZE
>From jreid@aloha.net (Jim Reid) Wed Jul 26 22:22:58 1995
From: jreid@aloha.net (Jim Reid) (Jim Reid)
Subject: Becoming a QRQ Operator
Message-ID: <199507262121.LAA04019@hookomo.aloha.net>
HELP!!
OK, I've been listening to Morse Academy and Code Master,
and various higher speed QSO's on 20 and 40. I can copy,
that is with pencil and paper pretty well, up to 25 wpm. But
obviously that is not good evough for QRQ contest stuff.
I really get tangled up on call letters, and some of the other
stuff such as serial numbers, etc that are exchaged. The
TU's, rpts etc are fine, even at 30wpm. But..... get into a
QRQ ragchew or net, rapid fire contesting, and crash..! I'm
outa there.
So you QRQ operators, did you learn it in the military, or have
you been gradually building up speed for decades, or are some
people just born with the ability to read CW in their heads at
35, 40 and higher CW speeds. I am beginning to feel as if
I have some built in limitation. Also have not yet gotten the
hang of the iambic paddle and Morse Machine keyer which
I bought through HRO. At Dayton a couple of years ago
I also bought the AEA KK-1 Keyboard Keyer and a keyboard.
Have tried that a few times, but guess what, reaching up and
finding the numbers for call signs, reports, serial #"s takes
a moment, and I blow the speed and rythm of the QSO.
My straight key limit is around 20 or so wpm. Got the Extra
ticket just fine on the first try a few years back, but haven't progressed
much since, in spite of what I feel is a fair amount of practice effort.
Have been trying a method I read about in World Radio back in the
Winter. Load in an hour or so of clear text into a file in Code Master,
for example, and just listen to it, about 5wpm above your best hand
copy speed. Two 30 minute sessions a day, starting at say 30 wpm
in my case, and each couple of weeks, one should be able to move
comfortably on up the speed ladder to 50 wpm. Well, not for me,
not really much progress. I can catch all the short, so called common
words, but throw in a call letter, or word 5 or 6 letters long, and by the
time it occurs to me what the word was, 2 or 3 more words have been
sent, and I have missed each one of them.
Any ideas?
73 and Aloha,
Jim Reid, AH6NB (Happily retired on the Island of Kauai)
Hawaii, USA Email: jreid@aloha.net
>From BILL FISHER" <BFISHER@concen.com Wed Jul 26 19:05:03 1995
From: BILL FISHER" <BFISHER@concen.com (BILL FISHER)
Subject: Becoming a QRQ Operator
Message-ID: <9506268068.AA806807103@concen.concen.com>
I suggest that you put down your pencil. Start getting on the bands
every day and listening to QSO's above your current comfortable speed.
Don't worry that you miss things. Copy what you can and don't get
stressed out about it. After awhile you will start to copy more and
more words. Then instead of copying letters you will be copying
sounds or words. As the CW comes over the speaker you will start to
mouth the code (so to speak).
Another tip: Don't use a keyboard. Real men only use paddles.
Bigger men use bugs. I'm not a bigger man. Never could get used to
those darn things. Or is that old men? What say AR?
73
Bill Fisher, KM9P
55wpm +
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