WD0M,
Hope you change your mind and decide to stay on TowerTalk. I don't feel
this is a Politics driven reflector at all. All reflectors have a variety of
softly related viewpoints that are expressed from time to time.
I thought the information about the high costs of licensing in VK-land was
interesting and helpful. Now I'm extra thankful that I don't have to pay any
fees to keep my Callsign in the good old USA. Of course, that could change.
For example, broadcast stations never had to pay an annual users fee, and
frequency spectrum wasn't auctioned to the highest bidder, until Bill Clinton
came to office. Amazingly, the FCC does not get hardly any of this money as
it goes to the US Treasury's general fund.
If the annual cost of a Ham Radio license should ever cost as much in the US
as it does in VK-land (over $100/year) ... it would likely reduce the number
of US hams greatly. (perhaps 50% of more?) Then we'd have less and less
friends to talk to on TowerTalk and on the ham bands. So it's good for us to
know this and to continue to try and communicate with our politicians as to
the usefullness of ham radio.
Best 73 ... and hope you stay with TowerTalk.
Dick- K9OM
P.S. As for Global Warming, I suspect we'll be hearing more and more that
it's also effecting communications and we may even hear that funds are needed
to determine what antennas can be designed to offset it's effects.
**************The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy
Awards. Go to AOL Music.
(http://music.aol.com/grammys?NCID=aolcmp00300000002565)
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