[CQ-Contest] 10 meters in SS

[k1my]

John, No call? And yes you are trying to water it down to the point that
anyone who wants a license can get it and then you will have your numbers,
but a number of people who do not value their license or the hobby. Then
watch the chaos on the bands. Is that what you really want? Not me, I hope
your petition is denied.

73, Bruce K1MY

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Rippey" <w3uls at 3n.net>
To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2002 9:16 AM
Subject: [CQ-Contest] 10 meters in SS


> I'm a little late to this party, but here are my two cents. For me, ten
> meters is the most interesting band, which for me was proven again this
> weekend in the CQ WW CW contest. However, it's viable only when the solar
> cycle says so. I've come back to hamming after a 45-year lapse and got my
> Novice ticket at the peak of the current cycle. So I've had a ball
> operating phone on 10 meters just like I did in the early 50's (back then
I
> didn't care that sporadic E was the only long distance option, and I
looked
> for those openings).
>
> However, as a Novice I recognized that having SSB privileges only on 10
> meters was very limiting for a beginner so I proposed to the FCC that it
> expand Novice/Tech Plus cum code certificate holders' privileges to
include
> some SSB on the WARC bands as well as broader CW privileges on all the HF
> bands. The intent was to make the initial entry-level license privileges
> robust enough to persuade new licensees to remain in the hobby rather than
> abandon it as they now are doing in substantial numbers. (While the number
> of new licenses issued remains at a pretty good rate, the number of
> drop-outs is about equal to that rate and thus our hobby is not growing.
> Added to that fact is another: the average age of hams is increasing,
which
> does not bode well for the future of our hobby.
>
> In any event, the FCC published my petition for comment at the end of 2001
> (RM-10354) and it is awaiting action by the Commission. The ARRL followed
> up with a proposal in March 2002 to significantly expand CW privileges for
> new licensees, and the FCC also has taken the ARRL's petition under
> advisement. So something good may come out of all this. Who knows, some
new
> hams even may take up contesting!
>
> And yes, I did receive some nasty e-mails alleging character weakness on
my
> part for proposing a further watering down of our hobby's requirements.
But
> I'd rather see a growing group of committed hobbyists working the HF bands
> than a declining group satisfied with the status quo.
>
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