[RTTY] Times have changed...

[Jack West]

Hi Guys and Gals,

I have been active in ham radio nearly every day of my life for the past 51
years.
I was a teenage radio nerd kid in school.  I used to operate my old Viking
Ranger
the 11 meter band BEFORE the FCC took that band away from us and created the
citizen band.  To this day, I have never transmitted on that CB band,
because it made
me angry we lost those frequencies, but I have listened a few times to the
trash that
goes on there.  It is a shame the FCC let it slide.

When I was 17 years old I got a "Pink Ticket" from the FCC who was
monitoring my
QSO when I received a bad electrical shock via the hand held microphone I
was using
and I cursed on the air!  That was a lesson and impresses me to this day.

If you listen evenings on 75 meters, you hear nasty trash that sounds like
the CB
bands.  When you confront them, they say "Why not?  That kind of laungage is
heard
everyday in movies and on TV and radio.

We have always prided ourselves as being different than those CBers by
abiding by
the FCC rules.  That gave us class and made us a cut above them.

Major contestors and DX-ers have a reputation for being rude and having
ill manners on the air during competiotion.  DX-ers need more patience..slow
down.
The primary reason for this, I think, is because they are agressive and tend
to step on little
signals and push others aside.  How many times in RTTY contests have you
heard
"Frequency Wars?"  There is not a clear hole in the entire band so we send
QRL?
Yeah, right!  Competition is fun and exhilarating and feels damn good when
you beat your
buddies, but it sure would be nice if we could bring back to ham radio some
of the
courtesy we used to have and love.

Maybe I am an old guy who thinks the younger generation is rapidly
deterioating?  I
am told that every senior generation before me has thought the same thing
about the
upcoming youngsters.

I am looking forward to more CW and RTTY contests and I hope to be healthy
through
one more Solar Cycle.  Solar Cycle #19 plesase come back to us!

73 de Jack / W7LD / "Lucky Dog"