[RTTY] ARRL Bandwidth Proposal - FCC Invites Comments

[Peter Laws]

On 1/14/06, Joe Subich <W4TV at subich.com> wrote:

> There have been two bedrock principles of Amateur Radio service
> for more than 80 years ... first, make sure that a frequency is
> not in use before transmitting and second no transmission is
> encrypted or obscured in any way.

It gets better, Joe.  Check out Minute 5 of this recent ARRL Exec Comm
meeting:  http://www.arrl.org/announce/ec_minutes_478.html  - The ARRL
want to *explicitly* allow encryption, albeit above 50 MHz!  Imagine
how that will change the face of Amateur Radio!

I almost bought a life membership in 2001 and, instead, opted for the
5-year deal they had at the time figuring I was going to be laid-off
soon.  I did get laid off, but not until Fall of '02.  Now that 5-year
term is up and I'm again toying with LM.

These two issues, however -- bending over backwards to accommodate the
tiny fraction of hams that use ham radio for email on their boats and
RVs and allowing encryption above 50 MHz -- are why have yet to make
up my mind.

Rest assured, I will be filing comments on the Petition and, unlike
the ARRL's Morse proposal, I will **not** be supporting the League's
position.


--
Peter Laws | N5UWY/9 | plaws0 gmail | Travel by Train!

"They that can give up essential Liberty to
obtain a little temporary safety deserve
neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin