[SCCC] Sky-is-Falling E-mail Will Soon Follow

[Tom Rauch]

The last time the ARRL proposed something and a few Chicken 
Littlest were running around whipping everyone into a frenzy 
I looked at everything. Out of all the proposals the ARRL's 
made the most sense.

I could never find anything that indicated Winlink would 
explode from 20 or 30 hub stations worldwide to a bunch of 
garbage ruining Ham radio.

At the same time AM, ESSB, and HiFi operators were trying to 
eliminate all mode restrictions on all bands.

My personal conclusion was the ARRL's proposal did not go 
far enough to restrict bandwidth in certain band areas, but 
it was very well thought out. I never found anything that 
would be detrimental to contesting or DXing, and still 
don't. I don't believe for a second that this is some wild 
Winlink conspiracy or that Winlink is even worth worrying 
about, although I am in favor of strong limitations on 
automated transmissions.

What we really should worry about is the fact that digital 
modes really don't have any spectrum controls in place. It's 
thousands of times more likely Joe Ham with a computer 
coupled to his SSB input or Ted Baxter sound-alikes in the 
CW or DX SSB areas of the bands will ruin things for DXers 
and Contestors than Winlink ever could. The ARRL proposal 
attempts to put a bandwidth clamp on digital modes. Because 
of that, even though it doesn't go far enough in protecting 
us from intentional spectrum hogs like ESSB or DSB AM in 
crowded areas of bands, their proposal is OK with me.

73 Tom