[SECC] Fw: Your stand?

[Bill Coleman]

On 1/24/04 11:07 PM, K4SB at k4sb at earthlink.net wrote:

>But let's face it. Unless we replace both of them, the situation is
>just going to get worse.

I'm not convinced that things are going to "get worse". I'm not sure what 
will happen.

After all, people said it was the end of ham radio when they introduced 
the no-code Tech. Then when all CW tests went to 5 wpm. Neither of these 
had a deleterious effect on the hobby.

Sad to say, I wonder what would happen if the FCC eliminated virtually 
all testing for a license. Has our beloved hobby become so obscure and 
uninteresting that there aren't hords of people eager to get on the air? 

One has to wonder why there hasn't been much of a surge of licenses since 
we restructured into three classes with 5 wpm code. The lack of new 
licensees has me worried. When I get to retirement age in a couple and a 
half decades, there be enough hams left to populate the bands? As it 
seems today, the bands are awfully empty, except on contest weekends....

I'm not worried about the regulation changes causing an end to CW. I've 
met too many hams active on HF Phone who can't remember a dit of code. 
The regulations never really got people interested in CW. There are three 
big reasons to get into CW: DXing, Contesting and QRP. Since these are 
some of the most popular activities in amatuer radio, I have no worries 
that CW will be around for quite a while.

I'm sure the ARRLs proposal is moderate compared to a lot of the others 
out there.

That's one hams opinion, you're certainly entitled to yours.


Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901