Topband: Brave New World

[W0MU Mike Fatchett]

CW is much more popular since the FCC removed the requirement for 
code.....Think about that for a minute.  People have are trying and 
using CW much more now that it is not forced on them.  Ham Radio did not 
die that day.  The bands are not filled with anymore LIDS than they were 
before that day.

The no code license has also allowed a huge number of people to work in 
their local communities interfacing with their local emergency services 
departments, Red Cross, hospitals etc.  Most of these people we hardly 
hear about.

A remote contact requires radio and rf and both ends of the contact.    
My remote, which I don't have tells my transmitter to xmit then I 
receive.  The station on the other end is also using RF.

Remote radio is simply an extension of the mic cord, keyer cord and 
headphones.

We are not talking about working people on the internet without RF such 
as chat rooms.

Everything was always better in the old days right?  I don't think so.  
Maybe for some of you guys that are 20 years older than me. Interfacing 
with computers, remote operation, the amazing work of weak signal 
processing, SteppIR antennas, 8 element circle shortened rcv arrays and 
rtty and cw decoding and spotting are very interesting to me.  They keep 
me interested in the hobby.

I enjoy chasing new ones and breaking pileups.  People demand new things 
to work so people have to dream up new "countries"  ie sand bars and 
rocks that require scaffolding to operate from to keep the people 
happy.  We have created a bunch of rules to allow unihabited locations 
such as BS7, KP1, KP5 and many more to become "countries".

You don't like remote operation.  I don't like creating countries that 
don't really exist just so I have another new one to work.

Mike W0MU

On 2/26/2015 8:29 AM, kolson at rcn.com wrote:
> Sometimes it's more in how things are presented. The thing that struck me was how the ARRL looked at it was some kind of triumphant feat when it struck me as, ultimately, kind of sad.
>
> It was late in 2006 when it c ame out that the FCC would remove  the CW requirement  for HF operation in early 2007 . Actua lly, I had expected it to happen, figured it was inevitable and had come to grips. But the President of our local Radio club anounced it on the reflector to the membership with the message title "A Chris tmas gift to all". Mostly I am a laid-back guy, but somehow this made me see red. Why?
>
> Back in the day, when a fellow ham would screw up, we would kid him with "where'd you get your license, out of a Cracker Jack Box?" (or if you are Firesignian in nature, a Cracker Back Jox) Well, in this case, at least the guy would have had to buy the box of Cracker Jack! It was the idea that a HF  Amateur Radio license should be a "gift" that stuck in my craw. This also became tinged with sadness as I realized that the "powers that be" had come to the (probably correct) conclusion that people would no longer see an Amateur Radio lic ense as being worth putting in some effort  for and would only deign to be licensed if it was all but  "given" to them. BTW, this is not intended as a "you kids get off my lawn" kind of rant, just a statement on how it is.
>
> Ham radio will go on, but the glory days as we knew them are pretty much the province of us veteran hams . That shouldn't stop us from enjoying it as we have been doing or welcoming the new hams that "get" what we do. I just doubt that all that many future hams will look at ham radio  as  we do. They will find their own ways and interests, but the  romance of putting together their own  station to work some far away island through the noise on top band will probably (and, I guess,  understandingly) elude them  in a time where you can walk down the street talking to your buddy in Australia on your smart phone, rent a few minutes  on a remote superstation to work the latest Dxpedition, or operate from a big multi-multi contest station without leaving your apartment.
>
> Best, Kevin
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: "Eddy Swynar" <deswynar at xplornet.ca>
> To: topband at contesting.com
> Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2015 4:05:09 PM
> Subject: Topband: Brave New World
>
> Hi Guys,
>
> I am really & truly surprised that nobody here has raised so much as even an eyebrow at this story:
>
> http://www.arrl.org/news/no-one-in-the-shack-as-station-logs-4200-contacts-in-arrl-dx-cw-contest
>
> The whole notion---to me, at any rate---compromises the very essence & the "...joie de vivre!" of operating on 160-meters, don't you think...? And to imagine that one of the "perpetrators" in all this is actually exuberant about his accomplishment...
>
> “...'No one was in the K4VV shack for the entire contest!' said Mike L*, W0**, who took part in the contest via K4** from his own shack in Virginia..."
>
> This too is "progress"...? Oh well, I guess maybe it is. Time marches on, things evolve, things "de-evolve," & nothing stays quite the same.
>
> ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
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