Topband: New Modes, Systems, etc

[Roger Kennedy]

It's easy to appreciate why many people - who are passionate about the hobby
- get upset about some of the things they see as being very negative to the
hobby.

Here in Britain there were LOTS of well-respected Amateurs who were actively
involved in Jamming the VHF Repeaters when they first came on the air in the
1970s. I would never have done such a thing, but I appreciated why those
people were concerned about it having a negative effect on the hobby.
People could now not bother to put up a decent antenna for 2m, yet work
stations 50 miles away.  

However, most new amateurs that did that very quickly got bored with the
hobby, as there was no sense of achievement, no reason to self-improve . . .
and disappeared off the air.  Those that got the satisfaction of working
stations further away through their own efforts were usually the ones that
sustained interest in the hobby.

(It's interesting that there is almost NO activity on the various Repeaters
here in Britain these days . . . which kind of confirms my point!)

I think it's the same logic that many of us apply to the computer-based
modes/protocols . . . that there is no skill involved, and so no real sense
of achievement, like there is when puling a really weak DX station out of
the noise . . . with the result that those people will very soon lose
interest in the hobby.

So those of you who are so keen on them, please at least understand our
motives . . . it's because of our passion for the hobby that we are against
these computer-based modes . . . in the same way as I personally am against
VHF Repeaters or accessing remote Transmitting or even Receiving sites.

Roger G3YRO