GM ADXA Folks,

For those of you who receive NCJ - The National Contest Journal, or have access to it, I would recommend "The Big Switch - a philosophical analysis of how ham radio has changed" on page12 of the January/February 2022 edition by Andrew Huddleston, G3WZZ/OZ1XJ.

There is nothing new to learn from the article however it is very well written and provides a nice summary of amateur radio today.

However one thing I will mention from the article is that Andrew mentions our "hobby" several times. That has been a pet peeve of mine for several years, driven by my time on the ARRL board and as ARRL president. I do not refer to amateur radio as a hobby. Why? Because internationally the ITU and the FCC here in the USA do not look favorably on providing billions of dollars of radio spectrum to a bunch of hobbyists! Amateur radio is defined in the international and Part 97 regulations as a licensed radio "service", and our defense of the frequency allocations we enjoy is based on that fact. We provide a valuable "service" to society. End of pet peeve rant and an explanation of why you never hear me refer to amateur radio as a "hobby"!

73 Joel W5ZN'