[AMRadio] Re: IARU - VP ARRL contact by WD5BZO

[Bob Peters]

Don...Did you forget us guys
in the 50's  that had Extra
Class Freq's as Generals and
that we got sold down the
river
With Incentive Licensing????
You talk about not getting
kissed. All of a sudden we
were looking at a 20WPM
test...Just to gain back what
we had!!! Took me till late
80's to get there...

Bob W1PE

-----Original Message-----
From:
amradio-bounces at mailman.qth.ne
t
[mailto:amradio-bounces at mailma
n.qth.net] On Behalf Of D.
Chester
Sent: Thursday, November 29,
2007 2:26 PM
To: amradio at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [AMRadio] Re: IARU -
VP ARRL contact by WD5BZO

> The fact that the ARRL
hasn't expressly declared war
on AM doesn't
> mean they haven't done their
utmost to discourage its use.
You can
> destroy something without
overtly attacking it. It can
be as simple as
> neglect, or saying 'don't
worry, it won't hurt you'. I'm
not into
> conspiracies, but given the
ARRL's track record...let's
just say I'm
> skeptical of their
intentions.
>
> ~ Todd,  KA1KAQ

I recall during the Docket
20777 proceeding (the original

"regulation-by-bandwidth"
proposal, which would have
eliminated AM 
altogether on all frequencies
below 28.5 mHz) a  League
representative spoke 
at an ARRL convention I
attended at the Statler Hilton
hotel in Boston.  The 
subject of AM came up, and she
said that the ARRL's policy
towards AM could 
best be described as one of
"benign neglect".  She went on
to say that the 
League would be opposed to
outlawing AM outright, but
preferred to "let it 
die a natural death".

Docket 20777 was the first
real wake-up call to the AM
community that there 
was a genuine danger that AM
might be eliminated by the
rulemaking process, 
and to the FCC, the League and
others, that there was strong
interest in the 
mode and that the AM community
was a force to be dealt with.

When John Johnston became
lifetime head of the
rulemaking division of the 
FCC in charge of amateur radio
matters, there appeared a
whole string of 
rulemaking proposals that
would have crippled AM in one
way or another if 
not eliminated it altogether.
During the 70's and 80's we
were constantly 
destracted from enjoying our
hobby by the necessity of
having to repeatedly 
defend our position.  This all
culminated in the only
proposal that actually 
made it through into the rules
to damage the status of AM,
the power limit 
issue.

Perhaps it's because those of
us who have been licensed
since the mid 70's 
were conditioned over a period
of years to feeling a constant
threat to our 
mode of choice, that there is
still a strong reaction
whenever a threat to 
the well-being of AM is
perceived.  To me, this is
perfectly understandable 
and for a good reason.

Don k4kyv

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