[CW] ARRL refused to support code requirement

[N2EY@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/31/03 9:01:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
n4xy@earthlink.net writes:


> BUT with no requirement at all, the significance of a 
> code-only band segment becomes a good deal less tenable. 

Why? I think it becomes much more tenable. 

With mandatory code testing for all, and most if not all hams using "Mark 1 
ear detected" modes, it could be argued that there was no need for a separate 
CW-only subband, or even non-phone subbands.

But with the rise of "RF modems" and lots of hams on HF with no code skills 
at all, it makes much more sense to have refuges for the various narrow modes. 
Just like "diamond" or "HOV" lanes on highways, "no trucks" parkways, lakes 
where no motorboats are allowed, etc., etc. 

Which is where we 
> 
> are now. I'm VERY grumpy about the ARRL abstention-yet I feel more or less, 
> helpless. From several years ago, pessimistically enough, THIS has been 
> coming.


The ARRL is in the classic rock-hardplace situation. There are lots of ARRL 
members, and directors, who are procodetest and lots who are anticodetest. The 
directors are elected by the membership, and full voting membership is open to 
anyone with a valid FCC ham license and a few $$. Neither side has the upper 
hand. and so the policies that come out are compromises at best. Look at the 
'98 proposal (5 wpm General, 12 wpm Advanced & Extra) - just about halfway 
between the old status quo and 5 wpm for all. 

But if we abandon ARRL membership because they don't support us on code 
testing the way we want, all we're doing is abandoning them to the nocodetest 
folks. And those folks are not all newbies or Techs. 


> 
> The "FIGHT", if there is one left to us, is to retain those exclusive 
> band-segments. Those segments are ALL WE HAVE LEFT. Somehow we have to 
> convince them that they will not; they cannot, weasel about that.
> 
> 

As pointed out elsewhere, we have no exclusive CW-only spectrum below 30 MHz. 
It's all shared with every data mode allowed on HF. You can run PSK-31 on 
3501 under the current rules.

73 de Jim, N2EY


--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/alternative
  text/plain (text body -- kept)
  text/html
The reason this message is shown is because the post was in HTML
or had an attachment.  Attachments are not allowed.  To learn how
to post in Plain-Text go to: http://www.expita.com/nomime.html  ---