[CW] FCC degrades Radio Officers

[N2EY@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/12/04 3:04:45 PM Eastern Standard Time, n1ea@arrl.net 
writes:

> Answer yourself.  Do you think it is likely that this man fufilled part 
> (iv)
> of the above part of the United States Code?
> 

According to the FCC, he did. I can understand your outrage - the 
standards and traditions of real professional ROs are very high and very 
honorable.

The closest thing I can equate it to is having someone declare that the 
Boston Marathon should be shortened to 2.622 miles (instead of 26.22) and the use 
of
roller skates and scooters be allowed - yet all who finish call themselves 
"marathoners".
> 
> 
> Should the applicant loose his license if he was trying to obtain something
> that he wasn't qualified to have?  Should anyone - including the W6RO club -
> if they assisted him in doing this -loose their licenses also?


Sure, they should lose their licenses - but I don't think there was any fraud 
on their
part. Blame the FCC, not them. Anybody with any radio knowledge at all knows 
QM isn't a ship or a coast station. 

> 
> This episode just underscores for me - that radio licenses in general are
> being trivialized with the seeming consent of the FCC.
> 

I don't think it's "the seeming consent" - I think it's part of FCC's *plan*.

The issue isn't Morse Code testing or 500 kHz or VEs vs. FCC examiners. It's
much bigger than that.

Remember the old original Rod Serling "Twilight Zone" TV show? One of the 
most
memorable episodes was called "The Obsolete Man". Starred Burgess Meredith 
and  Dennis Weaver in a future totalitarian state where most books were banned. 
Meredith's character was a librarian - and was declared "obsolete" by The 
State,
because without most books there was no need for libraries or librarians.

>From before the Titanic until very recently, the concept of "radio operator" 
has
been part of our thinking. To us, that concept means "a person trained and 
skilled in the operation and adjustment of radio equipment".  An honorable 
profession
going back to at least Jack Binns if not before.

Remember the first radio you used that wasn't a BC or TV set? Took some skill
to get it to work, didn't it? A piece of gear that the average person 
couldn't get a peep out of becomes a worldwide communications system in the right 
hands. Some
folks don't like that.

And it's exactly the concept of "radio operator"  that FCC and others want to 
eliminate, I think. In the case of
maritime radio, it was for economic reasons - the beancounters said it was 
cheaper to buy satellite equipment than to pay ROs. Coast Guard could replace
their coast stations and ops with automated stuff. The military and airlines 
did it
years ago for similar reasons. Broadcasters hopped on the wagon several years 
ago too. In fact it goes all the way back to Western Union and the RRs 
getting rid
of the wire telegraph. 

The idea they're selling is simply that radio isn't supposed to require radio 
operators, just as the telephone network and the internet don't require them. 
That's
why they avoid the word "radio" and instead say "cellphone" or "wireless 
network" or "broadband" or "satellite" - *anything* but "radio". The "modern" 
equipment is supposed to be so automatic that there's no need for operators, or 
their skills. 

Of course they can't just come out and say that, nor eliminate the RT 
licenses 
as long as there is any maritime CW left. But are there any US flag ships - 
or even
non-third-world ships - left that still have CW capability or ROs? Queen Mary 
may be the closest thing to a "ship" that does!

I don't see how arguing the point with FCC can accomplish anything but get 
them mad at us, which we don't need. 

I think the FCC and others are trying to slowly but surely declare radio 
operators "obsolete" - along with their licenses. 

All that's left is us hams to keep the concept alive. 

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  ---