[Fists] A Modest Proposal

Tue Dec 19 17:40:51 EST 2006

Ahh yes....the elusive "someone" who should always do "something". Well 
anyhow, someone has. A group of hams have started a Society for the 
Preservation of Amateur Radio. The mebership is quite large now. All hams 
are more than welcome to join. The web site is http://www.spar-hams.org/. 
Take a look around.
Our "what are we here for" reads thus....

The Society for the Preservation of Amateur Radio recognizes and supports 
the legal definition of the amateur radio service in all of the countries 
where this service is defined.

The Society for the Preservation of Amateur Radio does not endorse or 
encourage any illegal actions. We believe it is the duty of all amateur 
radio operators to operate within the legal requirements of their respective 
governments.

The Society for the Preservation of Amateur Radio is a non-partisan group of 
concerned amateur radio operators working together to ensure the vitality of 
the Amateur Radio Service as defined in the US Legal Code 47 CFR Part 97, 
especially the purposes embodied in 97.1:

  a.. (a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to 
the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly 
with respect to providing emergency communications.

  b.. (b) Continuation and extension of the amateur's proven ability to 
contribute to the advancement of the radio art.

  c.. (c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules 
which provide for advancing skills in both the communications and technical 
phases of the art.

  d.. (d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio 
service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts.

  e.. (e) Continuation and extension of the amateur's unique ability to 
enhance international goodwill.

It is our belief that the technical nature of the Amateur Radio Service is 
clearly acknowledged in the US by the FCC, particularly in Part 97.1, items 
(b), (c) and (d), which comprise 3 of the 5 reasons for the establishment of 
the Service. Similarly, we believe the International Telecommunications 
Union has underscored the necessity to maintain at least minimal standards 
of technical and operational skill within the amateur community in ITU 
Article 25.6, which says, "Administrations shall verify the operational and 
technical qualifications of any person wishing to operate an amateur 
station. Guidance for standards of competence may be found in the most 
recent version of Recommendation ITU-R M.1544."
We acknowledge the proud history of technical and non-technical 
contributions that amateur radio operators have made to radio communications 
technology and strive to ensure that the Amateur Radio Service preserves 
traditional operating modes and remains able to continue to meet the 
technical challenges that will be required in the future.

We believe that failure to require adequate entry-level skills will lead to 
chaos on the amateur bands, which are an internationally shared resource, 
and that inadequate enforcement of the regulations governing amateur radio 
will render the service useless and drive away those persons who could most 
contribute to the "advancement of the radio art".

We believe that it is important for the survival of the Amateur Radio 
Service that continuous advancement in "skills in both the communications 
and technical phase of the [radio] art" be encouraged.

We believe that the Amateur Radio Service should be open to all interested 
persons. Due to the inherent technical nature of amateur radio 
communication, it is important to ensure that amateur radio operators 
possess at least minimum skills and that the regulations concerning the 
Amateur Radio Service must encourage the further development of "trained 
operators, technicians, and electronics experts."

We further believe that, due to the inherent nature of amateur radio, 
technical skills contribute directly to the "value of the amateur service to 
the public" and the "amateur's unique ability to enhance international 
goodwill."

Members are currently in the process of making up a code cert program. A 
good many members are FISTS, and likeFISTS, are trying to maintain the 
hobby/service as stated above.....Al Tanner W8FAX/2192

--- Original Message ----- 
From: "John - N5DWI" <n5dwi at sbcglobal.net>
To: <fists at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 10:45 AM
Subject: [Fists] A Modest Proposal

> Sending CC's may delay your post. If you feel that your post needs to go 
> to more than one destination please send them separately.
>
>
> *A Modest Proposal*
>
> (With apologies to Jonathan Swift, 1667 – 1745)
>
>
> Many amateurs are justifiably proud of their achievement of passing the 5, 
> 13, or 20 WPM Morse code examinations conducted by the FCC, or later, by 
> volunteer examiners.
>
> Even if they are too gentlemanly, or too ladylike, to say so, some 
> amateurs consider the fact of having passed those examinations as a sort 
> of badge of honor, marking them as somehow “a cut above” those who haven't 
> done so, the so-called “no-coders.”
>
> They decry the sad state of affairs of the loss of this cherished mode of 
> operation (which hasn't gone away).
>
> They moan that the entrance examinations of the hobby are being watered 
> down to the point that anyone with a body temperature over about 40 can 
> now qualify.
>
> They complain that it's not fair that **THEY** had to go through all this 
> effort and newcomers do not.
>
> For redress they ply the ARRL AND FCC with requests or demands to DO 
> SOMETHING !!!
>
> Well, folks –- it just ain't gonna happen.
>
>
>
> MY PROPOSAL
>
> For those to whom it matters, and I'm one of them, the real proof of our 
> Morse skill, can be heard by all every time we fire up the rig. But some, 
> again including myself, would like a little more than that. We would like 
> a document, a license, a certificate, something to point to attesting our 
> skill.
>
>
> Since the FCC license will no longer attest to that skill, we can and 
> should take matters into our own hands.
>
> I propose someone, for example, ARRL, or CQ Magazine, with a certain 
> amount of credibility, organize a fee based certification program. This 
> program:
>
>   1.
>
>      would administer Morse examinations by volunteers,
>
>   2.
>
>      would issue certificates immediately upon passing,
>
>   3.
>
>      would maintain an online database for ease of verification,
>
>   4.
>
>      optionally, would examine both sending and receiving,
>
>   5.
>
>      optionally, would NOT use multiple choice examinations,
>
>   6.
>
>      optionally, would test for X number of minutes of solid copy.
>
> Websites such as QRZ.COM, on their call sign lookup feature, could post 
> the speed, the name and call sign of the examiner, date and serial number 
> of the certificate, along with all the other currently carried 
> information.
>
> And all that, after any necessary and proper amendments, would be well and 
> good; BUT, once again:
>
> The best proof of our skill will always be ON THE AIR, regardless of how, 
> when or why we acquired that skill.
>
> That's the way it looks from here.
>
> vy 73 de john, N5DWI
>
> (Donning asbestos suit.)
>
>
>
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