[HoustonHam] Fwd message from a ham in San Antonio about the VHF FM Society

[Chris Boone]

Fwd from N5XO:

I came away from the San Antonio meeting with the Texas VHF Society very
disappointed. First off,  based on the wide range of comments, complaints,
etc from hams around town on the air and via e-mail I expected a much
greater turn out, the turn out was a major disappointment. People if we do
not stand up and count, we are going to lose a chunk of our simplex freqs
and it was CLEARLY JUST A STARTING POINT. 

First off, the Texas VHF Society reps stated they are trusties of the band
based on ruling by the FCC. Well if they are trusties then they represent
ALL HAM RADIO OPERATORS, not the special interest groups in Houston, etc. In
a case that impacts all of Texas Hams, I think it is inexcusable that you
have to pay to vote on an issue that impacts us. On this issue, if you have
a Ham lic then you should have a vote. A select group should not be able to
run roughshod over thousands of ham radio operators.

I went to this meeting yesterday thinking they were looking for input from
ham radio operators around the state and that a solid voice could help make
a difference. That is not what the meeting was about, it was to tell us what
they planned and basically that we needed to LIVE WITH IT.

Multiple things about this band plan concern me.

#1: I feel we have enough repeater space laid out now, first thing that
needs to be done before they go and take away freq from simplex operators
{which out number 2 to 1 repeater users in Texas} is clean house and get rid
of all the  paper repeaters. It is inexcusable to talk about taking space
away from simplex users when you have trash out there. CLEAN YOUR HOUSE
FIRST.

#2: They are giving a slice of spectrum for special interest user. This
allows digital repeater operators to move ahead in line of analog repeater
operators who have been waiting for spectrum to open up and put up a
repeater. Frankly there is NO reason to give these special interest
operators priority ahead of analog repeater users or simplex repeater users.
WHILE NOT ILLEGAL, IT SHOULD BE CRIMINAL. And they laughed when it was
suggested that Icom was pushing this agenda. Yet look at history and look at
what is happening. A very small select group is being driving to priority
over all others.

#3: WHAT TRULY SET ME OFF, was when it was expressed to them that there are
huge numbers of simplex groups around the state and some of them fall into
the range of freq that wish to be stolen for digital use, They looked us in
the eye and stated. THEY CAN TURN THE BIG DIAL TO A NEW FREQ.

THAT SENT THE MESSAGE LOUD AND CLEAR THAT THEY DO NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE
THOUSANDS OF SIMPLEX USERS, THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT THE HANDFUL WHO PAY THEM.

THE TEXAS VHF SOCIETY IN MY OPINION ONLY REPRESENTS A SELECT GROUP OF TEXAS
HAM RADIO OPERATORS AND IF YOU DO NOT PAY THEM, THEY DO NOT GIVE A S**T
ABOUT YOU OR YOUR OPINION.

THIS IS JUST A START IN FREQ GRAB AND ANYONE WHO ENJOYS HAM RADIO NEEDS TO
STAND UP AND FIGHT BACK AGAINST THIS!

Use all of our resources...FCC, border state VHF Society and Hams, and
spread the word. 

The way this is happening, is wrong and we need to organize and work to stop
and change the way things are run. THIS IS OUR HOBBY AND OUR FREQ NOT A
SELECT FEW OF ELITIST.


Greg Lewis/N5XO
n5xo at satx.rr.com