[KCDXC] Fwd: Very Informal Poll

[Mike ZooLoo]

Just in case you didn't get it.  73, Jim (AA0MZ)




I have reactivated my spam filter software in
preparation for my trip to Hartford.  I have finished
with the informal poll dealing with the Morse code
requirement.  Over 640 of you responded which is an
excellent response and I thank all of you who
responded.  It was interesting that I started
receiving responses from several outside the Midwest
Division and a few non-ARRL members.  I acknowledged
each response, though I had a few acknowledgements
bounce back.  I apologize for the terse
acknowledgement, but time did not permit me to respond
to each of you as I would have preferred.

The rough results were 357 to retain and 208 to
delete.  While it was not requested, 57 indicated that
the requirement should be retained for Extra class
only.  There were a few who expressed no preference or
expressed a an opinion on a lot of other things except
the question at hand, so the numbers do not all add
up.  Overall, the comments were very good; some were
excellent.  Most were motivated by what is good for
amateur radio.  I hope to provide a rough analysis of
those when I return from Hartford and have some more
time.  I will say, predominantly, a large number of
respondents who expressed opinions on both sides of
this issue were strong in support of retaining the
CW/digital sub bands.

At this point, I do not know what proposals will be
brought before the Board later this week.  The results
of this poll will help me in guide me in these
deliberations and the many arguments raised in your 
comments will help greatly.  Be assured that the
actions that I will take at this Board meeting, like
decisions I have made at previous Board meetings,
are motivated by doing what is best for amateur radio.
 As I stated earlier, regardless what results from
this upcoming Board meeting, there will be a large
number of people not happy.

I have saved all the comments and hope to review them
again at a later date.  For those who expressed a
concern, I always intended to use the comments for
helping me formulate my decisions and not general
distribution.  I may take excerpts from some responses
to clarify points, but will not quote anyone or
otherwise attribute comments to specific people (some
asked not to be quoted).

Other directors have run similar polls in their
divisions and it will be interesting to see how
sentiment in the Midwest Division compares with
other divisions.

A secondary issue that arose from this poll was email
access.  My spam filter was apparently blocking some
with a message saying something like no such address
(it is supposed to say that for blocked messages).  If
you got one of these, drop me a QSL or radiogram with
your e-mail address and I will add it to the "good
guy" list.  Also, I had several acknowledgements to
earthlink users get slowed up by earthlink's spam
filter.  

Thank you all again for responding to this poll!

73,

Wade Walstrom  W0EJ
Director, ARRL Midwest Division

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