[KYHAM] "Riley-isms"

[Ron Dodson]

Here is a very good testament to our responsibilities to our
hobby and behavior on our bands.  This appeared in this
week's ARRL Letter.

73, 
Ron, KA4MAP

"GOOD AMATEUR PRACTICE" MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU'RE
SORRY

FCC Special Counsel Riley Hollingsworth has endorsed a list
of several
points that he feels help to define the concept of "good
amateur
practice." Section 97.101(a) of the Amateur Radio Service
rules refers to
"good engineering and good amateur practice"--considered to
refer to
maintaining the highest standards of engineering and
on-the-air
comportment. But the rule lacks specifics.

"Good amateur practice is a hard thing to define,"
Hollingsworth conceded.
"I'd have to say it's operating with the realization that
frequencies are
shared, that there's going to be occasional interference and
that's no
reason to become hateful and paranoid."

Hollingsworth says amateurs have to realize that more people
than ever are
listening in, especially since September 11, 2001, and that
amateurs
always need to remember that "our rights end where another
person's
begin."

A Michigan Amateur Radio club has been credited with
distributing a list
of "Riley-isms" culled from Hollingsworth's various talks at
conventions
and hamfests and club meetings around the US.
Hollingsworth--who verified
that he had been cited accurately--says his various comments
represent an
effort to flesh out what "good amateur practice" consists of
for
considerate the Amateur Radio operator. According to
Hollingsworth, good
amateur practice means:

* giving a little ground--even if you have a right not
to--in order to
help preserve Amateur Radio and not cause it to get a bad
name or hasten
the day when it becomes obsolete.

* respecting band plans, because they make it possible for
every mode to
have a chance.

* being aware that we all love Amateur Radio, and there's no
need to
damage or disgrace it just to save face.

* keeping personal conflicts off the air. Settle your
arguments on the
telephone, the Internet or in person. Just keep them off the
air.

* cutting a net or a contester a break, even if you don't
have to and even
if you have no interest whatsoever in nets or contesting.

* realizing that every right carries responsibilities, and
just because
you may have a right to do certain things doesn't mean it's
right to do
them in every circumstance.

* you don't "own" or get preference to use any frequency.

* not operating so that whoever hears you becomes sorry they
ever got into
(or tuned in on) Amateur Radio in the first place.

Hollingsworth notes that the list "doesn't touch on a lot of
other
technical issues, such as using 1500 W when your signal
report received is
40 over 9." Good amateur practice, he said, "just means a
lot of things
that can't always be quantified."--thanks to Riley
Hollingsworth