Subj : HAM
To : Peter May
From : Roy Witt
Date : Wed May 31 2000 10:20 am
Hello Peter.
30 May 00 08:50, you wrote to me:
RW>> We have a magazine editor, you may have heard of him; Wayne Green of
RW>> 73 Magazine - who long ago said that we should auction off all of
RW>> the 'amateur' sprectrum we're not using. Course, the FCC might have
RW>> something to say about that.
PM> I went to a hamfest last year, Roy. From what I observed, it appears
PM> that the HAMS are infactuated with UHF and repeaters and stuff.
That's me. I used to be the technician/trustee for a local two meter club
repeater and from there I went on to my own UHF repeater. It was and
still is AFAIK, on top of a mountain just to the north of San Diego,
called; Mt Palomar. We have a local publication here that you may have
heard of, ComputerEdge; The computer guru who answers technical questions
owns a cabin on that mountain and the guy to whom I sold the repeater,
placed it in the basement of his cabin.
PM> Good old Yeasu HF gear such as the FT-980 was el' cheapo...less than
PM> $100.
Anything that's analog will go for cheap in these times of digital tuning.
PM> It's hard to tell an amateur from someone using a mobile phone now.
PM> In years gone by HAMS had great expertise in talking long distance on
PM> "home brew" equipment. Are these days gone? Todays amateurs appear to
PM> able to do no more than the average citizen surfing the net, faxing
PM> or phoning overseas.
Very true. Not many who build these days.
PM> Maybe its more fundamental and related to cramped living space and
PM> the inability to constrct a Yagi or Quad in the backyard. Or maybe
PM> it's too tedious to listen to an SSB signal that varies sporadically.
Not it, exactly. A friend of mine who enjoys working DX, has always
managed to find himself a place to put up towers for his antennas. When I
first met him, he was still in the Navy and lived on a hill, overlooking
the San Diego Bay. First thing up was a tower and a bunch of mono-band
Yagis. First thing up on his new place with 5 acres just east of San
Diego was two towers and all of the mono-band yagis a guy could want.
Those who want to will find the means.
PM> Anyway, I'm aware of plans afoot to sell off spectrum, if it appears
PM> to be unused. It is another "asset" that can return a dividend.
In the states, the spectrum belongs to the people, managed by the FCC. Our
Congress mandates what they can or can't do with it. Unfortunately, the
Congress also doals out the bucks to the FCC and when they don't get
enough of that, they sell off spectrum. Of course, they sell off the
amateur portions that aren't being used, first.
PM> Maybe its time to fire up your old boatanchors as an indication of
PM> ownership of the HF amateur bands!
Perhaps so. I un-boxed my 520 from storage about a year ago, but haven't
listened to it since.
... Hams do it with frequency, till their GIGAHERTZ!
--- Twit(t) Filter v2.1 (C) 2000
* Origin: Kicking Back, Six Paydays Included (1:10/22)
