Subj : this echo
To : Michiel van der Vlist
From : Roy Witt
Date : Mon Jul 02 2001 01:25 pm
Hello Michiel.
11 Jun 01 13:30, you wrote to me:
>> Last time I had a two-way radio in the car, I used an
>> autopatch to report a drunk driver on the freeway.
MvdV> Although I have used it to report emergencies in the past, that is
MvdV> not the reason I carry it. I do it for the fun of it. Mostly to
MvdV> pass the time when in traffic jams.
I'd rather listen to commercial broadcast talk radio. I've heard enough
amateur chatter to last me a long time.
MvdV> Autopatching is illegal in PA by the way.
PA, meaning the Netherlands.
MvdV> Reporting accidents has to be done by qsp. But that is no problem,
MvdV> there is always someone listening on the repeaters. And although
MvdV> many will not respond to a CQ, they /will/ respond to a mayday or
MvdV> pan.
Same here, if one can't access the patched repeaters. Most of them are
supported by clubs, who have the money to pay for a good sight and the
telephone line.
>> There were many reports ahead of me by those who had a cell phone.
MvdV> Same here these days. Cell phone bussineess has been booming the
MvdV> last five years. By now "everybody" has a cell phone. 8 million
MvdV> cell phones on a 14 million population. And that includes babies
MvdV> and Altzheimer cases.
I imagine if I looked up the numbers, it'd be something similar here.
>> Since then, I've given up mobile operation for a cell phone.
MvdV> I have a cell phone too. But I do not see that as a replacement for
MvdV> ham radio.
Right. The cell is for communication to anyone who's listed or to those of
your aquaintence that also has a cell. Cell phones are very convenient
for staying in touch.
MvdV> They are going to ban using cell phones while driving without a
MvdV> hands free installation btw. (I have one). There is some concern as
MvdV> to how this will affect ham radio.
They already did that in the state of New York. HAMs here and in New
York had the same concerns that you're probably experiencing in the
Netherlands.
>> MvdV> I am a ham for over 35 years now and in the
>> Been one almost as long, interest being even longer. I was
>> introduced to HAM radio by a school mate back in the 50s.
MvdV> I was hooked by a neighbour, an American US airforce man who
MvdV> donated me a copy of the 1948 ARRL handbook. Had to wait till I was
MvdV> 18 to take the exam..
My school mate was 14 when he introduced me to radio. His license expired
one year later and radio activity wained until we found out about the new
service, CB, in 1959. Not the same thing, but it served us. I didn't
take my first test until 1970, almost thirty years old then. I was
licensed as a Novice and it expired in one year or else you had to upgrade
to the next higher class. I didn't have the interest at the time and it
wasn't until 1977 that I finally took the test again. This time I wasted
no time in upgrading and became a Technician in 1978 and made General
before 1979. It wasn't much longer when I upgraded to Advanced, with no
desire to go any further because of the code requirement of 20wpm for the
Extra Class license.
>> Together we pioneered the new Citizens Band of 1959 in our small
>> town. I finally got my first HAM license 11 years later after
>> the CB craze died down.
MvdV> I never entered the CB scene. Illegal CB sets entered the market
MvdV> /years/ after I was licenced. CB didn't become legal here until the
MvdV> late 70's.
They were legal elsewhere in Europe, as I recall hearing a few stations
from there. I still have a couple of SSB CBs around here.
>> More recently, I worked with No-code International to lower
>> the code requirements for licensing here and abroad.
MvdV> Ah, yes that is quite an issue in Europe as well at the moment. Up
MvdV> until two years ago it appeared that there was no majority for
MvdV> lowering the requirements. The old farts (like you and me ;-))
MvdV> opposed it. Then suddenly the tide changed. Last year the VRZA
MvdV> (Vereniging for Radio Zend Amateurs, the society I represent) voted
MvdV> to do away with the morse code test altogether. The other society
MvdV> voted for 5 wpm for the time being. Some other European countries
MvdV> voted for 0 and others for 5 wpm.
MvdV> The next tests in November will be 5 wpm.
And I believe ours have been 5wpm for at least two years now.
MvdV> It won't be before the 2003 WRC before this can be implemented on
MvdV> the European or even a global level and my personal estimate is
MvdV> that the majority will shift to doing away with it alltogether
MvdV> before 2003.
I've had communication with the W5YI representative recently. They're on
about removing the test completely, come WRC 2003. I don't have the time
to invest in it, so I'll be staying out of it this time.
MvdV> For the rest I like fox hunting. I never miss an opportunity. Last
MvdV> whitsuntide there was a ham gathering in the south of the country
MvdV> and the fox hunt was part of it. When it comes to speed, I can't
MvdV> outrun the young ones any more, but if it comes to experience and
MvdV> cleverness, I can still win. The trophy to prove it is on my
MvdV> mantelpiece ;-)
Good for you. I'm not up to that anymore as well. In my club days, I was
the repeater service guy and antenna builder for Field Day. That's my
favorite part of Amateur Radio, antenna design and building.
MvdV> I won because I got all the questions right, found all the beepers
MvdV> and didn't fall for the fake beeper. All the others missed the
MvdV> /second/ beeper near the finish. They were so excited to have found
MvdV> the first one that they handed in their forms without thinking to
MvdV> scan the band one more time....
Pays to be thorough. There's some of that activity around here too.
They're way ahead of me on it.
... Real HAMS do it till their Mega Hertz.
--- Twit(t) Filter v2.1 (C) 2000
* Origin: Kissed By 6 Pretty Indians (1:10/22)
