Hi All,

 

Further to Mike's comments, it is also useful to appreciate the strength supplied by our not inconsiderable sympathy among the commercial interests lobbying the regulators.

 From my personal experience of a number of years active as an officer of a trade federation, the amateur bands in general often come up for discussion as they are eyed enviously by commercial interests. These discussions are often influenced in our favour by the presence of licensed amateurs among the ranks of professional business interests.

 We enjoy privelages and facilities - in particular, bandwidth and emitted power levels, which are denied other services who pay very dearly for what they get.

 It doesn't help those guys who often go to bat on our behalf when some individual or group of mavericks destroy our credibility by riding roughshod through the rule book.

 With the growth of commercial useage of the spectrum, there has not been a proportionate increase in the licensed amateur population. It follows then that the proportion of licensed amateurs among the growing army of professionals has not grown and, therefore , that part of our lobby is a diminishing resource!

 Please don't make it harder for those that remain.

 

73 de Pat g4gvw