G'day All,
With all the hand-wringing and lamentations about the abandonment of the
good wife CW for the QRSSS jezebel on LF, it might be useful to reflect on
the reality of the environment in which we, as Amateurs, seek to pursue our
hobby.
I don't know about the situation elsewhere but here in VK the AVERAGE age of
an Amateur is over 60. This indicates either there are a lot of us over 60
or there are next to no young people coming through the ranks.
Increasing pressures on spectrum space for all sorts of wireless devices,
both long-range, satellite and short-range will see corresponding increasing
pressure on our allocations.
The young are not motivated by traditional Amateur pursuits in sufficient
numbers to inject youth into our hobby so it is in danger of slowly becoming
an old boys' club even more than now.
The arguments for present and new privileges (notice that the word is
privileges - not rights) have been based on experimentation, relevant
training and forming a pool of skills applicable to the current technology
environment. For example, our VK LF submission to our governing authority
makes large mention of experimentation (no mention of DXCC, QSL count, etc)
as even the old salts here realise that this is the best approach for
success in the present regulatory environment. The submission does make a
strong point for experimentation but specifically asks that operation be NOT
restricted to CW "to allow experimentation in a wider variety of
communication techniques..".
I know in my case when applying for my Scientific Licence for operating on
LF here, I had to submit a technical reason for wanting to operate on that
band. That submission included details of narrowband experiments. If I
had just submitted it with saying I just wanted to have a CW QSO then I
would have had a snowball's hope in that hot place of succeeding.
The world is changing and everything is increasingly being subjected to
justification. Frankly I cannot see how we have maintained our privileges
as we have in the present climate. We are up against strong commercial
pressures for spectrum space and pushing the CW, QSL card, DXCC barrow to
the detriment of more contemporary pursuits will not only not help us, it
will hinder us.
I sympathise with those feeling the pressure of the modern age as they grow
older. This is because I too feel this pressure (although in Amateur terms
I am a spring chicken at 51), but in my case I have decided it is of no use
longing for the "good ol' days". It is a sad fact of life that CW is on
life support as it is abandoned by authorities around the world. Quoting
single instances to the contrary will not change this.
I respectfully submit the following code of practice for us who are
interested in the Amateur hobby surviving in the new millennium.
General: Eliminate all negative aspects of the exchanges within the
Amateur fraternity as much as possible. Encourage new ideas, embrace
technological change and generally show we are worthy of a place in the
increasingly competitive environment in which we seek to operate our hobby.
Non-CW Types: Continue to push for new techniques, new ways, and let your
imagination and the current regulations in your location be your limit, not
some-one else's limited vision of the world.
CW-Types: Try a new tack of keeping your particular interest alive. Try a
friendly, supportive approach instead of the Neanderthal "hit them over the
head with a club and drag them back to the cave" approach. This aggressive
approach is very effective in hiding the fun aspects of CW operation. In
fact I really believe that some of the loudest and more obnoxious CW
advocates are in reality anti-CW for the damage they do to the CW case.
As for the Trans-Atlantic challenge. I am always for a challenge. I
guess that makes me a "young" 51-year old. My 80-year old MIL has just
started learning about computers and we have connected her to the internet.
It is a struggle for her sometimes, but she persists and is loving it. That
makes her a "young" 80-year old. Without a challenge to stimulate you, you
are just marking time. I echo a previous poster who remarked that he
would not have gone for his Amateur ticket to just engage in QSOs or to be
limited to one mode.
There have been (and will be in the future) instances where some-one has
inadvertently transgressed into the wrong part of the "gentleman's
agreement" band space. This has been apologised for and to suggest that it
was deliberate or a sign of incompetence is, in itself, a sad sign of senile
paranoia. It is amusing that some of the least gentlemanly communicators
are demanding the strictest adherence to a "gentleman's agreement".
Here endeth the lesson...
73s Steve Olney (VK2ZTO/AXSO - QF56IK : Lat -33 34 07, Long +150 44 40)
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HomePage URLs:
http://www.qsl.net/vk2zto
http://www.zeta.org.au/~ollaneg
Containing:-
ULF, ELF, VLF & LF Experimentation
InfraSonic Experimentation
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