In my opinion, there has been enough footdragging. A concerted effort should begin immediately to petition the F.C.C. to move quickly to expand the present 75 meter voice sub-band into the 80 meter CW only sub-band. We would hope that the A.R.R.L. would likewise support this campaign. This idea is not new but has never gained sufficient momentum and urgency as it should.
Is this what you had in mind when you stated, "Unless there is an IMMEDIATE upsurge in CW activity to fill the CW subbands 24/7 (I'm talking in terms days or weeks, not months or years), the present subband situation will become increasingly disasterous to the best interests of both CW and non-CW operators?" Respectfully sumbitted. Dave, W3ST Secretary to the Collins Radio Association Publisher of the Collins Journal www.collinsra.com -----Original Message----- From: Donald Chester <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: amradio@mailman.qth.net <amradio@mailman.qth.net> Date: Thursday, July 10, 2003 8:42 PM Subject: [AMRadio] An open letter to CW opreators > >IMO, if (should I say when?) the FCC drops the CW exam requirement, fewer >people will even bother with CW. With the requirement to learn it, some ops >(even @ 5 wpm) can be expected to explore the mode and develop an interest. >Without the requirement to learn code, those newcomers will be fewer and >further between. > >If the FCC doesn't decide get rid of subbands altogether, the existing >reserves for cw/digital at least need to be substantially reduced, due to >the dearth of activity. The present situation, especially on 80m, is bad PR >for CW; it makes the mode look lacking. Non-CW hams tune through all those >vacant frequencies and decide "CW is dead - nobody works it any more. The CW >bands are empty. Why bother to learn to comprehend Morse code?" With all the >QRM, turf wars and childish behaviour in the overly-congested phone bands >while 50% of the ham band lies practically idle, many phone ops are >understandably becoming downright resentful of CW. If the "narrowband" >subbands on 80 and 40 were reduced to a maximum of 50 or 75 kHz, the >remaining cw activity would become concentrated into less space, and working >CW would be more like it was 20 years ago. Often, with my RX in the 300 Hz >selectivity position, I find it easy to tune right past and miss a lone cw >station isolated in all the vacant kHz per tuning knob rotation. Reduction >of the "CW bands" may very well be a key to whether or not CW survives as a >mainstream mode. > >Of course the CW bands do come alive during contests, but where do all those >CW ops go when the contest is over? Contests add up to only a few days out >of 365 days per year. Can we justify keeping nearly 50% of some of the most >heavily occupied HF bands underutilised just for the convenience of >contesters a few days a year? After all, many CW ops do not even operate >contests. > >As far as the "phone" bands go, belive it or not, there are a few users of >those frequencies who do more than just buy an imported SSB squawk box with >mic, and get on the air to talk about the weather and their latest ailments, >and cuss out anyone whe dares come within 5 kHz of "their" privately-owned >frequency. Actually there is a big controversy going on right now with a >rulemaking petition pertaining to bandwidth. It seems that one group on 20m >has declared war on a small minority of SSB operators who have dared to >experiment with the mode, and (horrors!) actually take the lid off their box >and probe around inside, and (double horrors!!) warm up a soldering iron and >make MODIFICATIONS to their latest technical marvel. Now a couple of high >power DX'ers have decided to play hardball by submitting a petition to get >the FCC involved in their turf war. >Also, we mustn't forget that there are a few AM and SSTV operators using the >"phone" segments, and these hams ponder the vacant CW frequencies while they >ward off the SSB idiots (a small but vocal minority of SSB'ers). > >Unless there is an IMMEDIATE upsurge in CW activity to fill the CW subbands >24/7 (I'm talking in terms days or weeks, not months or years), the present >subband situation will become increasingly disasterous to the best interests >of both CW and non-CW operators. > >Don K4KYV > >_________________________________________________________________ >The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* >http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail > >_______________________________________________ >AMRadio mailing list >AMRadio@mailman.qth.net >http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio
