At 11:55 PM 7/7/2009, Bob Bruninga wrote: >In my mind a pager is just another way of making the call. THe >intent is NOT ONE WAY, it is to provide a call-up or a message as >part of a CLEARLY TWO-WAY amateur network.
For me, the use of modified pagers has a LOT of advantages. There are times when I don't get to listen to the radio much, or wander off at the wrong moment, when someone's looking for me. Having a pager facility would fill those gaps, and it sounds like it's not too difficult to integrate that into the APRS network. I'm also an easy case, because I spend a lot of time in the same general area (around here). Anyway, might be a way to recycle some redundant hardware that's lying around. >There is no reason to nit pick rules. When one is broadcasting (one >way) to the general public or using amateur radio inappropriately, I >think everyone can tell when it is blatanly illegal. I just don't >see the FCC cares one nit about some of these debates when any one >can see that hams are taking initiative to better their use of the radio art. Besides, it's easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission, when it comes to the rules, if you breached them unknowingly, while acting in good faith. We had some similar issues in the past with a local club wanting to do an innovative amateur related (i.e. club and local ham goings on) news broadcast, and one of the rules that was brought into play was about 1 way transmissions, so the news broadcasters came up with a clever solution. It was to be an extended test transmission, with signal reports from those "participating" in the "test" before and afterwards. :) While the news broadcast lasted only 3 years, due to participant burnout, it did lead to a significant change in the regulations here, for the better. I participated as a relay station and also automatically recorded each news broadcast as it went to air. There are archives lurking around somewhere. Should also have them on a hard disk and on the web too. 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com _______________________________________________ Sent via amsat...@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
