On 8/29/2020 5:16 AM, Rich NE1EE wrote: > Even that would be easier if the country just bit the bullet and set > a time limit on moving to metric. Then we'd all be on the same page.
The Metric Conversion Act goes back to the Ford administration in 1974 (*). It is enforced slightly less than the Uniform Spitting on the Sidewalk Act that predates it. The main reason that we see it at all in the US is than manufacturers dealing in world-wide markets do not want to have two different production lines, * My Ford sedan is built to metric standards... :) During my tenure, FCC rules and standards were rewritten to express dimensions in metric, but the conversion from USCU wasn't smooth. For instance, one specification for certain antenna heights was "20 feet above ground". So what did the FCC do? Changed it to "6.1 meters (20 feet) above ground". Why not an even 6 meters?? Everyone still refers to it as the "20 foot rule". The neglected metric unit, although not past of the SI, is the gradian (grad). 100 grads to a quadrant. 400 grads to a full circle. 1 grad = 0.9 degree. It is used mainly in European surveying, but since May 2020 is legal for use in the US. 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane Elecraft K2/100 s/n 5402 >From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
