Bob Simmons / WB6EYV here...
Comment on the YT video, agree there is too much venom and vitriolic out there…
Those people are just part of the noise… QSY or notch them out…
Too many people ( in the U.S. ) use freedom of speech the same way a constipated person uses a laxative… and the results are equally unsavory in both cases.
I could have replied in YT comment but figure this email would be better to get attention.
Sorry for the gabby length, but you hit a nerve in that video.
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I almost never get on the air, there are very few hams I would really want to meet or talk to these days…
The idea that increasing the population of hams will somehow “improve” ham radio is ( IMHO ) “rubbish”… we need quality… and / or substance… not just quantity
In my own defense, my own website ( I make and sell DF stuff ) is here : ( if you are curious )
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People who say “ham radio is for this” or “ham radio is for that” are ( usually ) full of shit… pardon my French.
Everybody has an opinion, but the ONLY opinion that really matters is the opinion OF THE GOVERNMENT, as expressed IN THE LAWS….because THEY are the ONLY ones who can issue the licenses.
In the U.S that means the FCC…
Take a look at the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47, Part 97, SubPart A, Section 97.1, titled “Basis and purpose” for the ONLY description of ham radio’s REAL “purpose” that matters a tinker’s damn…
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-97/subpart-A/section-97.1
A.K.A. “47CFR97.1”
This section is the very first part of the regulations governing ham radio in the United States… Part 97… and the very first topic is a statement of the 5 reasons why amateur radio is “allowed” to exist…
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It’s not a “right”… it’s a privilege. ( in the eyes of the law, anyway )
There are only 3 hobbies ( well, maybe 4 if you include drone flights ) that require a federal license in the United States…
One is flying a light aircraft. ( Cessna, Piper, etc. ) You need an FAA license for that…
One is collecting machine guns. ( yes, you can do that…) You need an ATF license for that.
One is operating a ham radio… You need an FCC license for that.
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I should point out also that an amateur license authorizes the license holder to BUILD AND OPERATE their own radio equipment… including transmitters… without any other explicit authority from the government.
That is something that even multi - billion dollar corporations can’t legally do…
They can’t even advertise a cell phone in the U.S… or take orders for them… unless it has ALREADY been authorized for commercial service… by the FCC…
… and the FCC WILL put a stop to it, if they catch someone doing that.
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47CFR97.1 identifies the five REASONS why the government “allows” its citizens to own and operate ham radios…
NONE of those reasons revolve around the “rights’ of the citizens… they ONLY mention the benefits that the amateur community can provide… to the government.
Specifically… those benefits that are clearly “in the public interest, or serve the public convenience, or public necessity”
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Four of those five reason are now ( largely ) obsolete, and the fifth is “tenuous” at best… ( as I see it )
Those reasons were all defined in the Communications Act of 1927… so think Titanic disaster and WW1 military radio operators
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I should also point out that amateur radio operation has been “suspended” in the past by the federal government… and it didn’t take much to do it, just a simple majority “act of congress”.
During World War 1 and again in WW2, all operations were TOTALLY suspended “for the duration”….
They can take it all away whenever they want… and they already have…. Twice… so don’t think for a nanosecond that we hams “own” these airwaves…
Look at what happened after the terrroist attacks on 9/11/2001… the airspace in the ENTIRE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES was EMPTIED 100%... IMMEDIATELY… EVERYWHERE…
They can do it… and they WILL… INSTANTLY… if they have a good reason for it.
As far as the government is concerned, our amateur equipment is only slightly more important than garage door openers, or R/C radios to operate cheap Taiwan toy cars.
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So… the next time some smart ass starts to read the riot act to you… point out 47CFR97.1 to them and ask them to comment on it…
If they balk at that suggestion, point out to them that signing their FCC license means that they are LEGALLY OBLIGATED to KNOW and OBEY ALL the regulations pertaining to their license…
And that ( strictly ) means everything in 47CFR97… ALL of it…
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For the record, I do think amateur radio is worthwhile, it provides a venue for people to educate themselves about electronics… and modern civilizations needs people with at kind of knowledge…
We just can’t rely on a handful of geniuses to support all the technology we use in our modern world… we need foot soldiers who aren’t afraid to get their fingers dirty.
The only other “official” venue for this kind of education is colleges… and they ( in my opinion ) are years behind the curve, as a general rule…
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By the time a subject is sufficiently “mature” to be offered as a course of instruction in a college, it generally is at least 10 years behind the current state of the industry.
Wilbur and Orville Wright didn’t get an aeronautics degree before they invented sustained, controlled flight…
The true leaders in every new field didn’t have degrees in those fields… because the degrees only become available many years later.
I’ve met lots of hams… including a lot that I don’t really like very much.. but I can honestly say I’ve never met a ham that was “boring” or “average”
Amateur radio doesn’t really appeal to “average” people… and that’s just fine with me… special people need a “special” place to congregate also…
Any place where you find exciting, “high technology”, you will also find hams… and usually they are the ones pulling the levers….. or building the levers that others can pull.
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I don’t have a very good opinion of the ARRL… they seem far too political to me, and they cling to this outdated illusion that they define the “leading edge” of radio technology…
That hasn’t been true for decades… the average ham now thinks they are smart if they know what all the buttons on their radios do…
Hams no longer “lead” the technology… the technology leads them… more and more, we’re all just a bunch of customers…. In the worst sense of that term.
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I have recently found an organization that gives me great reason to be hopeful… a non profit group with an internet foundation… and history.
A few years ago they sold off some ( internet ) property and set up a trust fund with the profits.
The fund was created to award grants to anyone promoting amateur radio… in almost any way.
https://www.ampr.org/apply/grantmaking-categories-goals-2022/
https://www.ampr.org/apply/grants/
The grants are very handsome, and listed on their website… about $2 million a year…
A lot of the people getting grants seem to be doing things that really do actively promote amateur radio… in the best spirit of that institution…
These guys are doing what I believe the ARRL should be doing…
( I should mention I’ve been published 5 times in QEX magazine.. an ARRL publication… so I do try to help them also )
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Enough for now, thanks for the YT video… I did watch it all, check out the grants I mentioned, it will give you a reason to cheer up and be hopeful.…
Thanks also the time and attention it took to read this rant…
Regards / Bob S.