Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:21:51 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Call me War Lord.

I'd rather not if it's all the same. :-)

If not the code, maybe they should beef up tech requirements a bit, or
require some proof of home built equipment as a demonstration of
commitment to the hobby.

On the other hand the whole raison de etre is at risk since global
communication of all kinds is so easily accomplished by everyone. As
a kid, that was part of the mystique. Emergency communications still
has some validity but a lot less so in the cell phone and EMAIL era.

What ****es me off is that all the work, time and
study that I did to get my Extra on the first time
and now all somebody has to do is memorize a question
pool.

It sucks and I still say it's because the ARRL has
been losing membership - they needed to lower the
standards to protect all those ridiculous pensions
for the chosen few and the only way was to attract
people to the hobby by killing the code.

The days of us sitting down in the shack and yacking
with somebody using a 100 watt light bulb as a dummy
load and accidentally bumping into a QSO are long gone.

As to emergency communications - please - overblown.

At one time it made sense - now? No way.