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THE AM BULLETIN BOARD => QSO => Topic started by: Carl WA1KPD on July 02, 2019, 11:12:27 AM



Title: 2 meter threat
Post by: Carl WA1KPD on July 02, 2019, 11:12:27 AM

https://hackaday.com/2019/07/01/the-backbone-of-vhf-amateur-radio-may-be-under-threat/ (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/01/the-backbone-of-vhf-amateur-radio-may-be-under-threat/)

One of my favorite bands. How do we fight this?


Title: Re: 2 meter threat
Post by: W1ITT on July 03, 2019, 10:45:40 AM
Carl...
Our Great Fathers down in Newington assure us that they have the situation well in hand.

http://www.arrl.org/news/restraint-urged-in-response-to-2-meter-reallocation-proposal

I suppose they are concerned that some of us will make intemperate statements to the Powers That Be, perhaps going so far as to call out the French for their perfidy and even reminding them of their past history of surrender to just about anyone.  I think ARRL fears that we Amatuers may appear too, well...,  amateur.
Thales, the company behind the push, is a major supplier of electronic communication equipment, and a valuable part of the French economy.  They are smart folks and make good products, and hold a place in France similar to our Rockwell/Collins/Raytheon sort of companies.  And I'm sure that their phone calls are answered by those in power in France.  Whether they can pull off this spectrum coup to the extent that other members of the international community buy into it is another thing.

However, by attempting to browbeat the rest of us into letting ARRL be the sole spokesman for the Radio Amateur community, the League is taking an awful chance.  If they were, somehow, to be on the losing side, and we lost the two meter band (and in most of the world, two meters is only 144-146, not the 4 megahertz spread we have in the States) it would all be down the front of their shirts.  It would be a disaster for the League that would probably be more harmful to their reputation than the Incentive Licensing debacle back in the 1960s.

That being said, if one does decide to write letters, it would be prudent to avoid making mean jokes about France.  It's just too easy.

Norm W1ITT
AMfone - Dedicated to Amplitude Modulation on the Amateur Radio Bands