Spectrum Management Bill, HR 607, Threatens Amateur Frequencies

[K2PG]

Ability to take a test, no matter how difficult, is no predictor of on-the-air behavior.  How does on-the-air behavior relate to whether one can make a dipole or not?  

I don't know what you're listening to, Phil, but I sure don't hear any evidence of this "infestation" you're talking about.

Granted, passing an exam by itself does not guarantee good behavior. But it still irks me to hear CB-type operating habits on our bands. Some examples: During Field Day a couple of years ago, someone on 20 meter SSB referred to his ARRL Section as his "twenty". I have also heard a lot of CB lingo on 2 meter repeaters, particularly in New Jersey, and a couple of CB types dropping F-bombs on a repeater near Scranton.  The assorted filth, music, deliberate jamming, and other antics on 75 meter SSB are another case in point.

The purpose of the exam is to ensure someone knows enough about theory and rules/regs so as not to cause interference with other services.  It's not a personality detector.  It's not intended to weed out potentially unsavory behavior.  It's not intended to point someone towards a career in broadcast engineering.

The problem with our dumbed-down exams and the cram sessions is that the people coming out of this system don't even know those things! We have Extras who don't know how to make a simple dipole antenna.  Back in 1968, questions about that were on the Novice exam. It is telling when CEPT in Europe will not recognize our General Class license for reciprocal operating privileges anymore! That, my friend, is a national embarrassment. A couple of days ago, the FCC Daily Digest mentioned an Extra Class operator in Philadelphia who was fined for repeatedly operating on 26.7 MHz. Don't you think that a so-called "Extra" should know better? As for technical careers in broadcast engineering, two-way radio, and related fields, the "old school" type of amateur radio licensing was a help in orienting people toward such careers, despite the fact that amateur radio itself is just a hobby.

[Steve - K4HX]

Last night I read an article in QST about the 1937 DX Contest (yes, it was a 1937 QST). The end of the article listed dozens of stations that were disqualified for operating out of the ham bands.

Tests have nothing to do with it Phil. All the behavior you mention existed long before the tests were dumbed-down and long before CB radio existed.

Please find another reason to hate amateur radio and the FCC. Your current one is not legitimate.

[K1ZJH]

The number of ham licenses is somewhat erroneous in that it doesn't accurately reflect the number of hams who passed away who are still shown on the FCC database. The ham population is aging rapidly, and the ten year renewal period skews the reality of the  situation. I 'm not arguing that the number of hams isn't increasing, but perhaps not by the numbers some folks quote. Secondly, amateur use of t420 to 450 MHz is as a secondary user. The bill, in its present form is flawed and undoubtedly will undergo numerous revisions before final passage. I hope the DOD has firm plans for a military need PavePaws) and justification to keep those frequencies reserved for military use.

Pete

[K2PG]

Please find another reason to hate amateur radio and the FCC. Your current one is not legitimate.

I don't hate amateur radio. I just hate the dumbing down of amateur radio and the deterioration of operating habits that I have been hearing over the past 15 or 20 years. If I hated amateur radio, I would have surrendered my license and sold my equipment years ago.

As for the FCC as it has existed since the beginning of the Reed Hundt era: What's not to hate about it?

[K2PG]

Secondly, amateur use of 420 to 450 MHz is as a secondary user. The bill, in its present form is flawed and undoubtedly will undergo numerous revisions before final passage. I hope the DOD has firm plans for a military need PavePaws) and justification to keep those frequencies reserved for military use.

That may well kill HR-607. Another thing that may kill that bill is the proposal to auction 450-470 MHz. That segment is used by a plethora of radio services, including public safety, GMRS, medical transport, and broadcast auxiliary. Regarding the latter service, perhaps the NAB should worry less about mandating FM receiver chips in cell phones and more about losing the band that allows radio stations to do remote broadcasts, such as those high school football games that are so popular in the South. There are a lot of police departments operating repeater outputs around 453 MHz. Forcing them to buy new radios and move to 700 MHz would be an unfunded federal mandate that today's cash-strapped municipalities can ill afford.

Whenever something stinks in America, follow your nose to the money trail!

[Sam KS2AM]

For those attending Dayton this weekend ... if you care at all about the threat to 440 that may affect you or your fellow amateurs who do use the band ... you can drop by the ARRL area and help do something about it.  They will draft and print a letter to your congressman, from you, that you can sign and they will deliver it to Washington on your behalf.  It only takes a couple of minutes to do.

[w3jn]

Granted, passing an exam by itself does not guarantee good behavior. But it still irks me to hear CB-type operating habits on our bands. Some examples: During Field Day a couple of years ago, someone on 20 meter SSB referred to his ARRL Section as his "twenty". I have also heard a lot of CB lingo on 2 meter repeaters, particularly in New Jersey, and a couple of CB types dropping F-bombs on a repeater near Scranton.  The assorted filth, music, deliberate jamming, and other antics on 75 meter SSB are another case in point.

Your examples still fail to support your contention that poor behavior is the result of "CBers" or the difficulty level of the exams.  

Another beauty of ham radio is that most receivers are tunable and you can adjust them so as not to receive unwanted signals.

 

The problem with our dumbed-down exams and the cram sessions is that the people coming out of this system don't even know those things! We have Extras who don't know how to make a simple dipole antenna.

That very well could have been true back in the day also.  In pre-internet days guys asked their elmers things, or referred to various books on the subject.  Now the internet is their elmer and questions are public for all to see.  I think what you're seeing is a manifestation of the public nature of questions rather than any decrease in knowledge over the years.

If someone doesn't know how to build a dipole, why not help them instead of ridiculing them?  Nobody is born with an innate knowledge of ham radio.  Assisting them will give them a positive experience and encourage them to learn.

Back in 1968, questions about that were on the Novice exam. It is telling when CEPT in Europe will not recognize our General Class license for reciprocal operating privileges anymore! That, my friend, is a national embarrassment.

Lindsay Lohan is a national embarrassment; not sure that ham radio licenses rise to that level.  Other countries, such as the UK with their Foundation and Intermediate licenses, are not allowed full CEPT privileges either.

There is PLENTY of bad behavior on the bands here in Europe as well, by CEPT Class 1 license holders.  Perhaps cussing people out in English rather than one's native language is a bit easier, but there's more four letter English profanities thrown out around here than I ever heard in the US.  The Germans and Italians in particular tend to get into dustups on the air  

A couple of days ago, the FCC Daily Digest mentioned an Extra Class operator in Philadelphia who was fined for repeatedly operating on 26.7 MHz. Don't you think that a so-called "Extra" should know better?

He almost certainly did, and was most likely operating there purposely.  Again, this has been going on for years and it's in no way attributable to license exams.  Guys have been, and will continue, to operate there illegally regardless of what the FCC has on their ham exams.

As for technical careers in broadcast engineering, two-way radio, and related fields, the "old school" type of amateur radio licensing was a help in orienting people toward such careers, despite the fact that amateur radio itself is just a hobby.

So is the "new school", if newcomers are welcomed, mentored, and encouraged to learn.  If they are greeted with a bitter "get off my lawn" attitude just because they passed the license exam they were given, they most assuredly will get a bad taste of the hobby and will possibly lose interest and move on.  This attitude is FAR more destructive to ham radio than any "CB behavior" or "dumbed down exams" could ever be.

Phil, rather than constantly griping about the FCC and CBers, how about answering technical questions or helping guys gain knowledge in their hobby here on AMFone?  I know you're a very sharp guy and have plenty to offer.  Helping improve things will be far more productive than just pissing and moaning about it.  Or so it seems to me.

[KG6TJU]

So is the "new school", if newcomers are welcomed, mentored, and encouraged to learn.  If they are greeted with a bitter "get off my lawn" attitude just because they passed the license exam they were given, they most assuredly will get a bad taste of the hobby and will possibly lose interest and move on.  This attitude is FAR more destructive to ham radio than any "CB behavior" or "dumbed down exams" could ever be.

Phil, rather than constantly griping about the FCC and CBers, how about answering technical questions or helping guys gain knowledge in their hobby here on AMFone?  I know you're a very sharp guy and have plenty to offer.  Helping improve things will be far more productive than just griping about it.  Or so it seems to me.

 I have to say, as a "new Ham" that I don't fell welcomed by all, even though I passed the exam on my own, without a "Ham cram" session. I also passed the General on my own merits. I have two teenage sons, one of whom passed on his own and the other passed after a cram session. All three of us have been building our own antennas (dipoles and Yagis so far) mostly from scrap (as a matter of fact we just last week purchased our first commercial antenna from HRO). But the downside is that we still feel intimidated by people like Phil with his "Get off my lawn" attitude. And bringing it back to the original post subject I think this pervasive attitude that the Amateur bands have gone to the dogs is part of the problem that is leading to the loss of frequencies. Just because you personally don't use them doesn't meant that you should let them go without a fight. If anything I think maybe you ought to start using them again in order to better preserve our right to use them.

 For the record, I am not in favor of dirty language and bad manners, not on the radio nor in day to day life, but the unfortunate fact is that in this day and age these things are pervasive in our society. It is not just on the radio. All you have to do is look around you to see it. What is accepted today on TV would have been pornography just 20 or 30 years ago.

 KG6TJU
Hans

[w3jn]

Hans, hats off to you and your boys and don't let the bitter OMs get you down.  *They* are the embarrassment to the hobby, not a couple guys using CB lingo, that don't know how to build a dipole, or using coarse vernacular, because their caustic effects spread farther and wider.

Ham radio hasn't gone to the dogs.  It's as strong and fun as ever.  It's unfortunate that some have selective memories or can't stand anything other than a "HIHI FINE BUSINESS OM WX HR IS WINDY AND WET" type of QSO, but that should have no bearing on you .  There are a lot of guys and gals like yourself - seek 'em out, have fun, and avoid those that delight in wallowing in their own misery.

And don't be afraid to ask questions.  We have an outstanding brain trust here on AMFone and likely, there's not a question that someone here hasn't asked themselves.  As I said, nobody's born with an innate knowledge of ham radio  

[W3SLK]

Two things here. First, it was ham radio that got me into my love of electronics and served to drive me into most of my employment opportunites. However, I failed my first crack at the novice exam back in 8th grade. Ultimately it took me close to 15 years before the opportunity would present itself again. I will say the question pool evolved immensely since then. I was dissappoined with the lack of technical 'challenges' from the novice all the way upto the the extra licenses. Because of that, you will have people that don't give a hoot about what they learned but that they are there.
Secondly, and more to the original impetus behind this thread, about 2 years ago at my work place, we were told that all of the radios we have, (which numbers in several hundreds), have to be either tossed or some of the other newer radios be modified to satisfy the FCC new FM bandwidth regs. I originally read this on their website and realized it will effect a ton of first responders among others.

[Sam KS2AM]

For those of you on-topic types attending Dayton this weekend ... if you care at all about the threat to 440 that may affect you or your fellow amateurs who do use the band ... you can drop by the ARRL area and help do something about it.  They will draft and print a letter to your congressman, from you, that you can sign and they will deliver it to Washington on your behalf.  It only takes a couple of minutes to do.

[WA3VJB]

Actually, while your League was off to Dayton on a junket, an independent group of active, concerned licensees took matters into their own hands and successfully obtained a promise from the sponsoring congressional legislator to disconnect the Amateur Service allocation from his bill.

The group of constituents in Rep. King's district actively avoided mentioning the League or any connection with Newington and the ARRL.

For those of you on-topic types attending Dayton this weekend ... if you care at all about the threat to 440 that may affect you or your fellow amateurs who do use the band ... you can drop by the ARRL area and help do something about it.  They will draft and print a letter to your congressman, from you, that you can sign and they will deliver it to Washington on your behalf.  It only takes a couple of minutes to do.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Mike Lisenco, N2YBB
n2ybb@arrl.org
917-865-3538

May 19, 2011, Massapequa Park, NY - A delegation of Amateur Radio operators from the Long Island / New York City area met this morning with Congressman Peter T. King (R-NY) to discuss his recent proposed legislation, HR 607, and its impact on Amateur Radio.

Congressman King said that he fully understands and appreciates the importance of Amateur Radio and the service it provides to the community, and that he would see to the modification of the bill so that the 420 - 440 MHz band would be excluded from the spectrum to be auctioned. The delegation included Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, ARRL Section Manager for New York City / Long Island (NLI), Peter Portanova, WB2OQQ, NLI Local Government Liaison (LGL), George Tranos, N2GA, NLI State Government Liaison (SGL), and Jim Mezey, W2KFV, NLI ARES Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC).

"The Congressman went on to explain that it was never his intention to remove the 70 centimeter band from Amateur use. He further asked us to `get the word
out' and inform the Amateur Radio community that 70 centimeters is not in jeopardy," said Lisenco.

Lisenco, Mezey and Tranos spoke about the importance of Amateur Radio emergency communications while Portanova, who is also the local AMSAT representative, addressed satellite and other amateur use of the 70 centimeter band.

The Congressman was very receptive to the group, who also extended an invitation to attend Field Day locations in his District.


Mike's effort is praiseworthy because it successfully stepped around the inevitable boogey-man-style fundraising and political coloration in the League's effort.  I am delighted they have deprived Newington a chance to try to drag this out to recruit more subscribers and trumpet how essential they would like us to believe the ARRL remains in efforts to promote, protect and advance the hobby.

[Sam KS2AM]

Actually, while your League was off to Dayton on a junket, an independent group of active, concerned licensees took matters into their own hands and successfully obtained a promise from the sponsoring congressional legislator to disconnect the Amateur Service allocation from his bill.

The group of constituents in Rep. King's district actively avoided mentioning the League or any connection with Newington and the ARRL.

For those of you on-topic types attending Dayton this weekend ... if you care at all about the threat to 440 that may affect you or your fellow amateurs who do use the band ... you can drop by the ARRL area and help do something about it.  They will draft and print a letter to your congressman, from you, that you can sign and they will deliver it to Washington on your behalf.  It only takes a couple of minutes to do.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Mike Lisenco, N2YBB
n2ybb@arrl.org
917-865-3538

May 19, 2011, Massapequa Park, NY - A delegation of Amateur Radio operators from the Long Island / New York City area met this morning with Congressman Peter T. King (R-NY) to discuss his recent proposed legislation, HR 607, and its impact on Amateur Radio.

Congressman King said that he fully understands and appreciates the importance of Amateur Radio and the service it provides to the community, and that he would see to the modification of the bill so that the 420 - 440 MHz band would be excluded from the spectrum to be auctioned. The delegation included Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, ARRL Section Manager for New York City / Long Island (NLI), Peter Portanova, WB2OQQ, NLI Local Government Liaison (LGL), George Tranos, N2GA, NLI State Government Liaison (SGL), and Jim Mezey, W2KFV, NLI ARES Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC).

"The Congressman went on to explain that it was never his intention to remove the 70 centimeter band from Amateur use. He further asked us to `get the word
out' and inform the Amateur Radio community that 70 centimeters is not in jeopardy," said Lisenco.

Lisenco, Mezey and Tranos spoke about the importance of Amateur Radio emergency communications while Portanova, who is also the local AMSAT representative, addressed satellite and other amateur use of the 70 centimeter band.

The Congressman was very receptive to the group, who also extended an invitation to attend Field Day locations in his District.


Mike's effort is praiseworthy because it successfully stepped around the inevitable boogey-man-style fundraising and political coloration in the League's effort.  I am delighted they have deprived Newington a chance to try to drag this out to recruit more subscribers and trumpet how essential they would like us to believe the ARRL remains in efforts to promote, protect and advance the hobby.

Now thats a funny post.   

[K5UJ]

I am not so sure bad ham operating behavior in the U.S. was just as prevalent in the past as it is now.   Even if that is true, it doesn't make the status quo acceptable.  

I think the general on-the-air comportment found on HF SSB has coarsened over the past 20 or 30 years, but maybe not so much because of testing but because there seems to have been a rise in vulgar behavior, immaturity and self centered behavior in American society in general.   The internet seems to have fostered a dual personality problem with some people--they are very nice or at least civil in person but are contentious, rude and belligerent on the Internet, where they can contact people at a distance and hide behind anonymous usernames.   Some of those people who are hams, in particular those licensed since the Internet became common place may have carried that behavior over to ham radio operating.  

Another difference is that most people now are becoming hams as adults.   In the past, more new hams were kids, usually high-school aged.   There is a difference in the way adults and kids learn, or in whether or not they are teachable.   Adults may arrive with an attitude, or pre-conceived notions about ham radio.  They may not have the interest or time to learn much but they have the money to purchase a lot of pug and play gear right out of the box and get on the air.     This may or may not be okay depending on what you think about it, but it saddens me when I contact such a person and encounter a lack of interest in learning, and a complete resistance to assimilating into what I'll call the ham radio culture, and adoption of the traditional ham norms of behavior.

As an example, I recall working a ham whom I learned did not have a dummy load.  I was flabbergasted to further learn that he refused to get one and use it.  This was a relatively new ham and he saw no requirement for one, stating that tuning everything up on antennas was okay.   I was aghast -- it was (and is) inconceivable to me that a ham with an operating station would not own at least one dummy load and use it regularly.   Getting one and using it was one of the first things I learned.   I recall his  thinking was that it was not required by FCC so he saw no need for it.  I use this to illustrate how in some cases, adults may not be as teachable as kids.  Of course this is not always the case, but I think we need to have more kids taking up the hobby.

This is harder to accomplish, because the network of ham radio clubs is in disrepair.   The ham radio clubs are simply not as vigorous as they once were, so they are no longer as likely to be a place for new hams to go and learn and receive mentoring.   One solution to that is getting ham radio clubs set up in schools.   The ARRL has an education fund for this purpose and I encourage contributions to it.   They have had some noteworthy successes, but there are many schools with no ham radio presence.   It is not a complete solution but it can help.

Rob

[WA3VJB]

Rob,

The cost/benefit ratio is poor when trying to recruit young people.  Among the trends and characteristics you mentioned, another difference between then and now is the pervasiveness of handheld wireless technology. Kids have never known a life without such communications. As such, it is not a surprise they would be blasé about a hobby where the pursuit of chit-chat on the radio isn't very different from what they already can do.

A much better recruitment target is the older demographic, but the notion flies in the face of the popular concept that younger=better, which is why neither the ARRL nor local clubs do much to introduce the hobby to older folks.

Yet, the benefits could be far easier to obtain.  People past a certain age remember radio when it was a greater part of society, they today have the spare time and income to support a hobby like ours, and they may wish to share life's stories with others among us who are in the same age group.

Moreover, the older demographic will always be there.  As folks pass on, "younger" folks will take their place in the age group, providing the same opportunity for recruitment and sustainable growth in the hobby.

[K2PG]

The problem with our dumbed-down exams and the cram sessions is that the people coming out of this system don't even know those things! We have Extras who don't know how to make a simple dipole antenna.

That very well could have been true back in the day also.  In pre-internet days guys asked their elmers things, or referred to various books on the subject.  Now the internet is their elmer and questions are public for all to see.  I think what you're seeing is a manifestation of the public nature of questions rather than any decrease in knowledge over the years.

My point is that there are Extras who don't know the most basic things! The Extra Class license was supposed to be the top grade and, at one time, people had to be licensed for at least two years as General or (post-1968) Advanced Class before they could even take the Extra Class exam! Questions such as calculating the dimensions of a dipole antenna are beginner and Novice stuff...and I will gladly help a newcomer who needs help in building an antenna. But an Extra Class licensee should certainly know such basic stuff. I also feel that the question pools should NOT be divulged. Remember how Dick Bash (KL7FBI) was excoriated in the late 1970s for publishing his "Final Exam" series of cram books and cheat sheets?

When I took the Extra Class exam in 1976, it was almost as difficult as the commercial radio operator exam. Thanks to cram sessions, the license means nothing today. The broadcast industry had problems with cram schools that cranked out "six week wonders" who needed the First Class commercial license in order to run the transmitter and take meter readings at directional AM stations, who knew nothing, and who would sometimes totally mess up the transmitter or the phasing system for the antenna.

And, Hans, let me be the first to welcome you into our community. Feel free to ask questions of anyone in this forum. You will find that the AM community is one of the last vestiges of the "old school" amateur radio, although by no means is it the only place where you will find this.

[K2PG]

Actually, while your League was off to Dayton on a junket, an independent group of active, concerned licensees took matters into their own hands and successfully obtained a promise from the sponsoring congressional legislator to disconnect the Amateur Service allocation from his bill.

The group of constituents in Rep. King's district actively avoided mentioning the League or any connection with Newington and the ARRL.

GREAT NEWS!

[K5UJ]

I also believe that publishing the FCC exam Q and A has been a liability.   I also have decided that there should be a CW test, if only for 5 wpm.   Every ham should know CW upon being licensed because it is needed in order to communicate with a very elementary homebrew transmitter.  Ideally new hams should desire to build such a thing in order to learn about radio, either from scratch or from a kit. 

I also think the FCC should start proctoring the examinations again because I have never believed the VE system was just as immune from being fixed.

Instead, we seem to be moving in the direction of not even requiring any sort of examinatination at all.

Yes, AM is like the ham radio I knew as a kid.

[KG6TJU]

I also have decided that there should be a CW test, if only for 5 wpm.   Every ham should know CW upon being licensed because it is needed in order to communicate with a very elementary homebrew transmitter. 

 I disagree but for one reason. Some people just cannot learn auditory inputs for some reason (myself for one). I tried for a long time to learn code but to this day I just can't, even at 5 wpm. There is another older ham at the local HRO (WR6XXX) who tried for decades to pass the code requirement before giving up. When the code requirement was dropped he passed the General and Extra exams like a breeze. He is extremely knowledgeable and would put many other Extras to shame with what he knows. I daresay that the code requirement was in some ways discriminatory.

 Hans
 KG6TJU   

[Pete, WA2CWA]

S-1040 Senate “Companion” Bill to HR 607 Avoids Impacting Amateur Spectrum
From the ARRL web site:
...On learning in February that a Senate version of HR 607 was being drafted, ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, met with staff members of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee who were working on the bill to share the ARRL’s concerns with regard to HR 607. “They seemed very receptive to our argument and appreciative of the public service contributions of radio amateurs,” Sumner said. “It is gratifying to see that S 1040 avoids impacting our spectrum allocations.”...
The complete story is here: http://www.arrl.org/news/senate-companion-bill-to-hr-607-avoids-impacting-amateur-spectrum
It seems the ARRL preempted the Long Island boys by several months but who's keeping score 

[WA3VJB]

You must have skipped class the day they explained Congress has two chambers.

Let me know if you can find out when your League friends learned the House bill would be changed to exclude Amateur allocations.

As far as any public disclosures, Rep. King's constituents beat the ARRL obtaining his promise to do so.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

You must have skipped class the day they explained Congress has two chambers.

Let me know if you can find out when your League friends learned the House bill would be changed to exclude Amateur allocations.

As far as any public disclosures, Rep. King's constituents beat the ARRL obtaining his promise to do so.

Stealing Sam's line, "Now that's a funny post" 

[K2PG]

I disagree but for one reason. Some people just cannot learn auditory inputs for some reason (myself for one). I tried for a long time to learn code but to this day I just can't, even at 5 wpm.

If you ever want to learn the code, think of it in musical terms. It is really just a rhythm and, in fact, musicians often have an easier time than most of us to learn the code characters. If you can remember a melody, you can learn the code.

In my younger days, I was an AM broadcast band DX'er and SWL. When I joined the radio club at my high school, I found out that it was an amateur radio club and the moderator, my math teacher, sat me down and had me listen to those damned code records. I soon built associations in my mind between the code rhythms and the letters. For example, "L" (._..) sounded like "to L with you" and "P" (. _ _ .) sounded like "vier drei drei fünf", part of the telephone number of a business that advertised heavily on a German-language radio program that I listened to back then.

While code proficiency is no longer required, you will find that CW has a lot of advantages. Some DX stations only operate CW. On VHF and UHF, a lot of the weak signal DX work, such as what one hears in one of the segments that HR-607 proposed to auction, is on CW. So, without CW, it is as if you are using half a radio. Don't sweat it...if you are interested and have the patience of a saint, you will get it. And a good operator will slow down for you...the prosign QRS works wonders for new CW operators.

[KG6TJU]

Thanks K2PG, I appreciate the advice. I have been told before to think of it as though it were music. Trouble is I can't carry a tune in a bucket, let alone remember a melody. I do keep trying though. I have the ARRL CD "Your Introduction To Morse Code" and I listen to it when I can but it seems to become background noise to me. Also I am not an auditory learner (more visual/tactile), so unless it is written I have a very hard time learning it (I was always a poor student in lecture based classes, except for one particular class where the instructor incorporated some excellent blackboard drawings into his lectures.) If there was a text used I could limp on by on the text without paying any attention to the lectures. That used to frustrate the Hell out of my instructors when I would literally sleep through class and then pass the exams quite easily.

 Hans KG6TJU

[K5UJ]

On ARRL website there is press release saying FEMA top banana has stated ham radio is top backup commo when all else fails (or words to that effect).  The occasion was some sort of high level fed. gov't gathering at which FEMA, FCC and White House officials were present.

Now, that would have been an excellent opportunity to press for some sort of RF filtering requirement on consumer appliances, or the enforcement of current requirements such as they are, but there was no mention of any such point being made.

http://www.arrl.org/news/fema-administrator-calls-amateur-radio-the-last-line-of-defense