Johnny Johnston Bashes Volunteer Examination System

[k4kyv]

I seem to recall the PEP output measurement of power came about because of a lawsuit filed by a ham widow against the FCC concerning the death of her husband while trying to confirm the DC power input of his transmitter or amp. Or it may have just been the possibility of lawsuit involved? Pretty iffy ground for the FCC to require poking around in HV!

That was one of the arguments they used against the DC input rule, but they had no problem with a previously proposed an "interim" method of p.e.p. input that would have carried exactly the same safety risks.

There is no reason why average power output couldn't have been used, as with broadcast stations.  The FCC said it would have complicated the wording of their rules too much, to list anything beyond a "one size fits all" rule.  Strangely enough, the Canadians managed to do it with just two short paragraphs.  But then, aren't Canadian people supposed to be a lot smarter than United States-ese?

“(b) where expressed as radio-frequency output power measured across an impedance matched load,
(i) 2,200 W peak envelope power for transmitters that produce __any__ type of single sideband transmission, or
(ii) 750 W carrier power for transmitters that produce any other type of emission.”

“the transmitting power of an amplifier installed at an amateur station shall not be capable of exceeding by more than 3 dB the limits on transmitting power described in this section.”

Technically, if all the U.S. technical standards are followed to the letter, the p.e.p. ruling hurts slopbucket almost as much as it does AM.  But little has ever been mentioned about that, and slopbuckets routinely ignore the technical standards and "turn the knob all the way to the right" anyway.  The modes that really made out with the power ruling are CW, FM and RTTY, all of which got their power limits doubled.  Interestingly, according to Johnston's own admission at one of the FCC forums, one of his primary operating modes at the time was RTTY.

Regarding the dead ham, perhaps the best thing to do during an FCC inspection would be to tell them, "there it is, go ahead and inspect.  I'll watch."

[K3ZS]

About the military and OJT, my experience was backwards.    I got my General (all that was needed at the time for full privileges) when I was 13.    I built a lot of stuff, even built a homebrew mobile rig when I was 14, couldn't wait until I was old enough to drive.   I got into the Air National Guard by getting 100% on their electronics aptitude tests, and not by having any personal or political connections.    Went to Ground Radio school and phased ahead as fast as possible.    I received commendations for getting the highest scores and graduated from the course in record time.   When I got out I could repair an R-390 and all the other ground transmitters and receivers almost blindfolded.   I am not saying this to brag.   The clincher is, in the school was the last time I repaired anything in the service, for OJT we mostly dug holes for the deadman guy anchors and set up the towers for the UHF air/ground radios.

[W4EWH]

To me, it's a totally different hobby to "get introduced to HAM" via CB or "Elmer", study the question pools with little or no basic knowledge or interest about electricity or electronics, take the test, and then buy a plug 'n play radio and get on the air to "talk".  My reaction would have been exactly the same as what would be typical of to-day's young people: "Bo-ring!"

With respect, I disagree.

I was one of the co-founders of the New England TCP Association at its rebirth in ~1994. Many of the ham operators who were involved with getting TCP/IP working on AX.25 packet networks had passed the Technician exam by memorizing the question pools, but they were some of the sharpest people I'd ever met, some of whom had authored RFC's, and all of whom were committed to furthering ham radio, by contributing their specialized knowledge of the Internet and data to a field largely stuck in the analog mode.

They considered ham radio to be exactly what it is in the data world: a different MAC layer, with different and interesting capabilities, and they went to work to make both AX.25 and TCP/IP over AX.25 into effective and valued tools in the emergency responders' bag.

I feel we're still mired in the "barbed wire" mentally: the feeling of many old (I'm one) Extras that "I crawled under the barbed wire, so you should have to do it, too!". Consider, please: would APRS have progressed to its current state if not for the dedication and technical curiosity of these "Plug and play" hams?

73, Bill W1AC

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

You bring up a good point Bill. Much of the future of amateur radio will involve computers, in one form or another. So having programming skills, understanding TCP/IP and the OSI model, and having the ability to work with other networking gear will be important.

So, the newbies never soldered a connection on a tube socket? How many of the P&Ming old timers ever programmed in C++? Times change. Get over it.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Too many have been wrapped too long in 100 pounds of wire and solder. It's time to break free and feel the future of amateur radio.

Ah, I bet it's the ARRL conspiracy and QST sucks too. The bird is calling for a change.

[AF9J]

You bring up a good point Bill. Much of the future of amateur radio will involve computers, in one form or another. So having programming skills, understanding TCP/IP and the OSI model, and having the ability to work with other networking gear will be important.

So, the newbies never soldered a connection on a tube socket? How many of the P&Ming old timers ever programmed in C++? Times change. Get over it.

Does FORTRAN Count?

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[W4EWH]

You bring up a good point Bill. Much of the future of amateur radio will involve computers, in one form or another. So having programming skills, understanding TCP/IP and the OSI model, and having the ability to work with other networking gear will be important.

So, the newbies never soldered a connection on a tube socket? How many of the P&Ming old timers ever programmed in C++? Times change. Get over it.

Does FORTRAN Count?

73,
Ellen - AF9J

Feh! Ptoosh!

C++? It's for hardware hacking!

Fortran?  FORTRAN?? Haven't we translated enough formalae? 

When you're ready (he said, modestly) for the major leagues, try coding PL/I in a mainframe shop that bills over $6,000,000,000.00 per year. To this day, my code processes the long-distance portion of your telephone bill.

Computer programming isn't like ham radio, you know: there are a lot of different levels and if you want to hang out with the big boys, you have to pay your dues!! 

73, Bill W1AC

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

That's the beauty of amateur radio. If you don't like digital, don't mess with it. But don't try to stop or other wise complain about those who do choose to mess with it. To each his own.

[KF1Z]

To this day, my code processes the long-distance portion of your telephone bill.


73, Bill W1AC

So THAT'S why my bill is so high!!!!

:-)


I lost interest in programming after COBOL, FORTRAN, SCALE, DIBOL etc. (well BASIC too of course).

After I bought my first PC (8088 xt) for way too many thousand $$$....and the "internet" was just a bunch of us fools with 1200 baud modems jacking up our telco bills....
For some reason the whole thing got sour.......

Stuff, and interests change I guess.....

oh wHell

[W3SLK]

Cripes, I couldn't do much more than 1's and 0's. Give me the equipment, REP card and different I/O channels and I can whip you up a maintenance routine toot sweet, (OK so I lie, maybe a little longer just so I can clean out 25 years of cobwebs).

[K1MVP]

Sorry guys but the digital stuff is old and boring to me, did that too long to earn a living. I'm going to have to stick with the wire & solder crowd for a while.

For emergency traffic the digital stuff may indeed be the best thing since sliced bread.

Mack

Mack,
Same here,--also worked with digital, back in the early 70`s in avionics in both general aviation,
and a commuter airline,--many avionics companys, (Collins, Narco, King, Bendix, and RCA) were
already making the switch from tubes to solid state, and digital circuitry.
Many ham rigs at that time were still tube, or hybrids as I recall.

PLL synthesizers were already being used in the aircraft radios at that time(70`s) along with chip circuits
in transponders, DME`s and weather radar along with the Comm and Nav radio`s.
After nearly 20 years in solid state,--I came back to tubes about 10 years ago, just for the
"laid back" enjoyment of it in my "late years".

                                                     73, K1MVP

P.S, the military, was just beginning to go solid state in the late 70`s, and early 80`s.     

[K3ZS]

I have been a ham almost a half century, and soldered a lot of tube sockets.    I also did parallel processor radar programming in C and assembly code using real DSP's , not the audio rate DSP on PC sound cards.   I did that to earn a living, now I couldn't care less about  all of the digital stuff, I'd rather fire up an old tube AM rig and enjoy good old fashioned ham radio.

[W4EWH]

To this day, my code processes the long-distance portion of your telephone bill.


73, Bill W1AC

So THAT'S why my bill is so high!!!!

Sorry, dude, something about you just pissed me off.

Bill W1AC