Subj : HAM
To   : Roy Witt
From : Peter May
Date : Tue May 30 2000 01:50 am

In your last message you said....

 PM> and the like or reallocate it to other purposes.

 RW> We have a magazine editor, you may have heard of him; Wayne Green of 73
 RW> Magazine - who long ago said that we should auction off all of the
 RW> 'amateur' sprectrum we're not using.  Course, the FCC might have something
 RW> to say about that.

I went to a hamfest last year, Roy.  From what I observed, it appears that the 
HAMS are infactuated with UHF and repeaters and stuff.

Good old Yeasu HF gear such as the FT-980 was el' cheapo...less than $100.

It's hard to tell an amateur from someone using a mobile phone now. In years 
gone by HAMS had great expertise in talking long distance on "home brew" 
equipment. Are these days gone? Todays amateurs appear to able to do no more 
than the average citizen surfing the net, faxing or phoning overseas.

Maybe its more fundamental and related to cramped living space and the 
inability to constrct a Yagi or Quad in the backyard. Or maybe it's too tedious 
to listen to an SSB signal that varies sporadically.

Anyway, I'm aware of plans afoot to sell off spectrum, if it appears to be 
unused. It is another "asset" that can return a dividend.

Maybe its time to fire up your old boatanchors as an indication of ownership of 
the HF amateur bands!

Cheers
Peter

--- Maximus 3.01
 * Origin: The Junkbox BBS, Perth, Western Australia  (3:690/462)

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