(Followups Set)

FED UP wrote:
Website: www.freeweb.com/fed_up

Thank you to those who have responded to the previous posting. We are
working hard to catch up on correspondence. Apparently there are a lot more
hams who are disgusted with the deterioration of the hobby than we thought.
As for the emails we have received with threatening or obscene (and many,
just plain stupid) comments, thank you; we plan to post the most ridiculous
ones on our website when it is fully assembled.

No offense, but I think that you should include some of your own.

For those of you who missed the first posting, the original CALL TO ACTION -
CW ADVOCACY GROUP FORMING newsgroup posting follows. For you supercillious (sic)
phonies who bellyache that this if "off topic", may we remind you that you
sat by and said nothing during all of the anti-CW postings that have
appeared here. Apparently those were "on topic."

Apparently, you mistake forbearance and tolerance for acceptance: your
post appeared in rec.radio.amateur.boatanchors, so I was reluctant to
reply because it _is_ off-topic there. I have cross-posted this reply to
rec.radio.amateur.policy, and I've set the followup-to field. I hope you
can show the readers of r.r.a.b (and the other groups you've posted to)
an example of proper Usenet operating practice and Netiquette, by moving
this discussion to rec.radio.amateur.policy.

It matters not whether we
are "granpaws" (sic) or "dinosaurs" or whatever other epithets you feel you
wish to sling; one thing is sure, that you are a prime example of the death
of free speech which should be a cornerstone of any communication service in
a free society.

If you are a grandfather, congratulations: having lived to an age where
that is likely, I assume you have learned that life is not always as
simple or as kind as we might have wished when we were children. It does
little good, and indeed probably does harm, to bemoan a past that is
gone forever, and it does nobody any good to insult those who disagree
with you.


Besides that, what makes you think that a "granpaw" has lost
his right to expressing his opinion? Perhaps in YOUR world you would deny
your own "granpaw" his right to an opinion. Perhaps in your world you need
to remember that you are not getting any younger either and, sooner or
later, you'll be there too. By the way, this writer is hardly a "granpaw,"
so your assertion doesn't stick.

My Grandfather was never shy about expressing his opinion: he was a
politician, and he knew how to do it with grace, humor, the occasional
barb, and (above all) with the facts on his side.

He also knew, and taught me, the most important lesson of leadership:
when you don't know what you're talking about, you should be silent.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CALL TO ACTION - CW ADVOCACY GROUP FORMING

[snip]

The time has come (and it may indeed have passed) for trying to fix
what ails ham radio. Ham radio has gone down “for the count.” [snip]

It is time we CW operators grow some hair on our chests. We have sat by
and watched the FCC, Newington, manufacturers (you know which ones) and “No
Code International” playing freely with this once great avocation. We CW
operators have bootlicked and tried to remain passive and gentlemanly while
they vandalized and stole from us. We have tried so hard to abide by Paul
Segal’s “Amateurs’ Creed” that was pounded into us that we were fearful that
our speaking up would break one of his sacred commandments.

[remainder snipped]

IMNSHO, what "ails" ham radio is nothing more or less than the
Negroponte Switch (http://www.answers.com/topic/negroponte-switch).
Since there is no longer a need for wireless communication between fixed
points, and since cell phones and other modern-day wonders have obviated
the need for autopatches, and since the GI's overseas can now access
VoIP for calls to their loved ones, hams from "The Old School" are
finding themselves feeling unwanted and unloved as the world moves to
digital modes: technology changes, and it changes our hobby too.

In years past, society found use for our talents: ships at sea needed to
be able to call for help, natural disasters disrupted the telephone
service, remote locations found radio more effective and cheaper than
running phone lines and/or undersea cables, and even aircraft had to
employ Morse operators in order to stay in touch with shore stations.

I'm sorry, but times have changed: I climbed the mountain to 20 WPM, so
I'm entitled to say if the view was worth the effort - it was - but I
hate to break the news, OM, that you and I are obsolete.

There was a time when hams could count on help from the Pentagon at
every frequency conference, because we were a trained pool of operators
that could be pressed into service quickly during wartime. Military
electronics, however, are now so secret and so complex that troops can't
maintain them in the field: uniformed techs are reduced to doing board
swaps based on "Good/No Good" indicators from portable automated testers.

In civilian life, as well, not only CW but even basic voice training is
outmoded (pun intended). Satellites have obviated the need for the radio
operators at sea in almost all cases, and in those situations that still
call for longwave radio, SSB has obviated the need for Morse operators:
we need only look at ARINC to see proof that it works effectively. As
if the satellite's footprint wasn't a heavy enough burden (again, pun
intended), we see that even in Antarctica, underseas or overland
fiber-optics may be used to fill gaps in satellite coverage.

Let's speak frankly: there is a natural, understandable urge to want to
turn back the clock. I'm human, too, so I understand your nostalgia for
a time when our hard-won skills were valued and salable: I worked as a
broadcast engineer to help pay for college, and even those of us not
working in radio found it easy to impress our girlfriends by ordering a
pizza via an autopatch, or to horrify our teachers by quoting Radio
Moscow in high-school essays. There was a time when knowing the formulas
and the rules - and the code - was a sort of status symbol, and, if
nothing else, we can all say that we were Geeks before it was fashionable.

Times have changed: while the code was once a part of our national
defense plans, it is no longer a ticket to a seat at the
frequency-allocations table, nor justification for the free goodies that
I enjoyed as a MARS operator, nor even a way to impress teenagers who
grew up with cell phones and don't care how they work. As an Extra-class
Amateur who still uses CW, I must regretfully say that if we're to
remain more than a historical footnote in the history of communications,
then we must all find ways to serve our communities with new techniques
and new technologies.

CW remains what it always was: a fundamental mode that allows low power,
inefficient antennas, and outdated electronics to be used for effective
communication. As such, it is, paradoxically, still viable for ham radio
even as more well-healed users trade up to the Clarke belt. In addition,
CW is proof that we obtained a difficult goal by personal sacrifice, and
it's OK to be proud of that achievement: if that's what brings joy to
your life, by all means keep the Vibroplex and your skills polished.

The future of ham radio is, and should be, debatable. While I hope that
we hams will acquire the modern equipment, skills, and training needed
to serve the public in the Twenty-First century, I'm not starry-eyed as
to our prospects: the "low hanging fruit" was picked years ago. The only
thing I can say for certain is that divisive, sarcastic, and angry calls
for a return to the "good old days" won't do anyone any good.

William

(Filter noise from my address for direct replies)


--
A little learning is a dang'rous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring;
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.
-- Alexander Pope, Essay on Criticism