"AJ Lake" wrote in message
...
Scott wrote:

I think Techs have some HF privileges again...a bit confusing

I was happy when they gave the Technician Class License HF CW privileges
because I thought that it would help the sagging numbers found on
the CW bands. Currently they have the same CW privileges as the General
Class on 80, 40, and 15M HF bands.

I hang mainly on 80 and 40 CW and average a couple of QSOs a day. To this
date I have yet to contact a Tech. (I check QRZ.com when making entries in
my computer log.) So at this point it doesn't seem to have increased CW
activity as much as I had hoped.

BTW using the internet makes QSOs even more interesting. QRZ.com often has
blurbs and photos of the guy you just talked to. Also using Google Maps
you
can pinpoint his location, and often using Google Streets you can even see
a
photo of his house. Amazing.

I hate Google Streets. It would seem to be an invasion of privacy for
someone to go around taking pictures. The only use is if you are trying to
buy or sell a house. Or plotting a crime. My PO box is on my license.
Perfectly legal since it gets sent out all over the World

I went from Novice to Advanced, having failed the 20wpm the first time. I
still loved to hang on 40 CW, 2 and 440 FM for years. Then 40 got taken
over by broadcasters. I'm a little bit of everywhere now. With 2 m SSB
becoming popular, I've found cross mode CW/SSB actually works, so more
people find it useful than let on. I had talked to some tech+ on 10 SSB/CW.

"Michael Black" wrote in message
ample.org...
On Mon, 8 Sep 2008, AJ Lake wrote:

Keep the trash out of here, you and the other carpetbaggers.

Michael VE2BVW

Frequency's in use OM

"JB" wrote:

I hate Google Streets. It would seem to be an invasion of privacy for
someone to go around taking pictures.

Many people feel this way.

The only use is if you are trying to buy or sell a house.

As I said I use it to see where my contacts live. On occasion I even get to
see the tower and/or antennas. I used it scope out my old neighborhoods in
the Chicago area where I lived as a kid. Also recently I was recently able
to scope out a good parking lot on the beach at Pacific Beach CA (and
actually able to read to read the parking sign hours) prior to driving
there. So I find lots uses for it.

My PO box is on my license.

If somebody really wants to find you they can. If you give your call it
would be duck soup to find where you live, even using a PO box. But even
posting anonymously here on Usenet we can be found. The best advice is not
to make anyone mad enough to want devote the resources and time it requires
to do it.

I still loved to hang on 40 CW

Maybe we have QSOed in the past. My computer log goes back to 1990.
Unfortunately my paper logs are long gone. Give me your call and I'll
check..... ;-)

If somebody really wants to find you they can. If you give your call it...

Yes this is true, but you don't have to make it easy for them. They will go
after the easy meat first.

The best bet is not to leave anything the robots can parse and dump into a
searchable database. Then nut cases and spam machines with lots of time on
their hands will use someone else. I learned my lesson 10 years ago from
using my callsign for my screen name and winding up with hundreds of people
from all over the world sending me hate mail because some veeagra and sealis
salesmen were spooffing my address.

On Sep 11, 1:58*pm, "JB" wrote:
If somebody really wants to find you they can. If you give your call it....

Yes this is true, but you don't have to make it easy for them. *They will go
after the easy meat first.

The best bet is not to leave anything the robots can parse and dump into a
searchable database. *Then nut cases and spam machines with lots of time on
their hands will use someone else. *I learned my lesson 10 years ago from
using my callsign for my screen name and winding up with hundreds of people
from all over the world sending me hate mail because some veeagra and sealis
salesmen were spooffing my address.

oops, the above was just a test...

Anyway, the FAA and the ARRL both became concerned with stagnation in
the late 50's in the Amateur Service and as a result began to thrash
about for ways to keep the service growing... Incentive licensing,
and all the other changes we see moaned about on this topic were the
result of an actual good-intentions series of changes... Those who
believe in conspiracy will never understand that, but that is their
loss.. The one thing we won't see is the status quo... Change is a
constant, even in the stodgy ranks of hams... So no code it is - for
now - and even after more than a half century on the bands I do not
proclaim to foresee the future, other than be able to announce with
perfect certainty, the regs will change... If you do not like the
regs now, just wait - you won't...

Now having said that, I am currently working on a series of homebrew
pulse desulfators for batteries.. I have one that has been blown up a
couple of times, but for the moment is upgraded and again working on
knocking the sulfate off the plates of a tractor battery... It has
13.2 volt float with 51 volt pulses at a frequency of ~1kc and ~80ms
pulse width... I have delivered and in hand (just yesterday) roughly
a $100 worth of parts to build another ten units... I have the design
for generation II of these that will feature boost and burp charging
with ramping of the pulse frequencies...

Next up for gen III will be a 40 volt charger that will be pulse
width and frequency agile that will both charge and desulphate
simultaneously with a far smaller parts count - the square wave
charging pulses doing both actions simultaneously... Today I am
beginning the first tests of the devices that will be able to switch
30+ amps at 40 volts...

denny - k8do

Denny wrote:

Incentive licensing,
and all the other changes we see moaned about on this topic...

My moaning was because of the *unfairness* of the incentive licensing
frequency changes. I passed an examination for General and I expected to be
able to use those General frequencies. Then they took away half the General
frequencies. Even these many years later (even after having regained those
lost frequencies) I think it was an unfair change.

Some may moan that the FCC now gives advanced licenses with no code test and
modern hams don't have to work as hard for the license as hams in years
past. Which is true. And some may moan that people can now get an advanced
ham license by memorization without knowing the advanced electronics
pretended in the testing. Which is true. But not me because it takes nothing
away from privileges already earned.

I have an idea (analogy). How about we institute an Extra Plus license.
Forget the code test because it's obsolete. But to make sure that the
applicant is really qualified he must pass a *real* electronics/digital
test, one that can't be passed by memorization. No answer sheets. At the FCC
office like in the old days.

And....to make the license desirable we take away half of the current Extra
privileges and give them to the new Extra Plus.

Whoa, talk about moaning...

AJ Lake wrote:
Denny wrote:

Incentive licensing,
and all the other changes we see moaned about on this topic...

My moaning was because of the *unfairness* of the incentive licensing
frequency changes. I passed an examination for General and I expected to be
able to use those General frequencies. Then they took away half the General
frequencies. Even these many years later (even after having regained those
lost frequencies) I think it was an unfair change.

Some may moan that the FCC now gives advanced licenses with no code test and
modern hams don't have to work as hard for the license as hams in years
past. Which is true. And some may moan that people can now get an advanced
ham license by memorization without knowing the advanced electronics
pretended in the testing. Which is true. But not me because it takes nothing
away from privileges already earned.

I have an idea (analogy). How about we institute an Extra Plus license.
Forget the code test because it's obsolete. But to make sure that the
applicant is really qualified he must pass a *real* electronics/digital
test, one that can't be passed by memorization. No answer sheets. At the FCC
office like in the old days.

And....to make the license desirable we take away half of the current Extra
privileges and give them to the new Extra Plus.

Whoa, talk about moaning...
Well, the current extra class license only adds a small slice of extra
phone and cw bandwidth. I lived without the extra class phone segments
for years. Finally got my extra when the cw requirement went away.

The LACK of incentive plus the 20wpm code was the reason so few upgraded
to the extra class, the advanced class license was good enough.
Actually the extra cw segments were the most prized, so the cw
requirement made sense.

As far as techs are concerned... Well I knew quite a few techs who were
very much into home brew radios. Some of the best two meter (and up)
gear I ever saw was home brewed by those guys.
(state of the art in (1970's) mosfet front rx front ends).

ken scharf wrote:

The LACK of incentive plus the 20wpm code was the reason so few upgraded
to the extra class,

Correct. Before Incentive Licensing there was not much incentive to go above
General since there were no additional privileges. Those who did upgrade to
Extra did it for the accomplishment.

And since it was a real (no answers supplied) exam before an official FCC
examiner it did show accomplishment. Hams of the day often listed it on
employment applications alongside their commercial licenses.

Actually the extra cw segments were the most prized,

Only if you are a CW DXer. And even before the change, by gentlemans
agreement the bottom of the CW band was left for DXers and casual CW
operation was higher, pretty much like now.

so the cw requirement made sense

IMO the only justification for the code test (at that time) was for possible
emergency use. As an example a ship in distress, since many ships were still
using CW at the time. But other than that making a ham take a special code
test made about as much sense as making him take a special soldering test.
That was finally recognized recently...

As far as techs are concerned... Well I knew quite a few techs who were
very much into home brew radios.

As it should be. The Tech license was supposed to be for technical use, not
just another operators license. But of course that was a laugh. Most Techs
bought their equipment and set up shop on the nearest local repeater...

AJ Lake wrote:

ken scharf wrote:

snip
As far as techs are concerned... Well I knew quite a few techs who were
very much into home brew radios.


As it should be. The Tech license was supposed to be for technical use, not
just another operators license. But of course that was a laugh. Most Techs
bought their equipment and set up shop on the nearest local repeater...

Experimenter Techs were the norm IMHO before the debacle of license
class changes in the late '70s, and anything related to repeaters before
then involved significant accomplishment Please don't lump 'new' Techs
with 'original' Techs.

BTW, if anyone knows, I'd appreciate knowing what the grace period after
expiration was in 1975 (I was told by a field-office rep that my expired
Advanced couldn't be renewed and later I was told that I was probably
misinformed and was within a grace period, but I could never confirm that
fact).

Michael