In the April edition of QST...

[N8YX]

Page 82.

There are a couple (shall we say, "interesting") statements:

"Emcomm is what saves Amateur Radio from losing spectrum."

"We cannot forget the serious side of Amateur Radio, as a back-up to the back-ups we have."

Given that Romney and several other state governors have gone on record stating they don't want amateur radio operators on-site in the event of various catastrophes, could it be that the second comment is fast becoming irrelevant?

Discuss both points, please.

[PA5COR]

The world is in motion so are we as ham radio nutters.
I've seen some serious changes on my side of the pond, our DARES ( Dutch Amateur Radio Emergency Service) has good ties with the government and keep regular drills with the authorities for a series of possible emergencies, though the level of people in DARES is in comparison to the USA smaller, and less whackier, no extra lights, no special vests etc.

In frequencies we saw a take back of the higher frequencies or from pure amateur only use to shared use.
We did see some extensions here on H.F. ( 7.000 to 7.200) and 70 MHz added, 136 KHz added, 500 KHz added extension on 160 from 1.810 to 1.880 Hah! so you guys still have a lot more spectrum on H.F. as us here, 400 watts max PEP out put here.

The need for broadband spectrum in the higher frequencies will push harder on our spectrum there, H.F. is getting less interesting for the authorities and there we Can see some compensation for lost rights in the GHz area.

I realise that Europe is much more densely populated ( 512 million peeps on almost the same area as the USA, more use of the spectrum as well.
With more and more people living in city's we can expect some serious shortages on spectrum for use by civilian and companies as well.
We don't have the emergency's as you guy's have with tornado's etc, maybe some serious snowfall what can be dealt with by the normal services, so emergency is nowhere near the level you guy's have.

With the extra level of use of frequencies we also see a rise in unauthorised use of equipment and frequencies sometimes in our bands for people just wanting to use easy accessible communications, and since the authorities spend less time and valuable man hours on fighting that, things won't be better.

But then, having been licensed for 35+ years i will be active till they pry my key/microphone/digital mode out of my cold dead hands ;)

[ki4itv]

Great topic, Fred.
I'll lead off by saying that I do not believe that Emcomm is what is saving us from losing (most of) our spectrum. I'm of the opinion that our privileges are more like a national park reserved for radio enthusiast. National parks have little to do with anything other than serving the general public who wish use them, sure there is a little element of conservation, but these parks obviously require very little 'return of investment' to maintain spaces as public use areas. I see no immanent concern, and much of our playground is practically useless for the transmission of high density data the way we do it now.
The "Emcomm is saving our spectrum" argument is a non-starter for me.

Now the political aspects of moving away from using the unaccountable public for transmitting communications during a disaster is a completely different matter entirely. Our government is desperately making moves to eliminate the ability for the public to know what it is doing at any given time. You see it in professional PS communications, and you see it in larger charitable disaster relief organizations. The latter probably being the result of a shift toward private communications by government, basically so relief organizations stay relevant and continue being closely aligned with the official response. This is precisely why Winlink was able to gain so much approval where it really does not belong.

The simple fact is that ham radio can, and will, be useful in serious breakdowns of society over very large areas. There is no avoiding this reality about the usefulness of our skill-set. People will need us to do what we do, not so much the government. The Emmcom focus of the ARRL has, in my opinion, been one to serve the wrong master. The government MIGHT need us one day, but the general public most certainly will. Who would you rather help?

Our role should be to provide information and basic communications for the people who will not have it. Our neighbors, friends, and anyone who finds themselves outside the information loop when something terrible happens. It is We The People who will truly appreciate and need the simple abilities of ham radio when it does what it does best, not the government who's main objective seems to be about controlling the flow of communications at all times.
The government will come to us out of need in those times where it has failed. We need not court them, or go out of our way to become like them.

Frankly, we've been kissing the wrong ass for far too long.
...and this I lay squarely at the feet of the ARRL and the loudmouth whackers who's sole objective (for most) is really a personal one, benefiting their own ego first and where the real need is, second.

Hope that's enough for now. I got more...and it's chock full of explicative flowery language not fit for public consumption.

[kb2vxa]

Hey gang, it's the APRIL edition.

[Jeff K1NSS]

Great topic, Fred.

The simple fact is that ham radio can, and will, be useful in serious breakdowns of society over very large areas. There is no avoiding this reality about the usefulness of our skill-set. People will need us to do what we do, not so much the government. The Emmcom focus of the ARRL has, in my opinion, been one to serve the wrong master. The government MIGHT need us one day, but the general public most certainly will. Who would you rather help?

RR that, cubed. Also comments about going out of the way to court government. Kind of like pre-registering your communications gear, along with your stored food, water and, uh...nothing to see here, I'm a stamp collector.

?

[N2RJ]

Hey gang, it's the APRIL edition.

Thunder stolen.

[N2RJ]

What is saving our spectrum:

Contesting. You may not like the QRM, but spectrum that is not used gets lost.

DXing and DX contacts. The internet is world connected but there aren't that many people calling each other "fucktards" and "assholes" on ham radio. You hear "my friend" a lot on the radio. We are the world's ambassadors.

Public service events. A lot of community organizations appreciate the help. We don't have to save the world, but helping out with a walkathon gets people on our side.

Nobody really has any use for our most popular bands. Who cares about HF? Verizon and AT&T want UHF and above for LTE.

TV broadcasters. They have a huge chunk of contiguous spectrum. We don't. They are an easy target. That's not to say they should lose their spectrum. They just happen to be an easier target, and is primarily who wireless companies are going after.

The military, specifically the US Air Force. PAVE PAWS. Need I say more?

The FCC. Despite what people think the FCC thinks of us, many at the FCC thinks we're valuable to support recovery efforts of long term disasters. We also help out with public outreach (DTV transition for example).

Congress. Several Congresspeople are noticing amateur radio and trying to help us.

And finally, the ARRL. Yes, love them or hate them they are on our side... they may have been infested with the pro-winlink faction but lately I've noticed that they're listening a bit more.

[Jeff K1NSS]

All editions are April

[ki4itv]

Hey gang, it's the APRIL edition.

Like when did that ever stop me from a good ol' Winlink whacker rant???
Thanks for the opportunity, QST. I feel whole again.
;)

[VE7DCW]

Like when did that ever stop me from a good ol' Winlink whacker rant???
Thanks for the opportunity, QST. I feel whole again.
;)

Or for that matter ......an anti-ALE or anti-KQ6XA Bonnie Crystal rant .......