said by AnonProxy :

These nerds are going rule the world!

said by RayW :

No, Hams do not want to rule the world, too many noses to wipe.

said by AnonProxy :

These nerds are going rule the world!

said by moonpuppy :

Back to the anonymous posting?

said by Maxo :

If Ken Martin wants to take a governmental "hands-off" approach

said by brooklynman4 :

When u get into a car accident who u think calls the for help that trackter trailer passing by they should not be left out.

said by RayW :

If I can translate correctly into English "When you get into an accident, who do you think calls for help when the tractor trailer passes by without helping?" (Reminds me of the spam I get from all the non-english speaking countries.)

Um...someone on a cell phone? Or a VHF/UHF ham radio if not on a main route? BPL (consumer style) most likely has very little to do with the supposed scenario you are talking about since consumer BPL affects the long haul radio frequencies and this is a bit higher up in the spectrum.

said by RayW :

Tzale, it will be interesting to see what happens with the influx of new HF privilege Hams in regards to the complaints on BPL. I know that at the one session I was at on the 23rd they had 26 people testing for G and E, and that session was advertised mainly by word of mouth. My club's test session on the 7th already has over 30 people stating an interest and they are expecting at least that many more as walk-ins. Makes me wonder, the FCC loosens up the entry requirements for users of HF, yet on the other hand is actively promoting consumer BPL technology that ruins the frequencies of interest.

said by Tzale :

The reason why they dropped the CW requirement (which I think is a big mistake) was because the ARRL petitioned the FCC to drop it.

The FCC is big, one hand does one thing, the other does another.

Some think they'll remove the testing eventually, that would be a major mistake. The only thing separating hams from cbers are the testing and determination once must make to legally get on the bands

said by RayW :

A bit off topic now, but as I recall, the ARRL did not want the code totally dropped, that was the FCC. I would go out and check the ARRL site, but I can not access it now.

As far as not learning CW because people are lazy, that might be true for some folks, but others like myself have a problem learning new languages. According to my mom, I was a slow learner just to speak and understand English as a child and to this day I still miss parts of a conversation (and yes, the hearing tests are good). On the other hand, I have found over the years that for me, all the testing for the various licenses have been easy to pass while some other folks struggle to do so even though code is simple for them.

That said. I am still working on the code, even though I already have my piece of paper for Extra, because I believe code IS important. Maybe someday I will break through whatever problem I have and be able to use that mode too. Oh, and for those who think the FCC reduced the amount of code spectrum, they did not. With the exception of 60 meters and ignoring any band plans, you can legally use code anywhere in the US Amateur bands. And as I recall from my Navy days, properly used code reception techniques should be able to squeeze through voice QRM and make contacts that can not be done with voice modes, unless someone is deliberately out to jam you.