Hams in Space!

RANDOM OUTPi;Tk "~
14.313 MHz
I happened to scan by 14.313 MHz
the other day, and I couldn't believe
what I heard. The same people who were
demonSlratmg their ignorance over two
years ago are STILL on that same fre·
quency _.arguing the sameslupid points
oaing QRMoo by tne same idiots . ..
blah blah blah yak yak yak , . ,yawn,
yawn
I have managed to keep my nose out
of this tuue ego battle, figuring that as
soon as the participants got bored they
would move on to other pursuits belit·
ling their intelligence-like l inger painting
SUfe, I've mentioned in passing
how dumt> the Whole th ong1$. but I haven',
really addressed the issue directly. The
th ,ng that has bot hered me the most
about the who le rid iculous mess is that
it takes up agood ch unk Of the 20m phone
band. wh ich keeps the rest of us ffom
using those Iraquencies lor more c.cccctive
and enjoyable purposes. I also get a
bit angry every time I rem ind myse lf thai
th,s demonstration of idiocy on the part of
American amateurs is being momtorec
by people all over the world. Some of
those foreign nsteners will remember what
they've hea rd from tne U.S , hams when
it comes ti me to as k for lavOls at the
next WARC, • have also spent a lillie time
considering the example these bra inless
wonders are setting for newcomers or
potential hams
I went so la r as talking to one of the
partrclpants a few months ago, I wanted to
see lor myself ,I this guy is as big a fool as
he appears to be, Yup " he,s ,
rve sought out and listened to me soca
lled bulletins. Total tripe,
rve even spent several hours just momtoring
that portion of 20m . where most 01
th,s crap 's oeorejee. rve listened to all
sides . rve heard hour after hour of nonidentifie
d. intentional QRM,
rve heard Virtually everyone who considers
himsell involved in Ihis mess and
what they have to say
Here's what I've discovered
What we have here, ladies and qentlemen
, is a small group 01 very lonely peepie.
The biggest thing in their hie-THE
BIGGEST_ is the small bot of attention
they are able to capture by be,ng pompous
and boring on 14.3 13 MHz, These
peoples' lives are so utterly devoid 01 any.
thing even remotely worthwh,le. they have
resorted to the on ly thing they know to
justify their existence, They ha ve created
a situation, and placed themselves at the
locus 01 it. lor no other purpose than to
give themselves a reason to get out 01 bed
in the morning. Instead 01 work'ng constructively
and through proper channels to
correct what they see as a problem on the
amateur bands, these self-appointed
keepers 01 the radio truth have perscnarlzed
the,r msaqreements. They're not interested
in solving problems, Thei r only
motivation is ego gratihcat'on, These are
true outsiders, folks . The kind 01 geeks
that even the nerds won't associate with.
It's lunny how important something can
become, when the rest of your lile is so
unimportant.
Try to iook at this situation as if you had
88 73 Amateur Radio Today . March, 1991
David Cassidy N 1GPH
just come across it today, What would your
reaction be? I have explained lhe conflict
to several people who were totally unaware
of the whole thing , Every single person
had the same respon se: " Aren't there
more important things in t he wo rl(J to
spend time and energy on?" Allol mynonham
friends who have asked for an axptanation
01 the utter jccbsneess they hear
co ming out of my speaker have simply
laughed. They're not just laug hing at
those heard on the radio, the y' re laughing
at Ihe entire amateur radio community lor
lelling such a stupid situation take up so
much lime. thoughl and ene rgy, They're
laughing at you and me.lriend . • can't say
that I blame them.
So. what's the solution? True to form .
the AARl's response was something like .
" We 're not involved , I1's net our o-oelem."
So muc h for the seu-apccrotec
voice of American amateur radio.
The f CC , tryIng to auow us 10 lulM our
promise of beong "satt-pcnctnq." has
aske(J those involved to work out theIr (J,I·
ierencee. Since those involved have no
interest in workIng oul their d,fferences,
this has had no ertect, Remember, these
bozos are gelling a barrelful ot self·imporlance
out of this They have actually ceovinced
themselves that what they think is
importan1-enough to cause the incor wen.ence
01 tncusands of amateur radio operarors
around the world Even though the
FCC has warned us that if they have to
step in to solve the problem they will do so
by a swi\t and privilege·revoking rule
change. all the partie-pants can oc IScontinue
to bother the FCC w,th their pelly
qnevances. In Irusnauon, the FCC has
stepped up their monotoring and started to
levy some st,ff monetary pena lt'es (though
I haven't bearc 01 anyone who has had his
license revoked). The operators who have
recewed fi nes are wear ing them like a
badge 01 honor. further proving their utter
stupidity
One thing that we all can do is ma ke
sure we are not prov,ding an audience for
these clowns , (ThIS is why you will notice
Ihat I haven't ment ioned anyone's name
or Cllilsign. I know who they are. but I strnply
refuse to feed their egos by prmILng
their names or calls igns.) It you are moni·
taring the freq uenc ies. you're part 01 the
problem If you're mon--"'Sl !"I "! "! 40 40 _ "I. "r, "I, ~ I , 20
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