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LETTERS
Keith Littlejohn vi s 73 BBS You told
us a while back that kids should be able
to learn the code aiao wpm as easy as
learningSwpm.
We (Kyla N7JVA and I) have live
kids, and the three big ones (B. 7, and
5) are getting interested in ham radio
and want HF privileges. So where are
the 20 wpm tapes lor beginners?
This isn't a silly comment! All of the
high-speed code tapes are for upgrading
from slower speeds, not for staning
from scratch .
20 wpm is 20 wpm, so what would be
different abouta tape for beginners?
As I've writ/en in my editorials every
few years, you sit down with a 20 wpm
tape and start listening. II's a blur.
right? Not quite. 1/ you start listening,
you'll hear an E when il goes by. Write
down E every time you hear il. Then
start listening for T, and write down
both E and T as they go by. Next start
listening for I. and so on Ihrough Ihe
alphabet. It"s a cinch. In a tew hours,
you're copying all of the letters, numbers,
and punctuation _. .and al 20
wpm. Beats the hell out of trying to
gradually speed up . . .. Wayne
Jeffrey Viola, Jackson NJ I am a
new subscriber 10 73 Magazine, and a
wanna-be ham for about 25 years
(I'm 36). Probably would have become
one as a youngster, but neither my tather
nor anyone else would take time
with a to-year-ole who loved 10 take
apart walkie-talkies, radios, or any other
electronic gadget. Over the past two
years, I bought the ARRL Handbook
and every old OST I could get my
hands on, and have been leaching myself
radio electrcrucs. Was gonna go
for my Novice (old ::;tyle) CW ticket. but
something held me back . . . perhaps it
was the coma I slipped into listening to
the local ham club weekly rag-chew on
2 meters.
When I heard the FCC was going to
issue no-cede tickets, • jumped for joy!
After all, I'm currently employed by a
major stock brokerage house as AVP
of their commun ications dept Talk
about technolog y- we've been sending
data via modems at 9.600 bps lor a
decade. t have one 18GHz and 23 GHz
microwave rad ios (digita!!) linking our
headquarters. The 23 GHz radio alone
gives me 28channels, each 1.544 MHz
wide! When the big earthquake hit California
two years ago, we talked to our
people on cellular radiophones. I' m
looking into hooking up our SUN workstations
on RF or infrared LAN S. And
"you" wanted me to learn code? Give
me a taptop PC hooked to microwave
spread-spectrum reoot
The point of my letter is this, however:
For alilhe editorial lip service, OST,
73 (yes, 73), and other publications
have given to the new no-code ticket,
8 73 Amateur Radio Today . November, 199 1
Number 3 on yo ur Feedback card
From the Hamshack
where are the articles for the potential
no-code ham? Other than the oneshot,
pat-on-the-back short articles lasl
spring, • have not seen one articie. II a
computer literate kid picked up Ihis issue
of 73, would he know he could geta
ham ticket? • called the local ham club
and asked about it, and got less inlo
from them than from a reluctant wil·
ness at a Mafia trial ... .
I personally believe that everyone is
afraid Ihat 50 MHz + will become CBland.
Where are, at least, Ihe UHF erncles?
Why not get elecfromcs/nam advertisers
10 put out a special no-code
one-time magazine? Charge a few
bucks and put it on Ihe racks for one
year? And lei us know where to sign up
to take the no-code1?
Jeffrey, we've pUblishea quite a few
VHF and UHF articles recently. Look
for future issues which will show you
ways 10 enter the exciting world of
VHF/UHF without breaking the bank.
By the way, the magazine you'd like to
see is a reality. . . it'scal/eaRadio Fun ,
and is now into it's third issue!. . .. Bill
WBBELK
Richard Bovee KF8NT, Tol edo OH It
has been said that along with the influx
of the new no-code Technician class
amateurs will come new technology.
Along wilh Ihat influx will co me new
amateur organizations, each striving to
be the best they can be, serve their
communily and better the communications
in their area. This, of course, will
mean more repeaters. Herein lies the
problem: repealer coordination. Good
luck! This is exactly the situation we
have found ourselves in. We cannot
seem 10 lind a 2 meter frequency that
can be coordinated. Paging through
the repealer directory, • find in some
instances, and not to my amazement,
more than one repeater per band per
individual/club.
Do you suppose the lime is near
when the FCC should rest ruct ure the
assignment of repeater frequencies
and aliow only one frequency pair per
band per individual/club?
Jeffrey C. Montgomery WB4WX D,
Palestine TX Congratulations on having
a fine magazine that attempts to tell
it like it is in the amateur community .
Mr. Green's colu mns make life triteresting,
to say the least, and is the firs t
thing turned to every month. BUT, I
have to disagree w ith a statemen t
made rega rding Morse code as it pertained
to emergency communications.
Mr. Green slated thai rewas not aware
of an emergency situation where code
was used in lieu of voice or other mod·
es because of their inability 10 get
through atmospheric conditions. I was
personally involved in a situation that
proved said value olthe code 10 do just
that.
On November 15, 1987, East Texas
was hit by several tornados. Our town
was particularly hard hit, and lost most
of its local and all of its long-distance
telephone service. The local ham communily
swung tntc action and set up
command posts throughout the city.
Co nnection was made to the evening
NTs traffic net on 75m using SSB as
the primary mode. Because of the static
crashes on the air, voice operation
was unintelligible. The operators on
both ends switched to CW, and atthough
difficult to copy, the traffic did
get through Ihat night. The next morning
when conditions improved, the tratuc
was handled on 40m SSB. In all,
over 400 pieces of traffic were handled
Irom as far away as Australia.'roe coce
proved essential to our operation Ihal
first nig ht. We used SSB and packet for
the majority of the remaining Health
and Weifare traffic.
• am an Extra class ham who has
paid his dues to the 20 wpm deity, but I
also support Ihe eococe Technician
for those who desire to go that route.
I've seen some fine, new Techs who
are valuable to Ihe service. But . think
the reported death of CW is premature.
Let's not write off a mode of communication
that has proved nsen 01 great
value over the years.
Dar ren Leno W Dfl EWJ
Now tha i
you've piqued my interest in microwaves
and all the other things I
haven'ttried yet, I'd really enjoy seeing
more articles on the subject. Take us
beyond 10 GHz, and show us where to
go to leach ourselves more.
I would also like to see an article thai
describes the mysterious modes that
we hea r about but never quite onderstand,
li ke pulse modulation and
spread spectrum. I thin k many of us
don't understand what we are even allowed
to do on these high frequencies,
let alone how to do it,
Thanks to your badgering, I've become
very interested in trying modes
that are new to me. I'm saving to buy
test-scan TV equipment, and recently
purchased an MFJ digital th ingamajig·
gy so I can learn about ancient modes
like AMTOR, RTTY, packet, and stuff . t
know I'm 10- 30 years behind the
times, but better lale Ihan never. Moon
bounce holds a big fascination for me,
and I've bee n listening to their nets on
20 meters.
Hey, why don't we put a 24 GHz repeater
on the moon?
As for your plea to get " good " hams
on 20 meters, I went and bought an HF
rig just for you. • absolutely cannot believe
what . hear on 14.312 (or thereabouts)
. It makes you want to do something,
like tell those guys off. But then,
we become part of the problem. So
what is the solution? If hams are going
to be self-policing, let's gi ve ha ms
some police power,
Darren's Big Sofution to the 20 Meter
Fiasco: Any ham who has not incurred
a viOlation may become a "Band Monitor"
after receiving approval by a full
vote 01the VEC organizations. If there
is any objection by any VEC, that person
will not be eligible to become a
Band Monitor, but may reapply aller
one year. There will be no less than 100
Band Monitors and no more than 200.
The specific cueuecauons for becoming
a Band Monitor woul d be declded
later, but It us method would prevent
any one group from monopolizing
the policing lunction. Band Monitors
are responsible lor monitoring th e
bands and issuing "notices" for simple
violat ions. If a ham rs e frequent offender,
or commits extremely disruptive actions,
the Band Monitor complaint is
referred to the Hearings Board with the
evidence (tape recording).
The Hearings Board is made up of
two hams appointed by each VEC.
These hams would hear complaints
brought by Band Monitors and would
have the authority to dish out license
suspensions 01 up to one year, Revocation
would be a penalty that only the
FCC, on the recommendation of the
Hearings Board, would be able to implement.
I think hams need to give themselves
some leetl'l, Wayne, The FCC already
makes a provision to listen to the advice
01 frequency coordinators in disputes
arising from repeater interference
cases. Why not give the VECs a
lillie more authority to regu late the
hams Ihay are licensing?
Howard Pomeroy KA1 ZCY. Suffield
CT One of the reasons I'm writin g is to
inform you that I finally passed my
Novice CW and theory. and no w,
Wayne, I am a ham. My callsign is
KA1ZCY, and I am so proud of it. My
only regrel is that my dear Mom and
Dad weren 't here to share my excitement
with me .
73is a fine journal, my only comment
is I wish the "OX" column were a bit
larger.
G, Eric Fergu son KA6USJ, Concord
CA OK. You' ve finally done it!! I am
now motivated to upgrade from Novice
to Tech. I' m your Bth place winner in
the Ham-it-Up Sweepsta kes, Up till
now, I have had man y excuses to not
upgrade. Lack of money, no place lor
an antenna, can't remember code,
etc., wei!, you get the idea. Even my
Commodore 64 was given to me, and
now it's an orphan , I have never been
on the air yet, and have had my license
lor around 10 years. I admit I was hoping
to win an HF rig, but • think I' m
really going to enjoy the 2m/440 rig.
THANKS!I
Fran KG7NZ via 73 BBS • enjoy your
magazlne immensely. Never stop griping
and grousing, it encourages the
res! of us to consider other ideas and
problems.l also loo k torwaro to logging
some time on your BSS now that it is up
and running .
The new BaS has been up and running
full·lime since the end of July. Everyone
is welcome to browse Ihrough the
ever-growing liat of useful programs
you can download. We now have over
1000 users! Feel free to give it a call at
(603) 525-4438.. . . Bill WB8ELK