L. M. Rappaport wrote in
:

although I don't have them memorized

What?!! Why, I'm appalled!...(c;

One of the stupidest questions on the EXtra test is something about how
many days, before you launch your own orbital ham radio satellite, must you
notify FCC that you are going to do so from the cow pasture behind the
barn...followed by 4 answers. How stupid! Who cares? Why do they care
that I have this information MEMORIZED for instant retrieval?

I'd rather have them know how to solder, which would fail 20% of the
testees right dead in their tracks...(c;

As a digital ham, I wanna swap the stupid code test for a TYPING TEST.
It's boring to sit typing with some ham on RTTY or PSK31 or packet that
types with one finger at 4 wpm. He should know how to type BEFORE he's
allowed on PSK31!

--
Larry

"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in news:Tv-
:

U.S. requires an operator license as well.


I still got my Restricted. It's punched through like your passport with
20J0121 across the paper. Don't think the new ones are for a few decades.

--
Larry

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in
:

Larry is just ****ed that he never was able to pass his Extra exam.




Better go check W4CSC on qrz.com, Douggie. I've been a ham since 1957 and
an Extra since 2000-something when I could take the test without the CW
stupidity I never use....(c;


--
Larry

I also upgraded when the rules changed. Wonder why you upgraded since you
seem to have such distain for Extras?

Doug

I was concerned about general abuse of the Marine VHF also.

However, I just spent a month up in Canadian BC waters and the respect for
proper procedure and useage of the VHF was impressive.

Anytime I heard any general 'chit-chat' on 16 (most likely fellow "Yanks")
they were quickly dressed down and that was the last you heard of them. I
suspect this may have something to do with the need to rely upon the VHF
more than Cell Phones in BC waters.

My opinion and experience, FWIW.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in
:

I also upgraded when the rules changed. Wonder why you upgraded since
you seem to have such distain for Extras?

Doug



So the bands didn't have but two "edges" to watch. Besides, my Extra
friends used to poke sticks at me at our oldtimer's breakfast. They're all
intimately familiar with my being able to make it work.

I was one of the troublemakers that started SARA, the Sumter Amateur Radio
Association, back in the 70s. We didn't have a repeater and ETV wanted us
to have an organization before letting us have tower space at 1000'. SARA
was the answer. It went along fine for years, a fun group, but there were
power brokers always trying to take it over. One night, in an attempt to
split up the group, one of them stood up and said that I had said one of my
buddies was just an appliance operator, which was true. My friend stood up
and said, "I agree. It's true!". The power boys walked out and never came
back. The club was fun, once again. We started having ham classes, just
for fun, because some of the wives and kids wanted their Tech licenses to
get on the repeater to call Daddy. The youngest kid I ever got a license
for was no record, but he was 7...(c; He cried all night the first test he
failed the code test on. His letters were so big when he was copying code,
he ran out of paper! We had a whole notebook of paper for him to pass,
next time. He just kept studying....and passed the 13wpm test next time!
He wrote those big letter really fast after a month of practice. We worked
real hard to get him his General before he was 9. Most fun I ever had on
ham radio...same as those old guys did for me when I was 10.

--
Larry

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 17:33:38 -0400, "Doug Dotson"
dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote:


"Don White" wrote in message
...

...and of course Canadians require an operators license, although the
station licenses are gone.

U.S. requires an operator license as well.


But the Canadian Operator Certificate requires a bit of study, and an
examination.



--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
new newsgroup users info : http://vancouver-webpages.com/nnq
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca

"Steve" wrote in news:KcadnZ-o2s1hi5TeRVn-
:

I was concerned about general abuse of the Marine VHF also.


You'd have had a heart attack on Channel 10 in Greenville, SC, a long way
from the sea. A friend of mine, who was a ham, ran a pest control business
on Channel 10 for years...(c; Not much traffic in the mountains....(c;

This kilocycle kop krap gets too far, however. Lots of boaters I know are
afraid to use the radios for fear of making some kind of foopah mistake.
What nonsense. Some idiot screamed at me on Ch 68 one day for talking
about a raft up we were headed to with friends. I gave him Lionheart's
callsign and asked him for his. Of course, he had none...(c;

--
Larry

"Peter Bennett" wrote in message
news.com...
On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 17:33:38 -0400, "Doug Dotson"
dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote:


"Don White" wrote in message
...

...and of course Canadians require an operators license, although the
station licenses are gone.

U.S. requires an operator license as well.


But the Canadian Operator Certificate requires a bit of study, and an
examination.

Your point?



--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
new newsgroup users info : http://vancouver-webpages.com/nnq
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Steve" wrote in news:KcadnZ-o2s1hi5TeRVn-
:

I was concerned about general abuse of the Marine VHF also.


You'd have had a heart attack on Channel 10 in Greenville, SC, a long way
from the sea. A friend of mine, who was a ham, ran a pest control
business
on Channel 10 for years...(c; Not much traffic in the mountains....(c;

This kilocycle kop krap gets too far, however. Lots of boaters I know are
afraid to use the radios for fear of making some kind of foopah mistake.
What nonsense. Some idiot screamed at me on Ch 68 one day for talking
about a raft up we were headed to with friends. I gave him Lionheart's
callsign and asked him for his. Of course, he had none...(c;

He didn't need a callsign.

--
Larry

While living aboard, at a mooring in San Diego CA, early '90s, I overheard
the US Navy parking lot security patrols using the VHF walkie talkies every
nite for a couple days. Fortunately a senior navy officer on his pleasure
boat heard them and all the other boater complaints and put a stop to it..

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Steve" wrote in news:KcadnZ-o2s1hi5TeRVn-
:

I was concerned about general abuse of the Marine VHF also.


You'd have had a heart attack on Channel 10 in Greenville, SC, a long way
from the sea. A friend of mine, who was a ham, ran a pest control
business
on Channel 10 for years...(c; Not much traffic in the mountains....(c;

This kilocycle kop krap gets too far, however. Lots of boaters I know are
afraid to use the radios for fear of making some kind of foopah mistake.
What nonsense. Some idiot screamed at me on Ch 68 one day for talking
about a raft up we were headed to with friends. I gave him Lionheart's
callsign and asked him for his. Of course, he had none...(c;

--
Larry