From jwf@sdf.lonestar.org Wed Feb 11 14:56:48 2004 Newsgroups: aus.radio.amateur.misc Subject: Article in a 1946 issue of "The AustraliAsian Radio World" magazine From: "ARA" Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2004 14:26:48 +1030 Does anything in the following old article sound familiar? ;-) --- POLITICS OF HAM RADIO GOODNESS only knows why it should be, but the whole history of "ham" radio in Australia seems to have been clouded by brawling among those who should co-operate for the benefit of the game. The policy of "AustralAsian Radio World" has always been to do everything possible to further the interests of "ham" radio, but never to interfere in the political situation of the vari- ous Clubs. Equal opportunity has always been extended to every club to publicise its activities and build up its membership. Following this policy I did not hesitate to devote consider- able space in the June issue to the launching of the Experi- mental Radio Society of New South Wales. By doing so, however, I find that I have become embroiled in "ham" politics and have incurred the displeasure of certain V.I.P.'s (Very Important Persons) of the W.I.A. Acting on the assumption that I may as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb, I'm going to make the most of the oc- casion and let off a few personal opinions, even if they still further displease these V.I.P.'s. REGULATIONS Before going further I feel that some personal explanation which I would have hesitated to make if it were not for the favorable way in which my readers accepted the May issue, with its "Personal" angle. That issue has given me greater courage to approach readers in a more personal way. I hate regulations as such. I know that certain rules on conduct must be laid down to guide people into the right paths, but all my life I have encountered endless examples of the horrors of repression. I have seen the tragedies of children brought up by stern parents, who have suddenly found themselves grown up, but with little sense of responsibility. I believe that child- ren should be trained to accept responsibility when they are young and timid, so that as they grow to strength, so they develop their sense of responsibility. As a typical example, let us consider car driving. In the United States many schools include car driving with the routine lessons. Starting at about 14 years of age a child naturally feels anything but reckless, consequently he starts to drive steadily. As he grows he develops judgment and proper feeling of responsibility. There is nothing of the style of "Whoopee, now I'm 18 I can get a license, so step on the gas." Likewise, a lad who is prevented by regulations from own- ing a pearifle will squirm under this form of restraint until the calendar indicates that he is "old enough" and then out he goes with a packet of ammunition and shoots at everything he can see. My theory is that the lad should be taken at an early age, while he is still prepared to accept advice from his elders, taught the uses and dangers of a rifle and encouraged to care for one, and accept the responsibility of owning it. I'll bet anyone that such a course of training will do more to prevent shooting accidents than all the regulations that long-winded professional politicians and would-be dictators can cook up to keep themselves in their snug jobs. Which brings me to the point. I think that the regulation recently introduced to make it impossible for a lad to hold a transmitting license is one which fairly stinks. If a lad has the technical knowledge to pass the examination and the applied concentration to learn the morse code, he has every right to operate a ham station. I feel sure that the W.I.A. has lost many friends by not mak- ing an effective protest against this latest rotten piece of out-dated psychology. What annoys me still more about this particular subject is that one of the V.I.P.'s, who is the very man who should be doing everything possible for the encouragement of the grow- ing youth, makes no secret of the fact that he supports the attitude of the P.M.G. and agrees that "children should be seen, but not heard." Another unhappy feature of the repressive regulations is their habit of breeding people of a dictative nature. Such a person may be of the highest integrity, capable and energetic, but unfortunately blind to the fact that he suf- fers from the inferiority complex which expression breeds. Maybe in his young days he was not allowed to give expres- sion to his personality; now that he is grown up he delights to "wield a big stick," with confidence almost amounting to impudence and not the slightest doubt that his own point of view is the only point of view. Not that that is bad. Provided that they are surrounded by co-workers of a toler- ant and understanding nature, such people can do lots of good work and cannot easily be deviated from their good intentions. It is for this attitude of tolerance that I call on all radio enthusiasts to be broadminded enough to overlook the minor problems, but to bring their full strength to bear on the V.I.P.'s to make them realise that if they "wield a big stick" it should be with a view to getting better treatment and encouragement for "ham" radio, not the sup- pression of publicity for worthy Radio Clubs. I have every reason to believe as true the position in regard to the Wireless Institute, as summed by VK6MU in an article in the May issue of "Wavetraps," a little journal published by the Subiaco Radio Society in West Australia. He says, "(the W.I.A.) should ask itself why half the amateurs of Australia have at one time or an- other been members, but now neither subscribe to its actions nor its finance." I feel sure that the only worthwhile policy for the W.I.A. is to drop all pretence of appeasement, stand up on its hind legs and fight for better conditions for ham radio, greater freedom, and give every encour- agement to all and sundry to fill the ham ranks, even if it does mean QRM! : A. G. Hull - in The AustralAsian Radio World, July 1946 --- Transcribed February, 2004 - "Error & omissions excepted" --- Oh, I also noticed an article from a 1950 issue of CQ magazine. It also dealt with a Regulation; it's title was: "Keep Out of Jail" - in a nutshell, the article showed how to use a surplus ARC-5 receiver as a station monitor, ie to preclude transmitting out-of- band. Ie, the first article simply LABELS the problem, while the 2nd one seemed focussed on SOLVING it. ("Past is prologue" ;-) What can we learn from these articles...? :-)