[BC] Amatuer radio spectrum

[RichardBJohnson at comcast.net]

Whooa!
When the interstate highways were built with public funds,
rules were established to keep horses and horse-drawn carriages
off them. This was because they were so obsolete that they
couldn't safely compete with high-speed motor vehicle traffic.

A parallel exists here with the current amateur radio bands.
It is obsolete technology which greatly interferes with more
modern usage of the available spectrum space. Ultimately
everybody will be using some kind of spread-spectrum
communications methodology because it is the only technology
that addresses all the communications issues necessary for
reliability. Even moving television to UHF for this new
high-definition service was just a step in the ultimate
demise of TV allocations as we know them.

Ultimately all communications that use radio frequency energy
will be using some kind of digital encoded packets that are
spewed out across a broad spectrum. There will be certain
intermediate steps along the way. Remember that nothing is
permanent.

The ARRL and other amateur radio advocates need to step up to
the plate and address this new technology. Certainly there is
spectrum space available for the amateurs, but not in the form
of a hard carrier on 51.5 MHz! That is obsolete and, ultimately
will be found "harmful to the public interest." Since the engineers
who are designing the new high-speed spread-spectrum stuff are in
many cases, amateur radio operators, they need to address these
issues just as their forbearers did when radio telegraphy gave
way to radio telephone.

If, and I hope this is not the case, amateur radio has degenerated
from its innovative past, to a special communications facility
for the privileged few, then they don't deserve any special
consideration as their allocations are be wiped out. The innovators
need to step up and do their thing.

Cheers,
Richard B. Johnson
Book: http://www.AbominableFirebug.com/

----- Original Message -----
From: tpt at literock93r.com

Look at this Wall Street Journal article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123750147891089303.html

The hams are well aware of the danger here, from the BPL fiasco. If
you start talking in terms of $$$ per message sent, then all usable
spectrum should be devoted to digital traffic monopolized by the big
common carriers who can afford to pay off the guv'mint.