[rescue] Dayton Hamfest

[wa2egp at att.net]

> Japan and the Soviet Union started issuing no-code HF licenses in the
> 1950's and neither had the problems the U.S. had. What cleaned up the
> U.S. hams (as much as they were cleaned up) was appointing a ham as the
> head of the enforcement beareau of the FCC. Since he was licensed he
> could go on the air and politely tell offenders that he was going to
> fine them and revoke their licenses if they did not follow the rules.
> Several former hams ignored him. :-)
>

I don't know if he actually did that but he did spread the word that he was not taking any crap from anybody and the majority of hams applauded him for that.  For a long time the FCC seemed to be large on bark and short on bite.

> 
> You would not believe the acrominy some "coded hams" have for no-code
> generals. Recently Ten-Tec asked what people wanted in a new rig. We
> discussed this on a Ten-Tec user's mailing list and I suggested a 20m
> SSB rig pared down to the absolute minumum. My idea was to make it 20m
> SSB only with CW and other bands as extra cost, user installable
> options.

MFJ 9000 series of single band transceivers.  SSB and most have an optional board for CW.
They are only 20 watts but work very well.

> 
> Based on my discussions with Mr. Bill and others, I wanted to hit a price
> point of $200, so that hams who had no radio and not a lot of extra
> cash could get back on the air.
> 
> If you are interested, you are welcome to look up the list and read the
> archives. :-(
> 
> On the other hand suggestions for how to get seed funding would be gratefully
> accepted.
> 
> > And I'm a no-code General, soon to be Extra. I was a no-code tech 14
> > years ago too.
> 
> I'm a U.S. 13wpm Advanced and an Israel Extra. I probably won't upgrade because
> Israel is one of the few countries in the world that asked the people that
> run the volunteer exams for U.S. licenses not to operate here. 
> 
> I was first licensed in May of 1993 as a No Code Tech. 
> 
> I guess I could go to Kuait, Jordan or Egypt. :-)
> 
> Geoff.

If you look at BITX, that looks like the same idea.  The rig looks interesting.

Bob