Some radio amateurs seem to be living under a rock...
From the blog of RSGB General Manager Peter Kirby, G0TWW
In recent weeks I have received a letter from a belligerent member who threatened to resign unless the RSGB changed its stance on compulsory “Morse Testing” his letter banged on about how “unfair” it was to Class B licence holders that, in the 21st Century they are still restricted to VHF operation only! Now come on. The RSGB changed its policy back in 1998 and compulsory Morse Testing ceased in the UK in 2003. He had put his telephone number on the letter so I rang him up. When told of the changes he said he had not seen anything in RadCom! Had heard nothing over the air, and it was sometime since he visited his club?
After I stopped laughing I thought that we need this guy's telephone number so we can let him know about a few other things, such as the end of the 2nd World War, the death of Queen Victoria and the sinking of the Titanic.
Read Peter's blog here... http://www.rsgb.org/managersblog/managers-blog-28-oct-10.php
I sometimes operate as /A and other amateurs ask me what /A means. Does anybody read their twentythree page Ofcom licence? But the one about 'class B' licenses is a gem.... next they'll be questioning the use of callsigns beginning with the letter 'M'. Never mind the fact that 'M' has been in use since 1996.
ReplyDeleteDear oh dear oh dear.
It is not really surprising that some operators do not know what /A means as it was not on the licence for a some years. I don't know if it was an oversight or if it was reintroduced because of pressure from the amateur community but it has been back for a while now.
ReplyDelete(d) When operating at locations other than the Main Station Address, it is recommended that
the following suffixes be used:
I. If the Licensee operates the Radio Equipment at an Alternative Address, the
Licensee may use the suffix “/A” with the Callsign
Note the MAY! It is no longer necessary to add any suffix, the same as we no longer have to keep a log but it is a dumb idea not to keep one.
You still hear a few quizzical people when ever a club station is on. People have no idea what GC, GX, GP, GT, GH,GN or GS are and that is on the licence too.
It's not too difficult to keep abreast of what's happening in amateur radio, there are many news sources around on the web, mailing lists, newsgroups, forums, the list goes on.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to credit that a member of the society has not managed to absorb news from 7 years ago that was no doubt given fair prominence in RadCom, but then there are always people that are not listening.
Would be good if more people put up more money for the SDF though, the cost of legal action is high and isn't going to get any cheaper in the future.