Posted on 01/10/2008 11:30:21 AM PST by Rick.Donaldson
His failure to actually understand infrastructure related to "fixed services" is in my opinion, a telling sign of an individual who is clearly not qualified to stand in the position as Commander-in-Chief of the United States. His belief that "we don't need to deal with ham radio operators" is certainly ignorance on his part, when hundreds of thousands of hours of donated time, equipment and expertise have been give by men and women in the Amateur Radio Service.
The word "Amateur" is a misnomer. Rarely if ever is there an "amateur" among them, and they provide professional communications to everyone they serve, including the public.
The public perhaps in general might view a "Ham radio operator" as some sort of geeky person without a life. This can be no further from the truth. Most are professional men and women in all walks of life, professions and experience.
Mr. Romney dismisses their service as "nothing", after having spent millions on a fixed communications service and when questioned on things like interoperability he became more agitated, obviously not having answers to the questions.
The fact is all systems will fail, and there are usually single-point-of-failures in the systems, and this includes everything from the AC power supplied to your house, to the cellular telephone in your pocket. Satellite communication can fail in severe snow storms, and power systems and infrastructure can be destroyed by ice, snow and tornadic activity.
Over the years Amateurs have proven their worth over and over in disasters from California and Colorado wildfires, to Katrina. Where government supplied communications infrastructure has repeatedly failed, and no other communications was evident, Amateur Radio was there.
When ALL ELSE FAILS, Amateur radio is there.
Mr. Romney has shown his incompetence in this, what amounts to some, an insignificant issue. But to me, and other Amateurs throughout the country -- this is a serious and incomprehensible mistake on his part. He has never apologized to the Ham community where he was Governor, and he has never admitted this mistake publicly. Instead, this has been glossed over by many, and by some who support Romney it's "not an issue".
It WILL become an issue when he is C-in-C and we end up in a war where our country becomes the target. When the Hams are needed, they will still respond in SPITE of someone like this man. But, many will not vote for him.
Amateur Radio Operators deserve at LEAST an apology from this man, and until he does so, he won't be getting my vote.
(From the Federal Communications Commission) The Amateur Radio Service The amateur and amateur-satellite services are for qualified persons of any age who are interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest. These services present an opportunity for self-training, intercommunication, and technical investigations.
Millions of amateur operators in all areas of the world communicate with each other directly or through ad hoc relay systems and amateur-satellites. They exchange messages by voice, teleprinting, telegraphy, facsimile, and television. In areas where the FCC regulates the services, an amateur operator must have an FCC or Canadian license. FCC-issued Reciprocal Permit for Alien Amateur Licensee are no longer needed. Reciprocal operation in the U.S. is now authorized by Section 47 C.F.R. § 97.107.
All frequencies are shared. No frequency is assigned for the exclusive use of any amateur station. Station control operators cooperate in selecting transmitting channels to make the most effective use of the frequencies. They design, construct, modify, and repair their stations. The FCC equipment authorization program does not generally apply to amateur station transmitters.
Romney is a big old ham.
He just doesn’t like the competition.
I can’t believe JimRob didn’t include “attitude toward the ham radio community” in his “candidate deal-breaker” poll the other day.
Whether you like ham radio or not, not voting for someone based solely on that is rather immature.
Lieberman doesn’t like ham either.
There goes the Art Bell endorsement ...
Romney the chameleon RINO cheater, who despises amateur radio operators. Why? Because they get the truth out?
Romney is a such ._.. / _ _ _ / ... / . / ._.
LOL
Maybe one of his neighbors has one of those 60-foot tall antennae sticking out of his roof causing an eyesore for the neighborhood. Not that I’ve ever seen anything like that in my town, of course.
As a self-organizing global communications net that needs no infrastructure, ham radio's whole value today is emergency communications. It should be 'sold' to the public specifically for this function. What better way would there be to bring young people back into the field?
His stand is relevant, because it exemplifies his preference for big govm't solutions.
Wow, Romney stepped in it this time. Ham operators are indespensible with regard to just about any national emergency. I guess the idea they don’t cost the state gazillions of dollars, probably reduces their importance to him.
I understand the sentiment completely.
However, I do not think this thread is going to garner the reaction you might have wanted.
Well you got that one right.
Romney’s an elitist snob. What more needs to be said?
Rommney’s a cable modem and satellite dish type of guy.
Loser.
i think the evoked response adequately underscored your point. :-)
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