> Is what hams are doing with SS really advancing the state of the radio art? I
> thought that the SS techniques in use by hams have been pioneered by
> commercial and military interests 20 years ago. Also I thought that much of
> the SS technology in current use was designed and built by commercial
> interests.
> I think it's important to remember that the very existance of our hobby is predicated on fulfilling the fundamental purposes set forth in 97.1. Paragraph (c) reads: "Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication and technical phases of the art." Who could have predicted the spin offs of the space program? OK, Tang wasn't so great, but there are plenty of things that came from this endeavor that no one could have imagined at it's onset. If your focus on development is based on a profit seeking motive, the results are probably going to be different that if you are doing it just for fun or to ask "what if?". The other parts of 97.1 have a similar thrust. Somebody, somewhere realized that this group of geeks fondling their tubes in the basement might come up with something the commercial forces missed. Hurray for us! Let's try to keep a place in our hobby for those things we can't yet imagine. 73, Bill NK5F
> Promoting technical education?? I am not against that. I just question
> whether SS is a suitable starting point for increasing the education of most
> hams, since many probably can't understand the workings of a super het
> receiver. If you are referring to promoting the technical education of a
> handful of elitists <> at the expense of other hams who have no particular
> interest in SS, then I disagree. But this is only if it is at the expense of
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