Subj : HamData Callsign Updates To : Barry Martin From : Daryl Stout Date : Thu May 26 2022 08:23:00 Barry, DS> that's the extent of "help" we can provide. BM> Right, otherwise you'd be taking the test for them. We looked at the current exams, and WE, as examiners, would have trouble doing the tests without studying. If renewing one's ham radio license also meant re-testing, the hobby would've died out long ago. Never mind that there is now a $35 additional fee payable to the FCC for a new or renewed amateur radio license, or a vanity callsign change request (in addition to the fee that the VE Team may charge). That $35 fee is payable to the FCC within 10 days of the email they send...or the new or renewed license grant is canceled, or the vanity callsign request is denied. There is no fee for a license upgrade from the current license to a higher license class, a sequential callsign change request, or an administrative change (change in name, email, mailing address, phone number, or a club or repeater trustee). Many hams have complained about that...but in some parts of the world, the license fee for the term of the license is in the hundreds of dollars...so $35 for a 10 year term is a bargain. And, I've seen these same hams lay down 1 or more $100 bills at a big hamfest to buy a brick of a large number of prize tickets, and they don't bat an eye. Of course, if you win a high dollar radio, you more than made your money back, especially if you can find someone willing to buy it off of you. When they still had the Morse Code requirement (it was reduced 22 years ago, then eliminated entirely 15 years ago), some individuals studied the Morse Code ONLY to pass the Morse Code exam...and never touched a keyer or used it again. There were originally 3 tests...5 WPM for Novice or Technician, 13 WPM for General or Advanced, and 20 WPM for Amateur Extra. The 13 and 20 WPM exams were dropped in April, 2000...and the 5 WPM exam was dropped in late February, 2007. But since they dropped the Morse Code, ironically, it caused a surge in folks wanting to learn and use it...as now they were learning it because they WANTED to, and NOT because they HAD to. The funniest stories I recall on the Morse Code in the over 30 years I have been a licensed amateur radio operator, are as follows (I may have told these before, but they're still funny). 1) I asked a local ham radio operator (who passed away several years ago) what his secret was to learning Morse Code. He replied "I learned all the dirty words first". I laughed, and said "Well, you can't say them on the air...but if it helps, more power to you". 2) A ham radio club in Dallas was using the VoIP mode of Echolink (VoIP uses traditional RF and internet for communication) to teach a Morse Code class. The first characters they taught formed the S expletive...I thought "I'll be damned!!" . But, when you looked at the dot and dash pattern of the Morse Code characters, it made perfect sense. 3) Several guys were at a restaurant table in Annapolis, Maryland, using Morse Code to tell dirty jokes to each other at the table. This drop dead, gorgeous, beautiful, curvaceous () female walked up to them, and sternly admonished the group "You boys need to watch your language. I teach CW (Morse Code) at the Naval Academy across the street!!", and walked out. They were as red as tomatoes!! While the next 2 weren't with Morse Code, they're with restaurants, and are still funny. The first one dealt with this guy who thought he was a stud muffin, and God's Gift to women. So, he's with his buddies at this table, and this waitress (another drop dead, gorgeous, beautiful, curvaceous () female) walked up to the table, and he said to her "I'd sure like to get into your pants" (for sex). Without missing a beat, she replied "Why?? Did you [poop] in yours??", and walked off. He was as red as a tomato...and I guess now he's more muffin than stud!! The second one had these 2 guys at a truck stop, and another good looking waitress (just like the ones noted before ), walked up to them, and asked for their order. One said he wanted a cheeseburger, and the other said he wanted "a quickie". The waitress, obviously annoyed, said "Sir, this may be a truck stop, but I will not tolerate that kind of language here. I'll be back in a few minutes, and we'll try again". So, a few minutes elapses, and she returns, again asking for their order. The first guy again says he wants a cheeseburger, and the second guy says he wants "a quickie". Enraged, the waitress slapped the guy so hard that it knocked him out of the booth on to the floor, and she stormed away. The guy in the next table over said "Uh...that's pronounced 'quiche'". DS> The thing is, all hobbies are dying. The "old guard" is DS> literally dying off, and we can't get young people (new blood) DS> into it. BM> Unfortunately yes, or at least it appears that way. The "kids" seem BM> to be more interested in staring at their phones, looking at what other BM> people are doing. Will admit that statement is flawed: a lot of kids BM> are active in sports and music. In looking through the file areas last night, I saw a meme where these 2 crows noted this scarecrow in the field, and one wondered if it was a human there instead. The other replied "It's fake...he doesn't have a cellphone in his hand up to his ear". BM> Similar format changing around here, though we a bit of a spin in that BM> two stations changed frequencies several years back. Local very BM> popular country station was originally assigned to a restricted power BM> frequency while the declining in popularity oldies station was on a BM> full power frequency. They eventually got approved to swap BM> frequencies; the country station gained additional audience and even BM> more popularity while the oldies station continued to wane -- I think BM> the oldies station eventually changed formats. There used to be an oldies station here years ago, KAUL (with AU the chemical element symbol for "gold"), meaning they had the music of the 40s, 50s, and 60s, including big band and swing. Unfortunately, the country-western, rock, and talk radio stations did much better, and the station eventually went off the air for lack of listeners and advertisers. BM> Toys For Tots is also a very popular programme locally with yearly BM> sponship drives by a local TV station and I think a regional motorcycle BM> club. It's kind of funny seeing the burly-bearded-tattoed 'motorcycle BM> gang' riding around with teddy bears, dolls and the like strapped to BM> their Harleys! :) This is true. I don't know how they're going to handle it this year, but I'm sure there'll be a "Bob Robbins Memorial" somewhere in the title. Folks are already asking where to drop off toys for it in his honor and memory. BM> Why am I thinking of the whaling stories? "Thar she blows!!" There you go, blubbering again. BM> And make sure the blade is sharp so it cuts the cardboard and not slide BM> and cuts you. With being on Eliquis, I'd bleed like a stuck pig. But, at least now, they don't have difficulty getting blood out of me at a blood draw. They just have to find a vein that won't roll over or collapse on itself. Daryl .... Sign in Restroom: Toilet Out Of Order. 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