-=> Quoting Blair Thompson to All <=-
BT> Dear friends:
I'm not looking for a lot of flames, but in 25 words or less (or more, if you 
feel like it), why should I get an amateur license? 
 
I think VHF disaster communications is the best reason for having my ham 
ticket.  I've been involved in a couple of weather disasters (Andrew was the 
biggest) and have found that cellphone gets overloaded very quickly when the 
wireline goes down.  
Getting out the first ten to twenty miles seems to be the key.
BT> I'm vaguely toying with the notion of the technician no code license. 
Do it.  It can't hurt you.
BT>Yes, I know that's for weenies, thank you. 
I came in as a no-code.  I'm an Advanced now so I can do HF phone patches for 
ships.  
When the water starts coming down the street, there are no dumb questions 
about license class.
BT> If I feel like learning code, I'll do it, rest assured. 
It's a good idea to know enough code to get by the five wpm test (even if you 
don't actually take the test).  If things really go bad CW will be the final 
resort.
BT> Occasionally, I'll tune my scanner down to the 2 meter band and see 
what's going on. When I hear amateurs, it seems they talk about equipment all 
the time. 
That's the nature of the hobby.  If you don't want to talk to tron chasers, 
don't.  The breakfast bunch on the local 146.61 machine seems to run toward 
traffic and gardening.
Listen when it hits the fan.  There's a big change.
BT>I know, I know, you provide emergency services. 
We do, we do.
BT> So do CB'ers (and I have no interest in getting a CB). 
27 Mhz simplex is a very poor choice for emergency use.  Having no repeaters 
or phone patches really handcuffs the effort.  It makes it hard to get the 
ten to twenty miles I mentioned above.
I have a CB rig in the truck for the highway.  Shooting the breeze with the 
truckers at night makes trips go better.  The chances are that the first 
report of an accident will be on CB.
BT> I'm not looking for name-calling, just opinions. 
I believe the name you're using now is good enough.
BT> I'm sure that with study I could pass the test, and, as I said, even the 
code, with more study. 
I'm sure _anyone_ could do it.
BT> Fire away. 
Here it is.
... KD4OSP in Chesapeake, VA
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