🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4fmcnb$s8s@wabbit.cc.uow.edu.au>,
    ben@snrc.uow.edu.au writes:

>Awww, come on - Choice is aimed at the general public, who wouldn't
>know (or care about?) the difference between a ham radio rig, a scanner,
>a CB radio, or an AM/FM trannie. They're all "radios".

My point exactly.  We amateurs ought to remember that, the next time
an antenna objection is received from a neighbour, on the grounds that
it will enable us to eavesdrop all the better on his phone...  We
get enough bad press as it is, being confused with CBers, without a
"learned" journal like Choice screwing things up.

Case in point: An editorial in a leading electronics magazine down-played
a hike in amateur licence fees, on the grounds that it was the first
such rise in 10 years or more.  That report got quoted in Parliament
to suppose the rise.  The editor was totally and utterly wrong (in
fact, as an Amateur himself, he must have known he was wrong), and
apologised in a subsequent issue.  The correction did NOT get aired
in Parliament.  The damage had been done.

>I think that Choice does a fairly good job of covering technical areas,
>though they can't be expected to delve as deeply as you may like (eg.
>to explain the difference between a Radio Operator and a scanner user/
>"radio operator").

They might have the guts to publish an apology, when shown how misleading
their incompetent opinion is.  As it stands, it is now on record that
amateur radio operators will eavesdrop upon cellular phones with their
scanners, and nothing will change that.

Yes, I'm an amateur operator.  Yes, I have a scanner that covers the
800 MHz band.  No, I've got better things to do with my time than to
listen in on people's phone conversations.

-- 
Dave Horsfall VK2KFU  dave@fgh.oz.au  Ph: +61 2 9957-4224  Fx: +61 2 9922-5286
FGH Decision Support Systems P/L, 77 Pacific Hwy, Nth. Sydney, 2060, Australia