Redneck Ham

---via Larry Nix,N5TQU You just might be a redneck ham if----

You think the international Morse code is made up of three characters, dit, dah, and duh.
Your dipole doubles as a clothesline.
You tape a flashlight to your beam so you can tell where it's pointed.
Your Pickup has more antennas than hubcaps.
Your mobile rig is worth more money than your pickup.
You fry grits on the heat sink on your rig.
Your daughter’s hair-do ever got tangled in your antenna rotor.
Your mobile had more cracked windows than you have characters in your call sign.
Your coon dog glows in the dark because the stake for his chain doubles as a ground rod.
Your ht is shorted out because the kid tried to play with the rubber ducky in the tub.
Your kid sleeps on the trailer floor because his bedsprings are loaded up and hanging in a tree.

National Weather Service Bill Creates Storm

Copied from The ARRL Letter, Vol. 18. No. 39, October 1, 1999

A provision in a bill authorizing appropriations for the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other government weather services has raised fears that Amateur Radio-related activities such as SKYWARN may be endangered. The provision, Section 3(c) entitled "Competition with Private Sector", also has triggered concern on the part of some that the bill could reduce the government's ability to monitor and issue severe weather warnings. Some hams already have contacted their Senators requesting them to oppose the measure, HR-1553.

Section 3(c) says the NWS "shall not provide, or assist other entities to provide, a service if that service is currently provided or can be provided by commercial enterprise." There would be exceptions if the private sector were unwilling or unable to provide the service or if the service provides "vital weather warnings and forecasts for the protection of lives and property of the general public."

The provision is being championed by commercial weather services that provide fee-based "cloudy and warmer"-style and so-called "value-added" weather forecasts, primarily to commercial broadcasters. Some believe the bill could keep the NWS from providing needed weather information, including storm watches and warnings, storm tracking information, and other weather-related data to ARES/RACES organizations or to emergency management officials.

ARRL Legislative and Public Affairs Manager Steve Mansfield, N1MZA, says HR 1553, "generally can be construed as supporting the National Weather Service's role in the dissemination of severe weather warnings, because it specifically designates the service as the sole issuer of severe weather warnings." Mansfield notes, however, that NWS and NOAA authorizing legislation hasn't passed the Congress for six years.

Beyond that, the "private sector" provision in Section 3(c) has drawn fire from the White House, which has requested its removal. A Statement of Administration Policy notes that the provision "could create confusion about who is responsible for specific marine and aviation weather forecasts." Mansfield says that even if the bill does make it through Congress intact, he does not believe it will harm Amateur Radio's SKYWARN relationship with NWS.

HR 1553 has passed the House. Action is pending in the Senate Commerce, Science and Technology Committee, chaired by Sen John McCain.

You're Getting Older If you Can Remember…