Rothammels Antenna Book ...

Whatever the demerits of the current progessive licence scheme, I don't think the level of technical knowledge or maths in the RAE was ever particularly high. There was really no golden age.

I've never used the term golden age, but the addendum to the RSGB handbook in 1941 had mathematics up to what was the GCE standard of, say 50 years ago.

That's not the RAE. There are certainly amateurs of all ages currently who share your advanced level of mathematical ability, and there always were. But equally you could pass the RAE and become an excellent and popullar radio amateur fifty years ago while not knowing a great about technical matters. Amateur radio has always attracted a broad spectrum of interests.

Untrue, dangerously so.

Amateur radio has always been a technical pursuit; the operator's hobby is CB Radio, and on the amateur bands are a large number of CBers masquerading as radio amateurs.

That is no doubt what you would like to be true, and I have a lot of sympathy with that aspiration. But it is not in fact true, and there were always, at least since the 1960s which is what I know about, a large number of amateurs interested in operating (and often highly skilled and knowledgable about it) and not particularly interested in anything technical. Equally, a lot copied circuits without being much interested in the theory. So I simply do not agree with you about the facts, as opposed to preferences.

I do very little selective operating and I am not interested in electronics or computing so where does that leave me ? ....

It leaves you making your own choices, which are really no-one else's business; but it does make some of your criiitcisms of others looking a shade hypocritical, though.

I would like to know what criticisms you mean.....please share I won't get annoyed .....honest

FL too easy? People not doing morse?

Don?t forget Jim?s endless moaning about people reporting his stalking to the police, but then he went and stitched up Paul with those recordings. What a snitching hypocrite.

feeble