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Politics : Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_urchin who wrote (19714)	12/1/2003 9:12:39 PM
From: philv	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81114

Re: Ham Radio I'm not a ham guy, but I do have some gear able to pick up most of the ham long distance bands. I have the Icom R71A receiver, and enjoyed listening in from time to time. Never had the urge to get into it, and now with the internet, (propogation is much better on the net), whatever urge there was is reduced. Were you ever able to contact N. America? Probably on 20 or 40 meter band? I guess the only plus is the independance that Ham offers, relying only on one's own equipment. I can remember as a child, thrilled with hearing SW signals from overseas. I just got a hunch you have a big setup with a huge high antenna, right? I once read of a guy who was trying to contact the world on 5 watts of power on S.W. (probably code), and getting fantastic results. It is hard to imagine radiating 5 watts of power, having it travel around the world in waves like a pebble tossed in a pond of water, and somebody actually receiving and understanding that signal, hugely reduced in power. That must be a thrill, which only Ham guys can appreciate. They now broadcast at 1000+ watts with 100+ ft. antennas and punch through almost any atmospheric conditions.

To: sea_urchin who wrote (19714)	12/5/2003 9:30:38 AM
From: mcg404	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81114

Searle,<Take the Taliban for example. It turned out to be a few thousand fighters at the most, not the great invincible Afghan Mujahadeen who drove the Russians out.> Seems to me you might be inappropriately equating 'military force' with 'the will of a people to reject subjugation'. Did the Afghani need the US help to outlast (and defeat) the Russians? Or did it simply accelerate the process? Same question for Vietnam/US. And, of course, same question for Iraq/US. I don't think the US has a 'smart bomb' effective against the will of an independent people. We shall see... John