Gents... Amateur radio is supposed to be devoid of politics as much as
possible. but the more you dig the worse it gets. I once attended an
IARU Region II meeting in Jamaica and was amazed by all the wheeling and
dealing going on with DXCC accreditation at the core. That was nearly 50
years ago and it seems not much has changed. I had even heard that the
ops at 706T where banned from working any 4X4's but the sharp ops with a
wink and a nod just logged VX4*** rather than mentioning anything on the
air. Would the ARRL "DXCC Desk" discredit a single 4X4 in need of this
one? I sort of doubt it. At times there are bona fide reasons to make
exception. Also the creation of private DX preserves by the ARRL for
certain Radio Societies is legend. In fact KP5 (Desecheo) should never
have been granted DXCC status when Mona Island which permits visitors
was refused. Additionally Water Island, which KP2A fought for for
years, was clearly not part of the USVI and until recently administered
solely by the U.S. Department of interior. But so the story goes that
hams in Puerto Rico had decided to join the IARU as a distinct and
unique entity apart from the U.S. and the creation of a private DXCC
location was the price the ARRL paid to halt those plans. The DXCC
rules have been anything but consistant and have been bent and twisted
like a heavily gerrymander congressional district to purposely include
or exclude voters of certain just to satisfy some.
Herb Schoenbohm, KV4FZ
On 11/18/2013 3:47 PM, Joe Subich, W4TV wrote:
Len,
Why, you might ask after all this suffering, is that this nation
still is not recognazid as a separate entity to this very small
world of the global assembly that Ham radio really is?
Ask the Serbs and Russians why they blocked Kosovar membership in the
UN and prevented ITU from assigning a callsign block, dialing prefix
and internet TLD? If the Serbs and Russians recognize the Palestine
they could certainly allow Kosovo similar international privileges.
Kosovo is recognized by the US as an "independent state" (see:
http://www.state.gov/s/inr/rls/4250.htm) and like the EU the US
maintains diplomatic relations with Kosovo. Unfortunately, the
DXCC Rules (see: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/DXCC/DXCC%20Rules.pdf)
do not include the US DOS "Independent States in the World" listing as
a qualifying option for a "Political (Rule 1) Entity".
73,
... Joe, W4TV
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Topband Reflector
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