What some people here are missing is that WE DO NOT WANT TO STOP BPL. We want to happily coexist with BPL. BPL is good. BPL in its current form, though, threatens to interfere with all signals in the 2 to 80 MHz range, right where our R/C frequencies are.

Stopping BPL would be like standing in front of a speeding freight train and holding up a hand. However, if we, through the AMA, ARRL, etc. can help to get/keep BPL on the right track, everyone will be happy. People will have cheap access to broadband Internet, and we'll be able to fly our planes without being shot down every time someone downloads an e-mail!

MustangFan,

You hate the AMA, and only have it because you're being "forced by an evil monopoly." Do you realize how much you have to lose if the AMA wasn't there?

It seems that there is a constant, small, but constant, battle raging over our frequencies at the FCC. Who would fight it if not for the AMA? The radio manufacturers? R/C is small potatoes for the parent corporations of the manufacturers of our radio equipment. They only make R/C equipment because it's easy money. As soon as the going gets tough, and they have to shell out money to protect their relatively small consumer base in the USA, you KNOW the corporate bean counters at the top will pull the plug. If it weren't for the AMA leveraging the FCC against these radio manufacturers, we'd still have about six channels on the 72MHz band.

What happens when the federal government finally takes a good hard look at our hobby/sport as a whole, and decides that it's a "terrorist threat?" You think Great Planes and Horizon are going to step up to the plate and bat for us? As soon as the going gets tough, anyone near the top will cash out, and that will be the end of it.

See, the people that run the hobby industry could care less if the hobby lives or dies. If it's making money for them, it's all good. As soon as it no longer becomes profitable, or requires too much effort to make that profit, they cash out and go do something else...

The "strength in numbers" is not about how many members will actually speak up. It's about the number itself. The AMA lawyers and lobbyists will do the speaking for us, and use that number to drive home the point that there is a signifigant number of people out there who care enough about the preservation of their hobby that they are willing to shell out $58 to join an organization that is dedicated to just that.