ORIGINAL: Matt Kirsch
ORIGINAL: The Toolman
Naaa, the walkie talkies for kids didn't have an org for them, the cordless phones didn't have an org for them, I could go on an on if need be.
The factorys that wanna sell their stuff sucks up with the gov to get their stuff approved an out on the market. That said, the model plane industry could have did the same thing without the ama. The ama is an insurance, magazine an big boys clubhouse in a nutshell.
Walkie talkies sell tens of millions of units. Cordless phones sell hundreds of millions of units.
R/C transmitter sales are counted in the thousands. Chump change by comparison.
For Futaba, R/C is just a small bump in the road compared to the rest of their offerings. Same for JR, Airtronics, and Hitec. They wouldn't bother with R/C if AMA didn't pave the way with gold bricks. We'd be back in the 1960's with our radio technology, and the hobby would be a lot smaller.
Well, I'll tell ya what ol' buddy. Back in the 50's an early 60's walkie talkies for kids was a new thing an they didn't sell millions of'em then. They was lucky to sell a few hundred sets in the U.S. at that time. Don't try to confuse the subject by using todays figures for yester-years matters.
I'm not saying the ama didn't help out a lot along the way, but the hobby would have survived without them also. Also, by going to the new 2.4 gig, ama isn't really needed for freq acquisition anymore (sp?) as much nowdays. Somebody along the line wants the freqs we use now an the factorys know that. Thats why they have started the switch to 2.4....
The same thing is starting to happen to 1 or 2 of the ham freqs to use for medical devices, an the arrl can't do to much about it. Besides, how much $ does the ama contribiute to pacs nowdays? I would imagine zero $, an that just don't get it in D.C. anymore.