[WVDXA] 5A7A -- the Untold Story

[Clark L. Stewart]

Ron,

      Glad I hadn't ticked you off.  I thought long and hard about posting 
my comments to your email as I did not want to anger anyone.

      The point you bring up about the DX'pedition operators knowing the 
restrictions is a good one.  That is something we DO NOT know about 
yet.  Maybe they did know about the restriction before they arrived in 
Libya and maybe they didn't.  Or, maybe only one of the operators knew and 
didn't tell the others thinking it wasn't important.  We just don't know 
what happened there.

      I know that when I operated from Macau (XX9TN) I did not have the 
license or the rules until I showed up in Macau and presented myself to the 
Posts and Telegraphs Department.  Before I left for Macau I was told that a 
license "would" be granted upon my arrival and upon my application but I 
did not have it in hand before I went there.  One surprise was that they 
had to physically inspect my station.  Three officials showed up in my 
hotel room on my first day of operation to inspect my equipment.  That was 
a bit scary but it turned out all OK.

      So if you know about the restriction ahead of time you can definitely 
decide not to go but once you are there, it makes it a lot more difficult 
to say, "Thanks but no thanks, I'm going home."  Especially after you have 
already spent your and many other peoples money to get there.

      But that points up another problem here.  It seems few if any in the 
DX community knew about the restriction before the operation took 
place.  That's angered many folks who sent contributions only to find out 
after they did that they supported something they would not have supported 
had they known about the restriction.  So, it's a good thing that we all 
talk about this and learn from this situation so we can be better informed 
in the future.

73,

Clark, W8TN



At 02:28 PM 2/9/2007 -0500, you wrote:
>Hey Clark,
>
>I certainly didn't think you were picking on me.  I am of the opinion that 
>the DXpedition ops had to know what the restrictions were before they 
>received licenses.  I also believe they had sufficient time to to consider 
>the situation and tell the officials in Libya, thanks but no thanks.  I 
>believe thats what I would have done in this situation.
>
>I love to work a new country as much as anyone, but I draw the line when 
>the rules are morally repugnant to me.  Obviously the DXpedition ops do 
>not feel the way I do, and I respect their right to such a decision.
>
>I wasn't trying to bring anyone over to my way of thinking, which is what 
>the Libyan officials did and the DXpedition ops accepted. I was merely 
>expressing my opinion.
>
>73,
>Ron, KG8GW
>
>