In the Lord of the Rings fandom there’s a persistent debate whether balrogs, or Durin’s Bane specifically, have wings. The text in Fellowship is ambiguous whether what it is describing are literal wings or something else wing-like.
In the Lord of the Rings fandom there’s a persistent debate whether balrogs, or Durin’s Bane specifically, have wings. The text in Fellowship is ambiguous whether what it is describing are literal wings or something else wing-like.
The code requirement is what stopped me from getting a license in the mid 90s as a kid. Well that and nobody could tell me what lunch meat had to do with wireless communication. I learned morese all the same after getting my tech license just to prove to myself I now had the discipline that I lacked as a kid.
Related: There was an uproar when the FCC said they’d start charging $30 for licenses whereas before they were free. Most hams I hang out with IRL were fine with it, but I was not. If you’re on the outside wondering whether to get into the hobby, every roadblock is a potential show-stopper. If someone hands you a can of weird soda you’ve never tried, you’ll probably try it because the worst you’ll get is a bad taste. If you have to pay for that same can of mystery soda, even if it’s just a dollar, you’re more likely to pass.
The big picture is more complex though. The $30 dollar fee isn’t specific to ham licenses, it’s part of a process of standardization at the FCC that also affects other services. It’s also a pittance compared to what some other countries expect. Aussies had it really bad in the past, though googling it literally just now seems to indicate it’s gotten a lot better. They used to have to pay annual fees on top.