> that in fact was never the law or an industry canada regulation.
> It was encouraged by the CNIB to have a blind person hook up with an elmar
> or a sponsor or helper and that would assist in them getting on the air
and
> getting antennas and equipment functioning properly.
> I think at one time in the past the department of communications probably
> wouldn't give a blind person a license unless they had a sponsor or elmar,
> but it was never the law for it would have been discriminatory.
> Actually, some of the older blind hams here still feel it necessary to
have
> a sponsor and are thus limiting themselves in what they can accomplish or
> what they have been able to learn.
> I know of one blind ham who has a power supply going bad but has been told
> by his "sponsor" that there is nothing wrong with it and that he is not
> allowed to alter anything at his station because he, the sponsor, does not
> approve or think there are  issues...he can't even talk on 2m because
there
> is a over powering hum in the audio due to a bad filter cap...
> I wrote the list some months ago regarding a small matter i ran into
locally
> where upon asking for assistance to get an swl antenna set up i was
informed
> i needed a sponsor because i was  blind and if i didn't have one then i
was
> operating illegally, which of course, is garbage.
> Unfortunately, not just the older blind hams still hold this out dated
idea
> of sponsor ship.  Before getting my license, the folks at the local radio
> store also semed to think i wouldn't be allowed to even think about
getting
> my license, or buy any equipment from them unless i had a sponsor
> present...guess i will be buying from those who have more modern views hi
> hi.
>
> I believe the reasoning behind it at first was because acording to the
> regulations, a station operator has to be able to insure that his/her
> equipment is operating on  frequency and that they do not exceed 100 per
> cent modulation...of course, with new equipment there are limiter circuits
> built in that will not allow for more then 100 per cent modulation and
they
> are always on frequency.
> Thankfully the CNIB has dropped the idea of needing a helper/sponsor/elmar
> to proceed in ham radio but of course, a sited helper is always very
useful
> when one is first starting out.
> I had to laugh a few weeks ago when i found out that an 81 year old blind
> ham, who has been licensed since the mid 50's, still has a sponsor who is
> substantially younger then he...guess old habbits die hard.
> But the bottom line is that there is no official regulations or law saying
> that a blind ham operater must have a sited elmar/helper/sponsor in order
to
> safely or legally operate their station.
>
> 73
> Colin, V A6BKX