"Chuck...K1KW" wrote:

What really amazes me is you folks don't know what the real test is for
getting on HF!!!! You have to do it!!! That means really figuring out how
to put up the appropriate antenna, tuning it, tuning and running your rig
properly, ect.

It can't be that hard; after all, hundreds of thousands of CBers
managed to get on 11 meters. Modern rigs don't require much "tuning"
and most newbies tend to buy pre-assembled dipoles or multiband
verticals. The rigs are plug and play with microphones included.

We had a pretty good license structure in the mid '60s. Most folks
started with a (non-renewable) Novice ticket with very limited
privileges to get their feet wet. Then they upgraded to General with
full amateur privileges.

That wasn't good enough for ARRL. They insisted we needed more license
classes and more exams (incentive licensing). FCC bought into it, and
we all had to upgrade or lose privileges. Now, ARRL is cheapening the
value of those higher class licenses they insisted we get.

I figure that in about five years we'll have only one license class,
and that it will require only a single simple multiple-choice exam.
Will that re-energize ham radio? I doubt it.

Art Harris N2AH