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February 3rd 04, 03:36 AM

In article ,
(William) writes:

Billy:

Not hardly. Young Miss Clauson bears the unfortunate burden of being a
New Age, Dumbed-Down "Nickle" Extra.

Larry, you're so quick to tear down the achievements of a child.

Billy:

Point taken, and I offer all appropriate apologies to Miss Clauson.
However, her achievement, while a fairly notable one ***for a child,***
is no longer noteworthy for anyone over the age of, say, 10 years,
and certainly a meaningless one for an adult. I'd go farther to say
that the the amateur radio licensing requirements of the time when
I was licensed (early '80's) were nothing that could not be easily
achieved by the typical high-school student, even though there were,
in fact, some kids in the single-digit ages who were getting Extra with
the support of their ham parents.

Mattie Clauson's achievement only points accusingly to the fact that
present amateur radio licensing requirements are "dumbed-down" to
such an unreasonably low level that even a 7-year old can attain an
Amateur Extra-class license. And while the novelty of a 7-year old
Extra is certainly "news" in the Amateur Radio community, it does
not point to a secure future for our hobby/service. One must keep in
mind that she had the support of a mother who is also an Extra-class
licensee, and young Mattie was undoubtedly "pushed" along the
licensing process, whether Mrs. Clauson will admit to that or not.
Any of Mattie's young peers, without the support of a licensed parent,
and the material support of a functional station in their home, would
not likely achieve the same results. About the best we can hope for
is that other ham parents will take similar steps to induce their
children to become licensed, but that's about as far as it can go
until they become adults, with their own financial resources and the
adult prerogatives that go with it.

About the best face I can put on this is that young Mattie now has
the rest of her life to "grow" into the hobby. Hopefully, over the
years, she will acquire technical knowledge and operating skills which
will become equivalent to her Amateur Extra status. As of now,
however, she is more of a stunt than the real thing. I have no
doubt that when asked to engage in even a fairly low-level discussion
of technical and operating subjects, she will not be able to give
any reasonable accounting of herself, beyond perhaps the simple
recitation of answers to the exam questions. The news articles
make no mention of her on-the-air involvement in CW or digital
modes, just the fact that she likes HF/SSB phone. Big deal -- a
7-year old who can push a button and talk! I'm sure she can use
a telephone as well! But can she solder a PL-259 onto a piece of
LMR 400 Coax? Can she build a dipole for 40-meters? Can she
set up a Field Day station on her own? Can she build an interface
so she can use PSK-31 and other digital modes on her parents'
computer? Does she even know which end of the soldering iron gets
hot? I have my doubts about all of the above, and I would think
that these should be the minimum skill requirements for ANY
amateur radio license.

Again, none of Mattie's inadequacies are her fault, she is just
the product of her parent's dreams. But I do not consider her
to be my "equal" as an Amateur Extra in any but the most
rudimentary aspects -- those being that she has the ticket and the
privileges. I had fourteen years of experience as an electronics
hobbyist, project builder, and SWL before I ever got my Novice.
As a result, I progressed to Extra at what was, at the time a
notably rapid pace. Anyway, I look forward to working Mattie
someday in CW or one of the digital modes. I just hope I get
the chance, since I will not likely work her on HF phone.

73 de Larry, K3LT