A thought just occurred to me......

"Carl R. Stevenson" wrote in message ...
"WA3IYC" wrote in message
...
Would you agree with this statement:

however, at the same time, those who are not interested in building radios
should not be forced to learn how they work in order to gain amateur radio
privileges ...

No ... because, even if you don't build your own radios, you are responsible
for their proper operation. How could you possibly know something was
wrong if you had no knowledge of how the radio worked?

I'm responsible for the proper operation of any motor vehicles I
operate, but I'm not required to know how they work. Or pass any exams
on how they work, even to build or repair my own vehicles.

This is an interference control issue ... a technical matter ... and
knowledge
of this IS required in order to be competent to operate a station in full
compliance with the rules.

Motor vehicle operation is a life-and-death public safety issue, and
an environmental issue. It's certainly a technical matter. Yet there
is no exam for technical knowledge of motor vehicle operation. There
IS a skill test, though....

Some states require that vehicles pass periodic inspections - but not
all states. And even in states that have inspection (like
Pennsylvania), a lot can go wrong between inspections. PA inspections
are annual, and a car that was perfectly fine at inspection time can
have all kinds of things go wrong in a year. Tires and brakes wear
out, shocks fail, fluids leak, alignment goes out, etc., etc. Yet PA
DMV trusts us to keep our vehicles in shape even though we are not
tested on how they work.

Most people nowadays don't build their own cars and most hams nowadays
don't build their own rigs.

73 de Jim, N2EY