"Jim Hampton" wrote in
:

I shamelessly copied this from another post in another group. A
question begs asking: why didn't the codeless techs renew? Perhaps
there is no respect for something that is, essentially, given away?

One of my customer's helpdesk techs in the IT department got his nocode
Tech a few years ago. He was kind of pressured into it by his uncle. He
studied, easily passed the test and bought a Kenwood 2M HT of some sort.
He quickly lost interest.

Chew on this theory: Amatuers love their hobby and just plain love radio.
They don't NEED to convince themselves that their hobby has some sort of
utilitarian purpose (i.e. "What's is good for?"). They want others to
share their passion. To get others started, they suggest taking a simple
test that just about anybody can pass. The hope is, this will wet the
budding amatuers palatte and leave him wanting a little more. Eventualy
they hope, he will pass the code test and at least become a General.

The budding amatuer gets his ticket. Months later, he begins to wonder
why he's going to all this trouble just to talk to people. "Why not just
pick up the phone? Why not chat with people all over the world using the
internet?" and so on.

See, he sees ham radio as a communication tool, which it certainly is.
The problem is, he doesn't have a fundamental love for radio. If the goal
is simply to meet people and chat with them, there are many alternatives
that work just fine with out all the bother. So they lose interest.

Consider this analogy: I like motorcycles. I own a built-from-the-ground-
up one-off custom softail. It's cool. Some folks dig it, some folks
don't. If the purpose of getting a motorcycle is purely utility, i.e.
great gas mileage, easy parking, lane splitting g, etc, then one could
accomplish all of that with a $3000 used Jap bike of some sort. Of those
that already own a motorcyle of the sport variety, some may scoff at my
ride. "My such-and-such is faster, handles better, get's better mileage,
brakes better, is more reliable and costs less than half as much".
They're right, too. They have different expactations. I might reply with
"Point taken. Mine gets me laid." Different expactations

Or how about this: My friend and I both own GPS receivers. He uses his to
go geocaching (a pointless activity who's appeal escapes me) and I use
mine while I'm backpacking. He LOVES the technology, knows all about how
everything works, discusses map datums... I just want to find my way out
of the woods.

As to the repect given to a license that is practically given away, I
have this to say: You can make the test questions as difficult as you
want. Shoot, throw in some neat 3rd year calculus or number theory. None
of it matters as long as the FCC continues to make the entire question
pool (and answers) available. It has always amazed me that they did this.
I'm in the middle of updating a few certs and obtaining a few new ones
(all networking/IP Telephony related). If I had the answers available,
what would that say about my certification? It wouldn't prove a damn
thing. It would render the cert worthless.

One more things bears mentioning: In my line of work, exclusionary tests
that separate the men from the boys are welcomed. Right or wrong, certain
customers won't even let us touch their network unless we employ x number
of engineers with certain difficult to obtain certifications. This is
good, as it gives us a huge leg up on the competition in the area.
Amatuer radio is different. It's a hobby. If the goal is to attract as
many people to the hobby as possible I see two requirements to meet this
goal:

1) Don't go overboard WRT the difficulty of the tests.
2) Inspire prospective amateurs by fostering a love for radio itself in
all it's forms as opposed to telling them that they can talk to
astronauts, send faxes, surf the internet, talk to BabuBabu in Zimbabwae,
etc.

After all, who among us hasn't had difficulty in explaining why we love
CB to cynical co-workers/friends/family? I for one don't like it simply
because it serves some useful purpose. I just like it 'cause...it's CB,
man!

Comments welcome.




--
Alan Strawinski

http://alan.strawinski.net

Alan,

You make good points; yes, it is love of radio that keeps the renewals
coming. You're right about the co-workers. I used to take the HT once in a
while to work for something to do during lunch at perhaps 1:00 AM. One
time, the telephones went out in the company. Why, I have no idea. Folks
were scrambling to borrow cell phones and I couldn't resist. Punched into
the autopatch and placed a call. Hehe ... but, of course, if there isn't
some underlying interest in communications, there is a fair likelihood that
a new licensee will not renew his/her ticket. There are certain
circumstances that the radio will serve better than a cell phone; if you
need communications between several folks at once, this becomes quite a feat
with cell phones. I believe this was discovered when one organized run
tried replacing hams with cell phone users. They quickly discover that they
can't maintain constant communications between all users. They have to
place call after call. Also, the repeaters are designed (in height, antenna
gain, power) to allow HTs to reliably communicate for 20 miles or more to
the repeater. Cell phones depend upon a lot of towers and there are areas
with spotty communications.

As far as being CB, nothing could be further from the truth. Try and
maintain solid 24/7 coverage for 50 or 100 miles in any direction with a
stock rig. Try and maintain even 15 miles of reliable communications with a
stock rig. Won't happen (except, perhaps, in Alaska or North Dakota,
depending upon local terrain). I won't get into television or other modes
since I suspect you planted a hook on that comment

As far as testing goes, I, for one, don't want to make it exceedingly
difficult to pass an exam, but I agree that publishing questions/answers
used in the pool can delude some folks into thinking they know more than
they actually do.

You make some good points, however, and I appreciated them.


73 from Rochester, NY
Jim



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"Jim Hampton" wrote in
:

As far as being CB, nothing could be further from the truth. Try and
maintain solid 24/7 coverage for 50 or 100 miles in any direction with
a stock rig. Try and maintain even 15 miles of reliable
communications with a stock rig. Won't happen (except, perhaps, in
Alaska or North Dakota, depending upon local terrain). I won't get
into television or other modes since I suspect you planted a hook on
that comment

Oops. My comments must've come out wrong. I didn't mean to imply that the
two radio services were the same. You're right, they're very different.
When I said "It's CB man!" I meant that as a reply to a person who asks me
"Why do you like CB so much?". It's hard to answer, so I usually just say
"'Cause it's CB, that's why". Lousy answer, I know. Maybe the phrase "If I
had to explain it, you wouldn't understand" would be a more appropriate
answer to my friends inquiry.

CB is certainly not ham radio, and one is not better than the other. There.
Confusion cleared.


--
Alan Strawinski

http://alan.strawinski.net