KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

///////////////////////////////////////////
How about a "reverse incentive?"

Posted: 15 Jun 2016 11:44 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


Back in the late 1960s, the FCC put into place a program called incentive
licensing. At the time, General Class operators had full priveleges, and
the Extra Class license was kind of like an honorary degree. It gave a ham
bragging rights, but no additional priveleges.

The idea behind incentive licensing was to give hams an incentive to
improve their technicalÂ*skills and become better operators. Thats why the
Advanced and Extra Class exams were more difficult than the General Class
exam, and Extra Class licensees were required to send and receive CW at 20
wpm.

CW hasnt been required for some time now, though, and many Extra Class
operators have no interest in the mode. That prompted someone on the CWOps
mailing list to write:

Been listening to 80 and 40 in the evenings, with occasional QSOs, and for
nearly all of the time Ive monitored, there are no stations below 25,
unless theres a DXpedition in progress.

I readily admit my research has no statistical validity, and my home
antenna is sort of NVIS-ish on 80 and 40. Nevertheless, I have strong [over
S9] signals above 25 every evening. Multiple traffic nets on 80, and lots
of friendly QSOs on 40 and on 80, all above 25 almost nothing below.

I know 40 is jam packed in Europe, but here in the Colonies not so much.
Ive begun to wonder if Incentive Licensing has finally run its course after
50 years?

I cant speak for the phone sub-bands, I dont frequent them. But, while
there are a lot of Extra class hams these days, a great number of them dont
use CW and indeed, many dont know Morse. Just wondering if the Extra class
CW sub-bands have become an anachronism, just like the NTS Traffic net I
still check into most evenings.

I replied:

That’s an interesting observation. Here in the eastern half of the U.S. I
think there is a fair amount of activity in the Extra Class portion of 40m
(although it’s certainly not jam-packed), but the 80m sub-band is pretty
much dead.

Perhaps it’s time for an “inverse incentive.� That is to say, drop the 80m,
and maybe the 40m, Extra Class CW sub-band as an incentive for hams to take
up CW. I’m not sure how well that would work, but it’s a thought.

This is just a partly-baked idea. Being a diehard CW operator, though, I
sure would like to Â*hear more activity on the bands, especially 80m, and Im
always trying to think of ways to get more CW ops on the air.

The post How about a reverse incentive? appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio
Blog.