On Feb 25, 9:02 am, "KH6HZ" wrote:
wrote:

If it were *really* a barrier,
we will see big jumps in both the number of new
hams and the number of upgraders. The ARS
License Numbers thread will tell the tale.

Right.

I disagree. Extremely few people are interested in amateur radio
these days. Those who were and were turned off or turned away by the
Morse Code exam have found other interests satisfied by the web or
massive amounts of cable/satellite television.

Who's going to tell them to give it another try? The ARRLs "Hello"
campaign just ended.

And my own anecdotal observations show me that the code test was
never a real barrier to entry. It isn't the code test that has turned people
away, it is simply that "radio" isn't "sexy".

Mike, it turns people off and it turns people away. Besides, amateur
radio isn't sexy.

wrote:

I disagree. Extremely few people are interested in amateur radio
these days. Those who were and were turned off or turned away by the
Morse Code exam have found other interests satisfied by the web or
massive amounts of cable/satellite television.

Assuming for the moment that what you say is true (and I completely
disagree), then what would have presented those people from simply losing
interest and moving on to those other things anyway? Isn't that pretty much
what happened with the "Honey Do" hams in the mid-to-late 90's?


Mike, it turns people off and it turns people away. Besides, amateur
radio isn't sexy.

30 years ago radio had more "magic" to it. Today, with the huge number of
wireless devices in society, it simply doesn't seem as 'high tech' as it
used to.

On Feb 25, 12:22 pm, "KH6HZ" wrote:
wrote:
I disagree. Extremely few people are interested in amateur radio
these days. Those who were and were turned off or turned away by the
Morse Code exam have found other interests satisfied by the web or
massive amounts of cable/satellite television.

Assuming for the moment that what you say is true (and I completely
disagree),

(of course you do)

then what would have presented those people from simply losing
interest and moving on to those other things anyway?

They have...

Isn't that pretty much
what happened with the "Honey Do" hams in the mid-to-late 90's?

I thought you said your wife got you a ham license so she could keep
track of you.

Mike, it turns people off and it turns people away. Besides, amateur
radio isn't sexy.

30 years ago radio had more "magic" to it.

Thirty years ago was exactly the right time to have done it. Thanks
for mentioning it.

Today, with the huge number of
wireless devices in society, it simply doesn't seem as 'high tech' as it
used to.

Yet so many of the Extras want todays written exam to be the
equivalent of an MSEE.

wrote:

then what would have presented those people from simply losing
interest and moving on to those other things anyway?

They have...

If those people have lost interest and moved on, then they were never really
interested in radio despite getting their licenses, were they?


I thought you said your wife got you a ham license so she could keep
track of you.

I do not think I ever said that.


Yet so many of the Extras want todays written exam to be the
equivalent of an MSEE.

Can you enumerate for me who these extras are?

On Feb 25, 2:03 pm, "KH6HZ" wrote:
wrote:
then what would have presented those people from simply losing
interest and moving on to those other things anyway?

They have...

If those people have lost interest and moved on, then they were never really
interested in radio despite getting their licenses, were they?

Were they?

Remember, even people who have passed code exams have let their
licenses expire and moved on, so who is to say that those who passed a
no code exam really weren't interested?

I thought you said your wife got you a ham license so she could keep
track of you.

I do not think I ever said that.

Oh?

Yet so many of the Extras want todays written exam to be the
equivalent of an MSEE.

Can you enumerate for me who these extras are?

They can speak for themselves.

wrote:

If those people have lost interest and moved on, then they were never
really
interested in radio despite getting their licenses, were they?

Were they?

Remember, even people who have passed code exams have let their
licenses expire and moved on, so who is to say that those who passed a
no code exam really weren't interested?

Coded, or not coded, if someone lets their license lapse, I would say they
really were not interested in radio (or, lost interest over time for
whatever reason.)


Yet so many of the Extras want todays written exam to be the
equivalent of an MSEE.

Can you enumerate for me who these extras are?

They can speak for themselves.

Well you're the one claiming there are all these extras who want the Extra
exam to be the equivalent of an MSEE. Perhaps you could provide an example
of a few? 2 or 3 perhaps? Certainly 2 or 3 should be easy out of the "so
many" that are out there.