" wrote

Hans:

I am curious why you want the two year "no upgrade" period. I would think
such a rule would greatly reduce the appeal of ham radio. It certainly would
have caused me to spend my time, effort, and money on another hobby.


For the same reason that the army doesn't let you "test" directly to
First Sargent from Recruit.

My proposal gives FULL privileges at very modest (but not QRP) power
levels so that a newcomer can learn the ropes right alongside
experienced operators, but at power levels which are safer and also
less likely to trash the band if they overdrive, mistune, or run
defective gear, or make other "newbie" mistakes.

This bears notice --- my proposal doesn't "ghetto-ize" the newcomer to
a few little slices of the band like the current Novice/Tech+
allocations, so the "lack of appeal" isn't restricted operating
privileges, but only a modest power level (and the requirement to
upgrade within 10 years).

73, de Hans, K0HB