In article , ospam
(Larry Roll K3LT) writes:

I think that the most likely scenario is that they will do as you suggest,
and distill it down to two license classes, General and Extra. All current
Techs would be "grandfathered" to the General class, and the Extra will
remain the same, sans Element 1(a). This would be the easiest change
to accomplish from an administrative standpoint, and they wouldn't have
to even bother renaming the remaining license classes, which would only
risk causing resentment among current Extras. There could be, at most,
a requirement for current Techs to pass another written element, but the
grandfathering would be an easier fix.

ARRL asked for something very similar back in 1998 and FCC said no. (ARRL's
proposal would have given Novices and Tech Pluses instant upgrades to General).

Such an instant upgrade has these problems:

1) A lot of screaming about "no giveaways"

2) FCC has to announce a change and then implement it. To my knowledge, stuff
like license requirement changes almost never is done "effective immediately".
So the day such a change is announced, you'll see a flurry of folks getting
their Techs in anticiaption of a free upgrade to General in a few weeks or
months.

Of course, almost
anything is possible.

73 de Jim, N2EY

N2EY wrote:

In article , ospam
(Larry Roll K3LT) writes:


I think that the most likely scenario is that they will do as you suggest,
and distill it down to two license classes, General and Extra. All current
Techs would be "grandfathered" to the General class, and the Extra will
remain the same, sans Element 1(a). This would be the easiest change
to accomplish from an administrative standpoint, and they wouldn't have
to even bother renaming the remaining license classes, which would only
risk causing resentment among current Extras. There could be, at most,
a requirement for current Techs to pass another written element, but the
grandfathering would be an easier fix.


ARRL asked for something very similar back in 1998 and FCC said no. (ARRL's
proposal would have given Novices and Tech Pluses instant upgrades to General).

Such an instant upgrade has these problems:

1) A lot of screaming about "no giveaways"

Let's test your premise here, Jim. Would you support a one class system
in which all amateurs that have passed Novice, Tech, General or (of
course) Extra get an "instant upgrade" to Extra?

That of course would be a simple and elegant solution. No more arguing
about anything as far as classes go.

That would certainly cure the falloff in people getting Tech licenses
at the moment. A person would have to be foolish to not take the Tech
class license in order to get General class access after restructuring
as in your example, or full Extra access as in my one class idea.



- Mike KB3EIA -

In article , Mike Coslo
writes:

N2EY wrote:

In article ,

(Larry Roll K3LT) writes:


I think that the most likely scenario is that they will do as you suggest,
and distill it down to two license classes, General and Extra. All current
Techs would be "grandfathered" to the General class, and the Extra will
remain the same, sans Element 1(a). This would be the easiest change
to accomplish from an administrative standpoint, and they wouldn't have
to even bother renaming the remaining license classes, which would only
risk causing resentment among current Extras. There could be, at most,
a requirement for current Techs to pass another written element, but the
grandfathering would be an easier fix.


ARRL asked for something very similar back in 1998 and FCC said no. (ARRL's
proposal would have given Novices and Tech Pluses instant upgrades to
General).

Such an instant upgrade has these problems:

1) A lot of screaming about "no giveaways"

Let's test your premise here, Jim. Would you support a one class system

in which all amateurs that have passed Novice, Tech, General or (of
course) Extra get an "instant upgrade" to Extra?

No. In fact, not just "no" but "HELL, NO!!"

That of course would be a simple and elegant solution. No more arguing
about anything as far as classes go.

"All amateurs are equal. Some are more equal than others" (with a tip of the
hat to George Orwell and "Animal Farm".

That would certainly cure the falloff in people getting Tech licenses
at the moment. A person would have to be foolish to not take the Tech
class license in order to get General class access after restructuring
as in your example, or full Extra access as in my one class idea.

Some folks would agree with that system, or one like it. After all, once upon a
time, anyone who could pass the Tech/General written (they were the same test
for 36 years) and the required code test got all privileges. If the code test
is removed, that leaves the General written.

Can anyone *prove* to me that the Extra written contains things a ham *must*
know to operate on the Extra-only subbands?

Be careful what you ask for.

73 de Jim, N2EY

I imagine it
will accompany other changes in the license structure...
what do you think will also change in the licensing
system when the drop the morse code test?

Clint
KB5ZHT


What ever the License change will be, the written will become even easier.

"WA8ULX" wrote in message
...


What ever the License change will be, the written will become even easier.

I don't agree with that.

Clint
--

--

Get in touch with your soul: www.glennbeck.com
OR, if you're a liberal, maybe you can FIND one


--

In article , "Clint" rattlehead at
computron dot net writes:

When they drop the morse code test requirement, it's
fairly clear to me they just won't "drop" it all by
itself with a stroke of an administrative pen;

Why not? That's all that most of the anticodetest petitions are asking for.
Both the NCI and NCVEC petitions simply ask for the dropping of Element 1 and
nothing else.

I imagine it
will accompany other changes in the license structure...

Only if somebody asks for them.

The FCC considered all sorts of proposals 4 years ago and we got what we have
now.

what do you think will also change in the licensing
system when the drop the morse code test?

(N2EY) wrote in
:

In article , "Clint" rattlehead at
computron dot net writes:

When they drop the morse code test requirement, it's
fairly clear to me they just won't "drop" it all by itself with a
stroke of an administrative pen;

Why not? That's all that most of the anticodetest petitions are asking
for. Both the NCI and NCVEC petitions simply ask for the dropping of
Element 1 and nothing else.

I imagine it
will accompany other changes in the license structure...

Only if somebody asks for them.

The FCC considered all sorts of proposals 4 years ago and we got what
we have now.

what do you think will also change in the licensing
system when the drop the morse code test?





I think you're right, Jim. My guess is that Element 1 will be dropped and
all Techs will be given Tech+ priviledges. I don't expect anything else to
happen.

That's not to say that some reform of the licence classes isn't overdue,
but the FCC position is that until there is some sort of consensus they
won't do anything about it.

73 de Alun, N3KIP

"Alun Palmer" wrote in message
...
(N2EY) wrote in
:

In article , "Clint" rattlehead at
computron dot net writes:

When they drop the morse code test requirement, it's
fairly clear to me they just won't "drop" it all by itself with a
stroke of an administrative pen;

Why not? That's all that most of the anticodetest petitions are asking
for. Both the NCI and NCVEC petitions simply ask for the dropping of
Element 1 and nothing else.

I imagine it
will accompany other changes in the license structure...

Only if somebody asks for them.

The FCC considered all sorts of proposals 4 years ago and we got what
we have now.

what do you think will also change in the licensing
system when the drop the morse code test?





I think you're right, Jim. My guess is that Element 1 will be dropped and
all Techs will be given Tech+ priviledges. I don't expect anything else to
happen.

That's not to say that some reform of the licence classes isn't overdue,
but the FCC position is that until there is some sort of consensus they
won't do anything about it.

73 de Alun, N3KIP

Why should the FCC simply grandfather the Tech (no code) to Tech plus (code
and Novice test) ??

The Tech (no code) has no HF test questions. (as I understand it). Thus
there is no reason a Tech (no code) would, or should be qualified to operate
HF.

Dan/W4NTI

"Dan/W4NTI" w4nti@get rid of this mindspring.com wrote in message
hlink.net...
Why should the FCC simply grandfather the Tech (no code) to Tech plus
(code
and Novice test) ??

The Tech (no code) has no HF test questions. (as I understand it). Thus
there is no reason a Tech (no code) would, or should be qualified to
operate
HF.

It's a "gimme," Dan. In other words, some may be hoping that by "giving"
no-code Technicians an "unearned" slice of HF, it can be called an agreeable
compromise to retain Element 1 for the Extra. (Perhaps even the General.) I
personally don't think it'll work, but the FCC might go for it. Who knows?

--
73 de Bert
WA2SI

In article k.net,
"Dan/W4NTI" w4nti@get rid of this mindspring.com writes:

Why should the FCC simply grandfather the Tech (no code) to Tech plus (code
and Novice test) ??

Because the only test difference between a Tech and a post-March-21-1987 Tech
Plus is Element 1

The Tech (no code) has no HF test questions. (as I understand it).

Actually that's not true, The old Novice Q&A was incorporated into the Tech
pool.

Thus
there is no reason a Tech (no code) would, or should be qualified to operate
HF.

Tell it to the FCC. A Tech who passes Element 1 gets the same HF privs as a
Novice or Tech Plus.

73 de Jim, N2EY