In article .net, "Dwight
Stewart" writes:

"N2EY" wrote:

Then SSB, AM, FM, RTTY, PSK-31, etc.
are all non-necessities. (snip)

Absolutely. Which is exactly why there is no test of the actual ability to
use those modes - only a written test covering the fundamentals of those
modes and the rules associated with them.

Why is such a written test necessary? The use of any of those modes is entirely
optional.

Morse code should join those modes in that regard.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that.

In fact, except for the most basic of rules
and regulations, your argument leads to the
inescapable conclusion that it is not necessary
for the goals and purposes of the Amateur
Radio Service at this point to mandate *any*
learning through a testing requirement.

Can you prove otherwise?

What is there to prove?

Prove the necessity for a written test beyond the most basic rules and
regulations.

For example, Technicians are allowed to use all authorized modes on the six
meter band at up to 1500 W output. This includes all modes allowed on the HF/MF
bands. Therefore, the Technician test must, by definition, be adequate to
insure that those who pass it are qualified on all authorized HF/MF modes and
the use of transmitters up to 1500 W output on six meters MHz.

Since the hazards of RF exposure on HF/MF are less than those on 50 MHz, and
the modes authorized on HF/MF are a subset of those authorized on six, it
logically follows that those who pass the Tech test are *mostly* qualified to
operate HF/MF. The exceptions are those few things which are specific to HF/MF,
such as propagation.

But the General and Extra writtens go far beyond HF/MF propagation in their
technical material. Why is that stuff necessary?

Isn't that exactly the intent of the license
exams - the fundamentals of radio and electronics, safety, rules and
regulations, and so on.

Sure. The basics. So prove why the tests must go beyond those basics.

When it comes to Amateur Radio, the FCC is not a
school and nobody graduates with a degree in radio or electronics when
they're handed a ham license.

That's right.

And nobody with a degree is handed a ham license either.

That license exams (and licenses) are simply
entrances into the various levels of Amateur Radio - the real learning comes
with what is done afterwards (operating, building, experimenting, reading,
practice, and the resulting experence from any or all of that).

Sure. So what's the point of all that written testing? Why is a General
qualified to use 1500 W on 14,026 kHz but not on 14,024?

The FCC has
never has never purported, or even suggested, that the Amateur Radio exams,
and resulting licenses, are anything beyond that (only a few self-important
hams have done so).

Yet in the past there have been repeated instances where qualifed
radio-electronics people were needed on short notice and they were recruited
from the ranks of amateur radio.

If what matters is the learning that happens *after* the license is in hand,
why all the fuss about written tests?

73 de Jim, N2EY