"KØHB" wrote:

This has the fingerprints of W5YI smeared
all over it. He has stated publicly that he feels
that since people who acquire entry level
ham tickets invariably purchase their
equipment assembled these days, and send
them in for repairs when broken, they no
longer need to possess theknowledge needed
to build their own stations, nor the knowledge
to determine if their repairs/adjustments result
in proper on-the-air signals. (snip)


While I cannot speak for someone else, I would reword that to say that
simple diagrams and a few questions in a license test is not going to
prepare someone to build or repair the complex radio equipment used by most
Amateurs today. To build such equipment, one would almost need an
engineering degree and a labortory full of equipment. Anything beyond the
most basic repairs would require considerable experience and a significant
investment in equipment. So, in my opinion, instead of trying to meet that,
the tests today serve as a basic introduction to electronics to both allow
those basic repairs and encourage some to seek real electronics training
elsewhere.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/