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January 27th 04, 04:32 AM
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"N2EY" wrote in message ... In article , Paul W. Schleck writes: In (N2EY) writes: In article , Paul W. Schleck writes: In (N2EY) writes: In article om, "Dee D. Flint" writes: Basically I think the ARRL Board knows that the free upgrades means that their proposal probably will not be adopted in this form. The FCC has never gone along with free upgrades before and there is no evidence that they would do so now. However, I believe they tossed it in as another idea for the FCC to consider in developing whatever the FCC decides to do, if they decide to do anything at all. That's probably correct, Dee. And that's what bothers me! As you say, FCC has never done free upgrades, and the last time the issue came up (98-143), the ARRL proposal was for existing Novices (!) and Tech Pluses to get free upgrade to General. Of course, FCC said "no way", and has had no problem whatever keeping the closed-to-new-issues classes in their database. So why propose something FCC obviously isn't going to do? Just wastes everybody's time. More important, it diverts attention from the other issues. oh wait, I think I just answered my own question...;-) 73 de Jim, N2EY I brought this subject up with someone in the League. This exact thread, actually. I was told that the ARRL BoD sincerely believes (take at face value, or not) that failure to upgrade licensees in the FCC R&O for WT 98-143 was not a final "no" answer. Maybe it wasn't. But are such freebies really a good idea? It may be a realistic, and pragmatic, idea when considered against the pros and cons: Cons: Provides a "free upgrade" to those that haven't explicitly tested for it. That's one. There are others: - Allowing a free upgrade is proof that the material in the test which is not taken is not necessary for the privileges. Like that hasn't been the case for decades... - Amateurs who miss the one time upgrade have to take more tests than those who didn't. How do we justify that? You don't need to justify it. Life's a bitch and then you die. - Decreased reason for more than half of all hams to upgrade by testing. Pros: Avoids having to wait until the last Advanced class license expires to refarm the Advanced phone bands. Why does that have to be done at all? To eliminate having a dual set of regulations. Alternatively, avoids opening up the Advanced class phone bands to General-class hams (an effective downgrade in privileges for Advanced, and crowding out DX users with more U.S. hams in those bands) or opening up the Extra class phone bands to Advanced-class hams (which would be a "free upgrade" in all but name). Again, why not just leave those subbands as they are now? The FCC and government prefer simplicity. Also avoids having to accommodate a license class (Tech Plus) that isn't even carried in the FCC database anymore, which is a records/ enforcement problem for the FCC, and requires the licensee to keep documentation forever. If the current rules are left alone, all Tech Pluses will be Techs in six years, two months and 20 days or so. But all Novices and Advanced won't be gone for decades. Why not just give all the existing Techs, Tech Pluses and Novices the "NewNovice" privs, in addition to their existing privileges? The database doesn't need to change at all. Rather, it is just one of the unresolved loose ends that was deliberately not tied up until better consensus emerged from the amateur radio community about things like Novice band refarming, etc. The League official noted that the ARRL's band refarming proposal, RM-10413, has been sitting on an FCC official's desk for about two years now (he claims to know the exact FCC official, but did not name him). Because of this, as long a wait, if not longer, is expected on a "final" answer concerning automatic upgrading. I say we should judge by actions. When FCC thinksa proposal is a good or bad idea, they act. How long did the whole 98-143 process take, from initial release of the NPRM to the new rules in April 2000? More important, what would a lack of free upgrades hurt? Is it really such a burden to require an Advanced to pass Element 4, or a Tech to pass Element 3, in order to get the next higher grade of license? I think the ARRL may be politically shrewder than some would give them credit. You mean the BoD. I'm the ARRL too, remember? How much of the ARRL proposal in 1998 got enacted? Feel free to let us know. They can turn to the reformers and say, "See, we're giving you a both a Novice and General HF-class license that doesn't require Morse Code." To the old-school (and long-time, dues-paying) members they can at least imply, "We recognize that the Morse Code tests you took in the past are valuable, so we are going to reward you with a higher class of license. Then you will always know that you are better than anyone who gets a General or Extra class license under the reduced standards in the future." Avoids the subject of why free upgrades are needed. I say they're not. So argue with the ARRL then. Cheers, Bill K2UNK |
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