In article , Robert Casey
writes:

I wrote:

Think about it - what exactly *should* an entry-level license do? If
it insures that newcomers know enough to keep out of trouble (on the
air, anyway,) gives them a sample of what amateur radio is about, and
inspires them to learn and do more with ham radio, isn't that just
about perfect?

An entry level license test should expect knowledge of how to know what
frequency your transmitter is on,

Display is on the front of the rig.

what mode,

Same

the subbands for which modes,

Band edges for your license. Coupla questions.

how to identify RFI problems (harmonics),

Not all RFI is harmonics, though.

simple antennas,

Why?

rules about IDing, no business traffic,
operating (pick a frequency nobody else is using to call CQ, but once
you're done it's not your frequency anymore),

All comes under rules and regs - basic "keep out of trouble" stuff.

simple emergency traffic operations.

Sure - but how do you test for it?

All except antennas above comes under "keep out of trouble"

Current Element 2 is very VHF/UHF centric, and so are current Tech
Plus privs. The goal seems to be to strike more of a balance between
above and below 30 MHz privileges.

Aside from propagation, there's really little difference from HF and
VHF/UHF.

Well, propagation is kinda why we're on the air.

But there are other differences, like:

- the amount of available spectrum (6 meters has 250 more kHz than all 9
amateur HF/MF bands put together)

- how many people over how wide an area can hear you

- how easy it is to homebrew a simple rig that can be work stations thousands
of miles away.

Questions like "Is 80m likely to have good propagation for DX during the
daytime?" don't really address issues of safety and interference to other
services.

Agreed!

A beginner
will soon learn on the air what times and bands make sense for DX
operations.

Some will, others will remain clueless for years.

One difference I note between many of today's hams and those of yesteryear is
that
in the past it seemed to me that almost all new hams had a lot of experience
*listening*
to the ham bands before they got their licenses and went on the air on the ham
bands.
In my case, I first heard hams while SWLing, and learned the code by listening
to hams
use it on the air. Plus read a lot of books on the subject. So I was no
stranger to the
bands I used when I got the license and built a transmitter.

Today it seems that many hams study the book and get the license, then set
about getting
a rig.

So change the question pool, but don't dumb it down

How do we define "dumbing it down"? If 35 questions are adequate for
all amateur VHF/UHF at full meat-cooking power, plus 200 watts on
parts of HF, shouldn't 25 be adequate for the limited privs
proposed for the Novice?

Number of questions, given all the time you want to finish the test, doesn't
make a test easy or hard. 5 tough questions is a lot harder to pass than
100 really easy questions.

Exactly. I can write you an essay question test that is super easy and a
multiple
choice test that is super hard - on the same material.

How much is it reasonable to expect a newcomer to learn in order to be
turned loose with ~100 watts on parts of HF and ~25 watts on parts of
VHF/UHF?

5 wpm code test retained for Extra only

Predictably, I do have a problem with that.

Me too. Should be at least 13 and preferably 20 wpm. Sending and
receiving.

Won't happen

Probably not, but it's still a good idea.

Why, no otehr service uses code anymore, and more modern data
modes now exist.

Because hams *do* use code today. A ham license is for operating in
the ham bands, not for using other services.

Yes, they require more advanced equipment, but
modern equipment is much more reliable than the vacuum tube stuff
we had 50 years ago.

Does that mean we don't need a theory test either?

NASA's JPL doesn't use Morse code with
the Mars probes.

The track record of failed Mars probes is pretty long, though. And
NASA has a somewhat bigger budget than the average ham...

And that's really hard DX to do.

Not with the resources NASA and JPL have available.

(why do they call it the *Jet* Propulsion Lab, anyway? They all
use rockets, don't they?)

And if you're going to use that argument, consider that there are
no skilled radio operators on those probes either.

Other services haven't just done away with using Morse - they've
done away with the very *idea* of a "radio operator". Skills not
needed or wanted. You say it still takes skill to know what band
to use at a certain time of day to make a certain contact, regardless
of mode? Look at ALE - does all that for you. No operator
needed. Just a "user".

Moreover, it can be now,
since it has not been required by the ITU for the last six months.

FCC will most probably just drop it completely.

I think they will too

Unfortunately

What does the FCC get out of requiring code, now that the treaty doesn't
require it anymore?

That's probably the key question. Which is kinda sad, because it used to
be "what is best for the amateur radio service" not "what does FCC get
out of it".

Between BPL, the flap over that popstar using the F word and not being fined
and
the Mr. Powell going nuts over a "wardrobe malfunction", I sometimes wonder....

Existing Advanceds get free upgrade to Extra,

OK

Why OK? Why not simply carry the Advanceds as a separate class, as
has been done for the past 3 years and 9 months?

Can't stand loose ends

What's the problem? FCC kept the Advanced on the books from 1953 to
1967
even though no new ones were issued and the license conveyed no
additional privileges at all.

Do those loose ends really cause any problems?

Not that I can see. But if there is a problem, well, let's call 4 years
of experience as an advanced the same as passing the old element 4B,
and make them extras.

Why? What does it hurt to leave them alone? I've read posts by Advanceds
who don't want an upgrade!

Some phone below 7100? No? Why not?

That space is needed for CW and digital modes.

Better to keep those on the Novice freqs and refarm more useful
spectrum to phone

Why reward the most spectrum-inefficent modes? Why not digital voice?

Maybe designate some subbands for new and experimental modes as
primary, and allow older modes on a secondary basis. That is, you
have to accept interference from them, and not cause them interference.

That's what K0HB, me, and others said to FCC in response to ARRL's "novice band
refarming" proposal. Reuse the Novice subbands as experimental sandboxes. Use
any new digimode you want, as long as it's documented and fits in the subband.

And encourage new methods of modulating the RF carrier directly
instead of say 2m packet where everyone just injected the modem signal
into their FM voice mode rigs. Not efficient.

Actually it was very efficient from the standpoint that you didn't need a new
rig. Almost any old 2m rig would do.

And that's the Achilles' heel - whether or not a new mode means building a new
rig.

Old Novice subbands replaced by additional CW/data

Maybe we might want some Morse code beginner subbands where new users
can feel comfortable operating and not get blown away by experts.

No real expert blows away beginners.

I've worked lots of beginners on 40 meters between 7025 and 7050.

As an
informal gentlemen's agreement. Need not be much bandwidth, a few "CW
channels" should be enough.

Channels? Ugh.

Novice power level set below that requiring RF exposure evaluation

OK

Agreed.

Used to be 75 watts input power. Make it the level that most
commercial yeacomwood trancievers produce "barefoot".

100 W HF, 25 W VHF/UHF.

How would you feel if it were decided to give all existing hams except
Novices a free upgrade to Extra, then have just two classes -
"Limited" (new name for Novice) and "Full" (everybody else)?

I would be OK with that only if the Techs got only a limited licence.

Then that'd be 3 classes then.

Which is where we are now

Why would Techs be singled out for a limited license? They have full
privs above 50 MHz.

I would have no problem with giving Generals a full licence.

By your reasoning, there's no reason to have the Extra, then. Nor its
test.

Used to be the extra only gave you a shorter callsign (if avaliable) and
bragging rights.

That ended 36 years ago!

Techs with old Element 3 (licensed before March 21, 1987) can get a
General
license *today* with no additional testing. Just show up at a VE
session with
proof of such license, fill out the 605 and pay the VE fee. Instant
General.
And if such a ham can pass the Extra written (might as well try, the
same
VE fee buys that test too), they get an Extra.

That's what I did. I did study for it, though. Wanted to "lock in" my
element 3
and element 1 anyway (so I wouldn't need to worry about holding onto old
copies of my tech license) and also might as well go for the whole
enchallida
while I was at it. Though that enchallida doesn't have a 20WPM topping...

So why are there stil over 82,000 Advanceds?

Been that way since April 15, 2000.

73 de Jim, N2EY