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Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...
ARRL comes up with a new idea.
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/19/1/?nc=1 No code Techs get free upgrade to General. Newbies get 100W on HF phone via 25 multiple-guess test. CW (5 WPM) only required for Extra Class. CW/data sub bands shrink. Still too hard? Hey, just wait another year. They'll make it even easier. Art Harris, N2AH Extra Class since 1971 |
Harris wrote in news:cLXOb.5393
: ARRL comes up with a new idea. http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/19/1/?nc=1 No code Techs get free upgrade to General. Newbies get 100W on HF phone via 25 multiple-guess test. CW (5 WPM) only required for Extra Class. CW/data sub bands shrink. Still too hard? Hey, just wait another year. They'll make it even easier. Art Harris, N2AH Extra Class since 1971 Sounds awful. Luckily, I think the FCC will just abolish Element 1, tidy up a few loose ends, and leave it at that. Not a perfect licence system, but better than the league's version. |
On 19 Jan 2004 21:17:49 GMT, Alun wrote:
Harris wrote in news:cLXOb.5393 : ARRL comes up with a new idea. http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/19/1/?nc=1 No code Techs get free upgrade to General. Newbies get 100W on HF phone via 25 multiple-guess test. CW (5 WPM) only required for Extra Class. CW/data sub bands shrink. Still too hard? Hey, just wait another year. They'll make it even easier. Art Harris, N2AH Extra Class since 1971 Sounds awful. Luckily, I think the FCC will just abolish Element 1, tidy up a few loose ends, and leave it at that. Not a perfect licence system, but better than the league's version. That makes more sense to me, Alun - I don't see why the ARRL would propose moving almost 400,000 people to a higher licence class just because the ITU made morse code testing optional. 73, Leo |
ARRL comes up with a new idea.
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/19/1/?nc=1 No code Techs get free upgrade to General. Newbies get 100W on HF phone via 25 multiple-guess test. CW (5 WPM) only required for Extra Class. CW/data sub bands shrink. Still too hard? Hey, just wait another year. They'll make it even easier. Art Harris, N2AH Extra Class since 1971 What did you expect, the ARRL could care less |
"WA8ULX" wrote in message ... ARRL comes up with a new idea. http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/19/1/?nc=1 No code Techs get free upgrade to General. Newbies get 100W on HF phone via 25 multiple-guess test. CW (5 WPM) only required for Extra Class. CW/data sub bands shrink. Still too hard? Hey, just wait another year. They'll make it even easier. Art Harris, N2AH Extra Class since 1971 What did you expect, the ARRL could care less I am starting to believe you now Bruce. Dan/W4NTI |
I am starting to believe you now Bruce.
Dan/W4NTI Dan its what I have been saying all along. I cant see how anyone in there right mind could say the ARRL is trying to help Ham Radio. |
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Don't expect the "Gang of Fifteen" to be very willing to listen to any of the
membership for adjustments to the proposal, particularly the notion of increasing the Extra-class code speed to 12, 13, or 20 WPM. 73 de Larry, K3LT I dont expect anything from them, except more Dumbing Down |
What really amazes me is you folks don't know what the real test is for
getting on HF!!!! You have to do it!!! That means really figuring out how to put up the appropriate antenna, tuning it, tuning and running your rig properly, ect. You can get all the answers correct on today's exam and still fail in the real world. In fact, there have been "hams" here locally that tried for over a year to "get out" and learned more in that process than they ever learned by memorizing today's exam questions. I submit that these IMPROVEMENTS recommended by the ARRL are a good start and will have more people LEARNING how to get on HF. A GOOD thing. The bands are FAR less busy than they were 30 years ago. Unless we get more people into this great hobby, it's gone... And to really improve HF operations on ham radio...we must get rid of the archaic mode divisions on each band. I would like to see us have the same privileges as the rest of the world's amateurs enjoy....or are we not good enough??? 73, Chuck...K1KW |
Leo wrote:
That makes more sense to me, Alun - I don't see why the ARRL would propose moving almost 400,000 people to a higher licence class just because the ITU made morse code testing optional. You can thank BPL for that. If we can't lick them on the egress issue, we'll add multi-hundred-thousands of HF ops to provide a plethora of additional ingress points and let the BPL system ops assess their network reliability from that. I don't think we'll be hearing any protests over this proposal from Yaecomwood either. Jim, K7JEB Glendale, AZ |
"Chuck...K1KW" wrote:
What really amazes me is you folks don't know what the real test is for getting on HF!!!! You have to do it!!! That means really figuring out how to put up the appropriate antenna, tuning it, tuning and running your rig properly, ect. It can't be that hard; after all, hundreds of thousands of CBers managed to get on 11 meters. Modern rigs don't require much "tuning" and most newbies tend to buy pre-assembled dipoles or multiband verticals. The rigs are plug and play with microphones included. We had a pretty good license structure in the mid '60s. Most folks started with a (non-renewable) Novice ticket with very limited privileges to get their feet wet. Then they upgraded to General with full amateur privileges. That wasn't good enough for ARRL. They insisted we needed more license classes and more exams (incentive licensing). FCC bought into it, and we all had to upgrade or lose privileges. Now, ARRL is cheapening the value of those higher class licenses they insisted we get. I figure that in about five years we'll have only one license class, and that it will require only a single simple multiple-choice exam. Will that re-energize ham radio? I doubt it. Art Harris N2AH |
That's one way of looking at it, Jim. To me, it looks like a purely
political move - that is, trying to please the greatest number of members...and voters...and customers... 400,000 upgraded licences = 400,000 happier ARRL members. Drop code = some number of happy new HF - using members. Keep code for Extra licence = a 'tip of the hat' to the 'Extra' class members, to give them something to be happy about (although keeping code testing as a requirement for a licence class that provides only additional phone bandwidth as a perk is pretty odd, I'd say...but it does make the Extra level licence harder to get - that's what everybody wants, right?). -and- the big one: New entry level licence with 100W on HF phone, plus simplified test = a whole bunch of happy new potential ARRL members = lots more potential members....and voters....and customers..... All of these proposals are good news for the manufacturers of ham equipment, and perhaps for us too - if demand is increased, production will increase and prices of HF radios might do down! Plus, each one of the above members that got something additional added to their privileges if this proposal is accepted would have the ARRL to thank for it. In theory, anyway. Considering that, following the ITU decision to make code optional most of the world is moving towards removing the mandatory Morse Code requirement outright, there isn't much else that they could do without looking like defenders the status quo, and annoying even more of their members....and denying them the rights being granted to their fellow amateur radio neighbours in the rest of the world. Like, for instance, those just north of you have proposed to do - and that's likely to happen fairly soon, I expect. 73, Leo On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 05:42:20 -0700, "K7JEB" wrote: snip You can thank BPL for that. If we can't lick them on the egress issue, we'll add multi-hundred-thousands of HF ops to provide a plethora of additional ingress points and let the BPL system ops assess their network reliability from that. I don't think we'll be hearing any protests over this proposal from Yaecomwood either. Jim, K7JEB Glendale, AZ |
Leo wrote:
400,000 upgraded licences = 400,000 happier ARRL members. Not true. Only a small percentage of licensees are ARRL members, and they tend to be the folks that have been hams a long time. The ARRL is sticking it to the folks who worked hard in the past to pass 20 wpm and the Extra Class written test. Ironically, those licensees who stand to gain the most from this proposal are the ones least likely to join the League. Keep code for Extra licence = a 'tip of the hat' to the 'Extra' class members, to give them something to be happy about (although keeping code testing as a requirement for a licence class that provides only additional phone bandwidth as a perk is pretty odd 5 WPM for Extra Class is an insult, not a tip of the hat. The Extra Class ticket grants exclusive 25 kHz CW segments on 80, 40, 20, and 15 meters. These are prime DX frequencies and the proposal doesn't change that. A higher speed code test for Extra would be more appropriate. -and- the big one: New entry level licence with 100W on HF phone, plus simplified test = a whole bunch of happy new potential ARRL members = lots more potential members....and voters....and customers..... This is what the proposal is all about, saving ARRL and the jobs of its staff. But as we learned after the No-Code license was created in 1991, most new hams don't join the League. Art Harris N2AH |
On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 15:53:52 GMT, Harris
wrote: Leo wrote: 400,000 upgraded licences = 400,000 happier ARRL members. Not true. Only a small percentage of licensees are ARRL members, and they tend to be the folks that have been hams a long time. The ARRL is sticking it to the folks who worked hard in the past to pass 20 wpm and the Extra Class written test. Ironically, those licensees who stand to gain the most from this proposal are the ones least likely to join the League. You're right - that should have read "potential ARRL members". As in, 400,000 folks who are so happy that the ARRL got 'em something, that the ones who aren't already members might just join up. Perhaps that's what they're thinking, anyway... My error. Keep code for Extra licence = a 'tip of the hat' to the 'Extra' class members, to give them something to be happy about (although keeping code testing as a requirement for a licence class that provides only additional phone bandwidth as a perk is pretty odd 5 WPM for Extra Class is an insult, not a tip of the hat. The Extra Class ticket grants exclusive 25 kHz CW segments on 80, 40, 20, and 15 meters. These are prime DX frequencies and the proposal doesn't change that. A higher speed code test for Extra would be more appropriate. Oops again! Being that the requirement was dropped fairly recently to 5 wpm, and that other countries are dropping code altogether as a requirement, how could the ARRL justify an increase in speed? -and- the big one: New entry level licence with 100W on HF phone, plus simplified test = a whole bunch of happy new potential ARRL members = lots more potential members....and voters....and customers..... This is what the proposal is all about, saving ARRL and the jobs of its staff. But as we learned after the No-Code license was created in 1991, most new hams don't join the League. True, but some percentage does, and the more new hams, the more new members. Art Harris N2AH |
Leo wrote:
Harris wrote: 5 WPM for Extra Class is an insult, not a tip of the hat. The Extra Class ticket grants exclusive 25 kHz CW segments on 80, 40, 20, and 15 meters. These are prime DX frequencies and the proposal doesn't change that. A higher speed code test for Extra would be more appropriate. Oops again! Being that the requirement was dropped fairly recently to 5 wpm, and that other countries are dropping code altogether as a requirement, how could the ARRL justify an increase in speed? They probably won't. But if Extra is the top class and the only one to retain a code test, why not make it realistic one? A 5 WPM test does not demonstrate code proficiency. A 13 WPM test would be a nice "Tip of the hat." We 20 WPM Extras haven't had much to cheer about in a LONG time! Art Harris N2AH |
"Chuck...K1KW" wrote in message news:HG2Pb.89209$5V2.165673@attbi_s53...
What really amazes me is you folks don't know what the real test is for getting on HF!!!! Who are "you folks", Chuck? You have to do it!!! Exactly! That means really figuring out how to put up the appropriate antenna, tuning it, tuning and running your rig properly, ect. Well, most rigs today don't require tuneup. And a lot of them have automatic antenna tuners. You can get all the answers correct on today's exam and still fail in the real world. That indicates that the written tests are inadequate. In fact, there have been "hams" here locally that tried for over a year to "get out" and learned more in that process than they ever learned by memorizing today's exam questions. A year? Good heavens, back in the bad old days, the entry-level license was only good for a year! And that was back when ham rigs actually had to be tuned up! If it takes someone with a license and a reasonable budget of time and money a whole year to set up a working HF station, something's really wrong. I submit that these IMPROVEMENTS recommended by the ARRL are a good start and will have more people LEARNING how to get on HF. How? There's no additional written testing proposed - in fact, a big part of the proposal is free upgrades. If someone doesn't know how to get on HF now, how will reducing the entry-level writtens and free upgrades teach them? A GOOD thing. I think the new Novice ida can be a good thing. 37 years ago, that's how I got started. Didn't take me a year, either, even though I had to build my transmitter, antenna, receiver... The bands are FAR less busy than they were 30 years ago. How do you know? We have more bands and modes than 30 years ago, so we're apt to be spread out more. Unless we get more people into this great hobby, it's gone... We have more hams today than ever before! 30 years ago (1974), there were less than half as many hams as today. So the number of hams isn't the problem at all. And to really improve HF operations on ham radio...we must get rid of the archaic mode divisions on each band. Let's do this: Lower 15-20% of each band: CW only Middle 20-25% of each band: Mixed digital/CW (digital preferred) Rest of the band: Analog phone/image. 80 meters, for example: 3500-3575 CW only 3575-3725 Digital/CW 3725-4000 Analog phone/image I would like to see us have the same privileges as the rest of the world's amateurs enjoy Including their power limits and written tests? ....or are we not good enough??? We're simply too numerous. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
Only a small percentage of licensees are ARRL members, and they
tend to be the folks that have been hams a long time. The ARRL is sticking it to the folks who worked hard in the past to pass 20 wpm and the Extra Well I have given the CBRRL its last chance. Since they could care less about Ham Radio, and could care less about there Members. They can count on me for no renew, after 25 Years of being a Member, I can see no reason to remain a Member. So long ARRL and good luck with your new Direction |
"N2EY" wrote Let's do this: Lower 15-20% of each band: CW only Now there's a progressive forward looking idea for the 21st Century. Or more likely TMDAIPORTM** . Jim, if you don't like people making fun of your ideas, don't make so easy for them to do so! 73, de Hans, K0HB ** The Most Dumb Assed Idea Posted on RRAP This Month |
"Larry Roll K3LT" wrote in message ... In article , (WA8ULX) writes: I am starting to believe you now Bruce. Dan/W4NTI Dan its what I have been saying all along. I cant see how anyone in there right mind could say the ARRL is trying to help Ham Radio. Dan/Bruce: The ARRL is obviously trying to help itself with their new proposal. I'm convinced that it is their belief that the new proposal serves two critical objectives: 1.) It gives away enough operating privileges to the know-nothing, do-nothing, lazy, no-coder whiners to make them happy, and, by keeping the 5 WPM code test for Extra, 2.) It hopefully won't offend the likes of the withered, feeble, FISTS-member geezers who are daily trashing the CW subbands with their numbers games and their sloppy, indecipherable sending with mal-adjusted bugs. Don't expect the "Gang of Fifteen" to be very willing to listen to any of the membership for adjustments to the proposal, particularly the notion of increasing the Extra-class code speed to 12, 13, or 20 WPM. 73 de Larry, K3LT I don't think the gang of fifteen to listen to a damn thing. That is obvious by their recent proposal. Even the local two meter, no code techs don't like it. And the ARRL claims to be a voice for ham radio? Its not the ham radio I knew and loved. I don't know what it is anymore. Dan/W4NTI |
"Art Harris" wrote in message om... "Chuck...K1KW" wrote: What really amazes me is you folks don't know what the real test is for getting on HF!!!! You have to do it!!! That means really figuring out how to put up the appropriate antenna, tuning it, tuning and running your rig properly, ect. It can't be that hard; after all, hundreds of thousands of CBers managed to get on 11 meters. Modern rigs don't require much "tuning" and most newbies tend to buy pre-assembled dipoles or multiband verticals. The rigs are plug and play with microphones included. We had a pretty good license structure in the mid '60s. Most folks started with a (non-renewable) Novice ticket with very limited privileges to get their feet wet. Then they upgraded to General with full amateur privileges. That wasn't good enough for ARRL. They insisted we needed more license classes and more exams (incentive licensing). FCC bought into it, and we all had to upgrade or lose privileges. Now, ARRL is cheapening the value of those higher class licenses they insisted we get. I figure that in about five years we'll have only one license class, and that it will require only a single simple multiple-choice exam. Will that re-energize ham radio? I doubt it. Art Harris N2AH I forsee this latest debacle of the ARRL will result in further damage to Amateur Radio. Much worse than the failed and flawed 'Incentive licensing' garbage of the late 1960s. Dan/W4NTI |
And the ARRL claims to be a voice for ham radio? Its not the ham radio I
knew and loved. I don't know what it is anymore. Dan/W4NTI I know what it is, is a Group I use to belong to. Even if there proposal doesnt come abou, there no longer getting another Penny |
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"Daniel J. Morlan" wrote Again I digress, and I blither... I hope to catch some of you on the air someday, and I hope you understand my love and interest in this hobby is sincere. The blood doesn't get much newer than this. I'm still waiting for my callsign. Dan, Two things: Thing #1) With your attitude, you're going to be an asset to the Amateur Radio service, and Amateur Radio is going to be an asset to you. I've been a ham for over 40 years, and it just keeps getting better. Thing #2) Always remember that the inbred world of rrap is not Amateur Radio, so don't get discouraged by what you may find here. 73, de Hans, K0HB |
Harris wrote in message ...
Leo wrote: 400,000 upgraded licences = 400,000 happier ARRL members. Not true. Only a small percentage of licensees are ARRL members, and they tend to be the folks that have been hams a long time. About 25% of US hams are ARRL members. The percentage of *active* US hams who are ARRL members is higher, of course. The ARRL is sticking it to the folks who worked hard in the past to pass 20 wpm and the Extra Class written test. Not just them. What about folks who worked hard in the recent past to get 5 wpm and the General class written? Ironically, those licensees who stand to gain the most from this proposal are the ones least likely to join the League. Keep code for Extra licence = a 'tip of the hat' to the 'Extra' class members, to give them something to be happy about (although keeping code testing as a requirement for a licence class that provides only additional phone bandwidth as a perk is pretty odd 5 WPM for Extra Class is an insult, not a tip of the hat. The Extra Class ticket grants exclusive 25 kHz CW segments on 80, 40, 20, and 15 meters. These are prime DX frequencies and the proposal doesn't change that. A higher speed code test for Extra would be more appropriate. Agreed! And *none* of the segments are CW only. -and- the big one: New entry level licence with 100W on HF phone, plus simplified test = a whole bunch of happy new potential ARRL members = lots more potential members....and voters....and customers..... Maybe. And maybe not. This is what the proposal is all about, saving ARRL and the jobs of its staff. I don't think ARRL is in much trouble on that account. But as we learned after the No-Code license was created in 1991, most new hams don't join the League. Indeed! 73 de Jim, N2EY |
In article , Leo
writes: That's one way of looking at it, Jim. To me, it looks like a purely political move - that is, trying to please the greatest number of members...and voters...and customers... 400,000 upgraded licences = 400,000 happier ARRL members. Drop code = some number of happy new HF - using members. Keep code for Extra licence = a 'tip of the hat' to the 'Extra' class members, to give them something to be happy about (although keeping code testing as a requirement for a licence class that provides only additional phone bandwidth as a perk is pretty odd, I'd say...but it does make the Extra level licence harder to get - that's what everybody wants, right?). The problem is that the 15 old men of the BoD have just disenfranchised themselves from over 200K Technician class licensees who will now carry the wonderful class name of "Novice." The ARRL has less than 170K members now. The number of existing Tech class licensees here is greater than that now. Those aren't likely to become members to support a group that thinks they are all "Novices." NOT good PR to attract membership. -and- the big one: New entry level licence with 100W on HF phone, plus simplified test = a whole bunch of happy new potential ARRL members = lots more potential members....and voters....and customers..... "Customers" they already got. Membership is lagging. ARRL is down to a measly $12 million annual budget (according to the IRS forms). All of these proposals are good news for the manufacturers of ham equipment, and perhaps for us too - if demand is increased, production will increase and prices of HF radios might do down! ...and Ten-Tec Orion software might finally be completed...:-) Plus, each one of the above members that got something additional added to their privileges if this proposal is accepted would have the ARRL to thank for it. In theory, anyway. Considering that, following the ITU decision to make code optional most of the world is moving towards removing the mandatory Morse Code requirement outright, there isn't much else that they could do without looking like defenders the status quo, and annoying even more of their members....and denying them the rights being granted to their fellow amateur radio neighbours in the rest of the world. They could have changed the Tech class name to something they must be thinking of...like "Scum of Radio" or "Not Real Ham" class. When the BoD met, they must have arrived with their baggage intact. Emotional baggage. Like, for instance, those just north of you have proposed to do - and that's likely to happen fairly soon, I expect. I hope that powers-that-be in Canada are with those of us in this millennium, not the fantasyland of olden days as in the League. LHA / WMD |
"Chuck...K1KW" wrote in message news:HG2Pb.89209$5V2.165673@attbi_s53... And to really improve HF operations on ham radio...we must get rid of the archaic mode divisions on each band. I would like to see us have the same privileges as the rest of the world's amateurs enjoy....or are we not good enough??? As I mentioned in one of the other newsgroups, we need to divisions to protect us from our own rudeness. I just don't see us as being that good in following voluntary band plans in the heat of a contest or whatever. Excluding Japan, the US has more amateurs than the rest of the world combined. The rest of the world isn't too good about following band plans in contest either. I exclude the Japanese as many of their licenses are for quite low power. In addition, many of the Japanese are inactive. They were licensed as kids and since they issue them for life, they stay in the database forever. It is only the 40m band that is inconvenient with the current splits but the first steps to correct the situation have already taken place. Last summer's international treaty changes have directed broadcasters to move out of 7.1 to 7.2 and it will be allocated exclusively to amateurs world wide. I forget the implementation date though. However, perhaps eventually ITU regions 1 and 3 will eventually enjoy the extended 40m privileges that we have here in region 2 as amateurs continue to work on this issue. Dee D. Flint, N8UZE |
"N2EY" wrote in message om... Oddly enough, in the years following "incentive licensing", the number of US hams grew like mad after having been flat through most of the 1960s. Go figure - they upped the requirements and ham radio grew... 73 de Jim, N2EY The why is actually quite simple. The potential ham viewed it as being able to take the trip into ham radio in small, manageable, bitesize chunks instead of having to swallow the entire steak in one gulp. That perception is what caused the growth whether or not it represented reality. Dee D. Flint, N8UZE |
"Daniel J. Morlan" wrote in message om... (Art Harris) wrote in message . com... "Chuck...K1KW" wrote: What really amazes me is you folks don't know what the real test is for getting on HF!!!! You have to do it!!! That means really figuring out how to put up the appropriate antenna, tuning it, tuning and running your rig properly, ect. It can't be that hard; after all, hundreds of thousands of CBers managed to get on 11 meters. Modern rigs don't require much "tuning" and most newbies tend to buy pre-assembled dipoles or multiband verticals. The rigs are plug and play with microphones included. We had a pretty good license structure in the mid '60s. Most folks started with a (non-renewable) Novice ticket with very limited privileges to get their feet wet. Then they upgraded to General with full amateur privileges. That wasn't good enough for ARRL. They insisted we needed more license classes and more exams (incentive licensing). FCC bought into it, and we all had to upgrade or lose privileges. Now, ARRL is cheapening the value of those higher class licenses they insisted we get. I figure that in about five years we'll have only one license class, and that it will require only a single simple multiple-choice exam. Will that re-energize ham radio? I doubt it. Art Harris N2AH I hope that I am not particularly out of line here, but I just passed my technician exam by mostly memorizing the question pool. I happen to learn best by doing, and while I've been studying morse code, and can send okay, I cannot receive very well. How much more of a "lazy, bum, low-brow idiot" can I be if I learn to receive and send code at a decent speed? (5WPM is so slow, it hurts my ears, by the way. I hate it. I like 10WPM most, in terms of copy.) The technician license really isn't a big deal at all. I'm seeing this SOLELY as an opportunity to get my feet wet, and if I wan't more, I'll GET more. It only took me three days of reading the first half of that ARRL book, and memorizing the test pool questions (though I did miss two). I'm anxiously awaiting my license, and looking forward to chatting with some folks on a repeater (I have an Icomv8000) And I *EXPECT* to learn more and more about this hobby by association. As soon as I get my callsign, I'm going to join the ARRL, and I'm STILL going to learn morse code, even if they drop it. I happen to think that it has practical use OUTSIDE of radio, to be honest... (Lights, etc...) and it's demise *IS* a tragedy. I jumped into this hobby at age 30, LATE in the game. The three days I've spent studying to take the test are a testament to my ability to MEMORIZE certain concepts, and while I'm proud to get to be a ham, I'm not particularly proud of the means. I will therefore conduct myself in the best manner possible at all times, and through my sincere intellectual pursuits in this regard, I will make my license mean more. Not necessarily YOUR way, I'm sure, but it's MY way. I made a promise to myself that if I wanted an upgrade to my license, that I would fully understand all of these critical concepts before proceeding forward with this hobby. I wanted to get to know the community, learn by doing, and go from there. I figured I'd find out sooner rather than later what I wanted out of this hobby. I apologize for my digression, but I sincerely believe that there are many such as myself who are interested in learning more about ham radio, AND putting that knowledge to use. For someone to do any serious DXing, they will need some kind of help making antennas, and knowing what to do to make them work the way you want them to. You cannot help but learn a thing or two when doing this. It's not all for naught. I would also like to add that until I bought my icom, I have NEVER touched, or personally seen a ham radio. I do not have an elmer, I have done every bit of this ALL BY MYSELF, with the help of only a few books from the ARRL. (I have until July to try and get my General, which I plan on doing, but... I digress) I understand the sentiments of you vets out there. The instant gratification crowd, you can just hear the boom boxes of that rotten group of "kidz" who're gonna "rock da wavez"... I won't lie to you, the disrespectful punks and riffraff that are bound to come on the air and start messing things up for everybody, but they'll eventually get bored of it. Ham radio *IS* dying as-is. It needs to be energized, and while I have mixed EMOTIONAL feelings about the "dumbing down" of the tests (which does cheapen the license much as our public education system has cheapened the high school diploma, which DID mean something before...) We'll still have people wanting to participate on field day, actively mailing out QSLs, etc... And at first you may have a few idiots get on HF (For God's sake, I've heard MANY an idiot on HF!) God knows that there are plenty on 2 meters, but I digress.) I will agree that the HF bands will be inundated, at least initially, with those that can only be described as "low-brows". But they'll need money, time, and patience setting up an HF rig, and if they have the patience to do all that they will at least do one of two things: a.) Get bored and quit. b.) Reform themselves, and become good hams. I guess a provisional c. would be that they'd become a lid, and make everybody mad, but even a lid (and they're semi-rare, I think) doesn't generally be a lid on purpose. lol The worst trait you can see in a ham is one that I'll admit I possess: Impatience. I spent a full day setting up my small rig and antenna, learning what to do, soldering for the first time in my entire life, and I haven't DARED press that transmit button. It is *KILLING* me that I can't transmit yet while I'm listening to some of these nets. There's a vast expanse of information just waiting to be unleased, and a nice, friendly community that I look very forward to joining. I look forward to the adventure. I'll do it right from here on in, and while I'm interested in morse code, I will agree that even 5WPM is a joke... It *IS* an insult, mostly because it SOUNDS TERRIBLE at 5WPM! I don't like it, in fact I hate it. 10WPM at LEAST, but I don't make the rules. I see morse ONLY as a practical thing to know. Not technologically necessary to ham radio. We're left with the ultimate reality that this nation is being inundated with instant gratification generation X, Y, Z, and that ham radio is *DYING* in America. I wasn't even EXPOSED to ham radio until I was 25 years old. (I wish I were exposed to it MUCH earlier! I'd have loved it!). It's been exclusively a money issue that's kept me from getting a rig set up, so when the money was there, I really applied myself to pass the tech exam ASAP, and once I get my feet wet, I've decided... 1.) I'll either go forward full force. 2.) I'll quit, and possibly sell my gear. I'm pretty sure that I'll choose #1, and to THAT end... My ultimate goal will be to build my own radio from scratch. Not from a kit, but from parts that I will have to buy myself. From a schematic that I will design myself. It's a worthy challenge, and one that I'm really not afraid of, because the laws of electricity don't change. All you have is what you have. If something doesn't work, you have only yourself to blame. haha Knowing this, though, at first, I will probably put together a kit radio to start, but my ULTIMATE goal is a homebrewed HF rig. We'll see how it goes, and I'm sure I'll be posting here from time to time. I have a very sincere desire to learn, and I want to learn MY way. I've taken advantage of the current situation, because the situation is there, and it has enabled me that I CAN learn my way. I'll be the proudest ham in the world when I achieve my first big goal of putting my own rig together, and if, Lord willing, I can get in the shape to do some serious hill climbing and DX'ing, I'll try to win me a field day contest. So the means to the end are how important in my case? Am I wrong to be proud to be a ham now? It's still going to be a close-knit fraternity. The idiots who will go on the air to jam, and to make body cavity noises will still be there, but if continued interest can be generated... I don't see this as a bad thing. (God, I've only studied code a week, and can send A-Z, 0-9, and some basic punctuation marks... And that's at 15 WPM, COPYING is another story..) Again I digress, and I blither... I hope to catch some of you on the air someday, and I hope you understand my love and interest in this hobby is sincere. The blood doesn't get much newer than this. I'm still waiting for my callsign. With all respect, and sincere admiration to you vets out there. 73 DJM No, you are doing just fine. For what its worth I welcome you to the fold. Dan/W4NTI |
And to really improve HF operations on ham radio...we must get rid of the archaic mode divisions on each band. I would like to see us have the same privileges as the rest of the world's amateurs enjoy....or are we not good enough??? 73, Chuck...K1KW Huh ???? Yepper I would like the Liberty Net right at say 7040 when I operate QRP . Yes that will make it a real challenge. Maybe we could get certificates for being able to copy 5 letters in a row. You are absolutely right Chuck .....I need to hear about someone's gall bladder while I am on with another CW station ...a real "improvement" for ham radio. Ya know I also need to hear some foul mouths while I am running the Pactor as I am not getting enough porno on my e-mail listing. Yep it is archaic all right ....but it does maintain my ham radio sanity if there is such a thing. But wait I could go out an buy a 1kw amp so I could enjoy my mode of operation and at the same time be a positive force for hamming by getting into the retired school teacher's organ next door. Boy this is opening a whole new world of enjoyment for me to contemplate. Are there not enough fone frequencies to communicate on? Are not the CW segments just as dead as the phone segments when the band is out? God bless you if you want to operate fone ...have a good time but the idea has gone beyond booting the test to booting the mode. Then I would have to ask the question why. There must be some pretty deep seated hatred out there of CW and CW ops. But in the final analysis I guess my love of an elegant, narrow banded and relaxing mode should give way to the "gall bladder" kws ...to do otherwise would selfish on my part. God Bless 73 KI3R Tom Popovic Belle Vernon Pa. ps in answer to you last question ...we are better for it.... |
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In article , Leo
writes: On 20 Jan 2004 23:24:16 GMT, (Len Over 21) wrote: In article , Leo writes: That's one way of looking at it, Jim. To me, it looks like a purely political move - that is, trying to please the greatest number of members...and voters...and customers... 400,000 upgraded licences = 400,000 happier ARRL members. Drop code = some number of happy new HF - using members. Keep code for Extra licence = a 'tip of the hat' to the 'Extra' class members, to give them something to be happy about (although keeping code testing as a requirement for a licence class that provides only additional phone bandwidth as a perk is pretty odd, I'd say...but it does make the Extra level licence harder to get - that's what everybody wants, right?). The problem is that the 15 old men of the BoD have just disenfranchised themselves from over 200K Technician class licensees who will now carry the wonderful class name of "Novice." Leo, Lest anyone be confused, the above statement is not correct. It is in error, mistaken, false, misleading and just plain wrong. The ARRL proposal wants existing Technicians to get a free upgrade to General, not a downgrade to Novice. Direct quote from ARRL: "The middle group of licensees--Technician, Tech Plus (Technician with Element 1 credit) and General--would be merged into a new General license that also would not require a Morse examination. Current Technician and Tech Plus license holders automatically would gain current General class privileges without additional testing." Truth triumphs over error once again. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
Harris wrote in
: Leo wrote: Harris wrote: 5 WPM for Extra Class is an insult, not a tip of the hat. The Extra Class ticket grants exclusive 25 kHz CW segments on 80, 40, 20, and 15 meters. These are prime DX frequencies and the proposal doesn't change that. A higher speed code test for Extra would be more appropriate. Oops again! Being that the requirement was dropped fairly recently to 5 wpm, and that other countries are dropping code altogether as a requirement, how could the ARRL justify an increase in speed? They probably won't. But if Extra is the top class and the only one to retain a code test, why not make it realistic one? A 5 WPM test does not demonstrate code proficiency. A 13 WPM test would be a nice "Tip of the hat." We 20 WPM Extras haven't had much to cheer about in a LONG time! Art Harris N2AH Speak for yourself |
"garigue" wrote in
news:q8kPb.109067$8H.228092@attbi_s03: And to really improve HF operations on ham radio...we must get rid of the archaic mode divisions on each band. I would like to see us have the same privileges as the rest of the world's amateurs enjoy....or are we not good enough??? 73, Chuck...K1KW Huh ???? Yepper I would like the Liberty Net right at say 7040 when I operate QRP . Yes that will make it a real challenge. Maybe we could get certificates for being able to copy 5 letters in a row. You are absolutely right Chuck .....I need to hear about someone's gall bladder while I am on with another CW station ...a real "improvement" for ham radio. Ya know I also need to hear some foul mouths while I am running the Pactor as I am not getting enough porno on my e-mail listing. Yep it is archaic all right ...but it does maintain my ham radio sanity if there is such a thing. But wait I could go out an buy a 1kw amp so I could enjoy my mode of operation and at the same time be a positive force for hamming by getting into the retired school teacher's organ next door. Boy this is opening a whole new world of enjoyment for me to contemplate. Are there not enough fone frequencies to communicate on? Are not the CW segments just as dead as the phone segments when the band is out? God bless you if you want to operate fone ...have a good time but the idea has gone beyond booting the test to booting the mode. Then I would have to ask the question why. There must be some pretty deep seated hatred out there of CW and CW ops. But in the final analysis I guess my love of an elegant, narrow banded and relaxing mode should give way to the "gall bladder" kws ...to do otherwise would selfish on my part. God Bless 73 KI3R Tom Popovic Belle Vernon Pa. ps in answer to you last question ...we are better for it.... It isn't that we don't have enough 'fone' spectrum as you call it, we do. No, the problem is that we can't operate phone on all the frequencies that the DX can. This is true on 80, 40, 20 and 15 (30 too, but let's not go there). On 40 it is worse, as we have none of the frequencies available in Region 1 (Europe and Africa). This latter problem will eventually be fixed as 7100- 7200 will eventually be worldwide. As you don't work phone DX I wouldn't really expect you to be aware of this, much less care, but there it is. I have no more desire than you do to see any 'gallbladder nets' further down the bands. |
"Dan/W4NTI" w4nti@get rid of this mindspring.com wrote in message link.net... I forsee this latest debacle of the ARRL will result in further damage to Amateur Radio. Much worse than the failed and flawed 'Incentive licensing' garbage of the late 1960s. Dan/W4NTI You have it slightly wrong Dan. ARRL is doing this to try and fix what they screwed up by Incentive Licensing. Of course we all know the horse left the barn long ago and the fat lady from CT has already sung her tune, but the great Newington publishing company has to do something or risk appearing redundant. (looks like Ole Herbie Baby was right about one thing all those years on 14.313! They are indeed nothing more than a non-profit publishing company) William (ex-Wd4 in the 70's) |
Jim,
Thanks - got it!. The comment that you are referring to, however, wasn't mine - you may wish to take this issue up directly with its author. 73, Leo On 21 Jan 2004 02:09:43 GMT, (N2EY) wrote: In article , Leo writes: On 20 Jan 2004 23:24:16 GMT, (Len Over 21) wrote: In article , Leo writes: That's one way of looking at it, Jim. To me, it looks like a purely political move - that is, trying to please the greatest number of members...and voters...and customers... 400,000 upgraded licences = 400,000 happier ARRL members. Drop code = some number of happy new HF - using members. Keep code for Extra licence = a 'tip of the hat' to the 'Extra' class members, to give them something to be happy about (although keeping code testing as a requirement for a licence class that provides only additional phone bandwidth as a perk is pretty odd, I'd say...but it does make the Extra level licence harder to get - that's what everybody wants, right?). The problem is that the 15 old men of the BoD have just disenfranchised themselves from over 200K Technician class licensees who will now carry the wonderful class name of "Novice." Leo, Lest anyone be confused, the above statement is not correct. It is in error, mistaken, false, misleading and just plain wrong. The ARRL proposal wants existing Technicians to get a free upgrade to General, not a downgrade to Novice. Direct quote from ARRL: "The middle group of licensees--Technician, Tech Plus (Technician with Element 1 credit) and General--would be merged into a new General license that also would not require a Morse examination. Current Technician and Tech Plus license holders automatically would gain current General class privileges without additional testing." Truth triumphs over error once again. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
In article , Leo
writes: Jim, Thanks - got it!. I kinda thought you would. The comment that you are referring to, however, wasn't mine I know. I didn't see the original post, just your reply. I addressed the reply to you so you'd know the facts of the matter. - you may wish to take this issue up directly with its author. I learned a long time ago that doing so is a complete waste of time. The author of those mistakes doesn't take correction from those who disagree with his views. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
It isn't that we don't have enough 'fone' spectrum as you call it, we do. No, the problem is that we can't operate phone on all the frequencies that the DX can. This is true on 80, 40, 20 and 15 (30 too, but let's not go there). Hi Alun .... Got a point there ....I have heard on fone (sic)that some foreign ops are very happy with this arrangement. I am in agreement that the 40 situation needed attention. Hopefully this will make things better for everyone. As for 30 ...well not bad generally but the Espanol pirates, fishing boats and big signal data do stink up the neighborhood. I know I know we are secondary users .... As you don't work phone DX I wouldn't really expect you to be aware of this, much less care, No no Alun I do care ...I see the problems that are there are making the service less enjoyable for all hams. I wish that I had the constitution to put up with the stuff I hear up band but I do not. This service-hobby is at the forefront of the idea of manners and procedures maximizing the enjoyment for all. but there it is. I have no more desire than you do to see any 'gallbladder nets' further down the bands. We collectively Alun have let these problems fester and boil over to the extent that enjoyment of this service is compromised by what we hear on the bands today. I would venture to say that a $25 to $50 a year fee for a ticket would separate the proverbial wheat and chaff. That would give the feds the resources to properly police the roost but given the present resolve of the FCC ...oh well ... and the fact that a lot of hams still have their communion money ..... The idea that we are self policing is just so much vaporware mantra. God Bless and good DX there Alun ..73 Tom KI3R |
In article lq9Pb.25785$Xq2.14841@fed1read07, "K7JEB"
writes: Leo wrote: That makes more sense to me, Alun - I don't see why the ARRL would propose moving almost 400,000 people to a higher licence class just because the ITU made morse code testing optional. You can thank BPL for that. If we can't lick them on the egress issue, we'll add multi-hundred-thousands of HF ops to provide a plethora of additional ingress points and let the BPL system ops assess their network reliability from that. This must be where I saw that idea! And it makes perfect sense. I don't think we'll be hearing any protests over this proposal from Yaecomwood either. Not at all. But the amateur market is tiny compared to consumer electronics. Even if FT-1000s were $1000, how many would Yaesu sell in the USA per year? One "problem" rigmakers have is that ham gear tends to have a fairly long useful life. A ten-year-old computer is generally considered to be almost useless today, even if it was top of the line when it was made. But a ten year old ham rig may be barely broken in. Going back still futher, not many people are still watching TVs made in the early '60s, but many 40 year old Drake or Collins lines are in daily use by hams - not out of nostalgia or technical inertia, but because they were and are pretty good rigs. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
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