In article , Mike Coslo
writes:

N2EY wrote:

In article , Mike Coslo
writes:

Carl R. Stevenson wrote:

I was initially against this idea, thinking that taking the additional
written
element should be a requirement. However, I've read Ed Hare's excellent
*personal, not ARRL policy* comments on this from eham, and find that
they make sense to me - a compelling case for a "one-shot adjustment" to
make things clean in a way that nobody loses anything.

Once upon a time you also wrote:

I do not, and never will support the elimination or watering down
of the written tests. I have stated over and over again that I
personally feel they could be made better (where "better" and
"more difficult" are not necessarily synonymous ...).

Doncha just love Google?

You betchya! Everyone slips up from time to time, and I don't like to
use it to catch people in little mistakes, but this one is right from
Burger King! A Whopper!

(remember to point out that your quote is about the written tests, not
giving around 60 percent of US Hams a free upgrade) Same difference.

It *is* the same difference, because what it does is to remove a whole level of
written testing for a large number of existing hams.

A one time adjustment? That really has to rank as one of the worst
ideas that ever came down the pike!

Not if there's a good reason for it - but so far I haven't seen a good
reason.

If the Technicians/now Generals can even be considered to receive the
same privileges as the present Generals, how *Dare* the ARS or FCC even
*think* of not making it a permanent thing? That isn't even slippery
slope thinking either. The next batch of prospective hams will want to
know why THEY can't get the privileges that the OTHERS got by simply
being in the right place at the right time. What happens then?

A lot of bad feelings, for one thing. To my knowledge there is no precedent
for this sort of thing.

And how! I would not feel any resentment toward hams that came on board

sans Morse code testing. After all they were just taking the tests that
were taken when they upgraded.

But to have the equivalent of a General with just the technician test?
For almost 60 percent of Hams to get the free upgrade?

I make this suggestion in dead seriousness. ARRL needs to consult with
a licensed psychologist stat, if not put one on staff retainer. Perhaps
he or she could explain why this is such a stupid idea.

I'd like to see what W1RFI's argument is. I'm still waiting for a link...

And the primary question - what is the problem without the freebies?

How about this scenario:

ARRL is scared witless about the BPL problem.

K7JEB came up with this some time back. It makes sense.

Their (somewhat
necessary) paranoia about these things caused someone at HQ to muse
"yaknow, if all these Technicians were Generals, we could show up at the
FCC with much more impressive numbers of the Hams that would be
negatively impacted by BPL or other spectrum threats". Right now, they
don't have much HF access, so giving it to them allows us to jack those
numbers up by a lot!" It bounces off the restructuring committee, and
viola! A plan that not only P****s off those who came before, but also
those who will come afterward.

Perhaps. Weigh that against the fact that if BPL is ever deployed at
anything like a large scale, license tests for HF won't matter because
HF will be pretty much unusable for ham communications of the type
we're used to.

It will also make an incredibly good case for - dare I say it?
indisputable running numbing dumbing down of the ARS.

(devil's advocate mode = ON)

Back in the 1960s, we got something called "incentive licensing", which
was the result of concern that US hams weren't keeping up with techo-
change and were turning into "appliance operators", etc., etc.

Did any of those trends really change because of IL?

73 de Jim, N2EY