First, I must praise the ARRL directors for proposing a compromise.
No matter what they proposed, they were destined to be buried in
hatemail.

Having said this, I think the proposal didn't fix all that was broken
(read: Morse Code exam requirement) and also fixed things that didn't
need to be fixed.

As far as I can tell, people want the Novice license back so
entry-level hams can have some HF privileges. But the proposal would
REDUCE the privileges of current Novices, which I don't think is fair
(even if 99.9% of Novices are inactive). I think the Novice
privileges should be left alone. And I don't see a need for the FCC
to issue new Novice licenses again given the fact that most new hams
chose the No-Code Tech license over the Novice license during the
period when both were available.

I have a better idea: Why not just give all Technicians (include the
No-Coders) Tech Plus privileges? This gives the entry-level license
class some HF privileges. Like most of you, I disagree with the free
upgrade to General. Expanding Novice/Tech Plus HF privileges seems to
me to be a better idea. And if the current Novices are such a burden,
why not just upgrade them to Tech Plus?

I applaud the ARRL for reducing the Morse Code testing requirement
further in the proposal, but it could have proposed a complete
elimination. The reasons for eliminating the Morse Code requirement
for the General license apply for the Amateur Extra license as well.
There's also a practical reason to fully eliminate the Morse Code exam
- the need to keep track of which current Technicians and new Generals
passed the 5 wpm exam and which did not.

In short, I think that the current license system is mostly OK. The
only change I think is necessary is the elimination of the Morse Code
testing requirement.

Jason Hsu, AG4DG
usenet AAAAATTTTT jasonhsu.com