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May 8th 04, 05:17 PM
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Subject: Let's debate: Should Amateur Radio be made a free for all?
From: Alun Date: 5/8/2004 9:38 AM Central Standard Time Message-id: (Brian Kelly) wrote in om: I had no particular interest in the topics covered by probably half the courses I had to pass to get a degree. But I did pass 'em (grousing all the way) and the priveleges flowed. The philosophy behind volume of work invested in learning = volume of privs goes back at least to the guilds of the early Renaissance. You would have thought we would have learnt since then, rather than aping the practices of hundreds of years ago. Nope. You can refer to almost any current career college degree program and still find curricula loaded with irrelevant and inconsequential "fluff" courses, no doubt "mandated" for the purpose of keeping the paying student paying. What's your point? My point is that we need to recruit people into the hobby. If one reflects back on the history and demograpics of the Amateur Radio Service, there have been those who obtained licensure for a myriad of reasons, but those who really get in it and stick with it have recurring central interests...Two types come to mind. First are those who are facinated by radio for radio's sake...Gadgets. The other are those who see Amateur Radio as a further means to an end...public service, emergency services, etc. Then there are always those "others", ie: husband-wife licensee's who just want a cheap honey-do connection and nothing else. Most of the "active" folks are the gadget operators and ES types, so let's go to where they are rather than wait for them to find us..."Popular Science" and "Popular Mechanics" magazine..."Journal of Emergency Medical Services", "Emergency Medical Services", etc etc etc. I never understood why we put the number of "basic" licensing course ads we do in Amateur Radio magazines...Most folks who read them are ALREADY licensed! Ham radio license tests should be reduced to passing a test on mouse operations in order for ham radio to compete with the Internet? Passing a one-button mouse test garners a Tech ticket, two gets a General and two plus a scroller wheel gets the examinee an Extra? Where do you get that from? I don't think we should reduce theory standards atall. I just think we need to abolish the code test. Code test-schmode test...If you want to re-establish some validity of the Amateur Radio Service's credibility as a breeding ground for technically competent licensees, close the written test pools. That will never happen, however, for one very prominent reason if no other...Truth be known that MOST people would never get an Amateur license because of the WRITTEN test...In it's raw form, it requires that the applicant actually KNOW something. That requires REAL learning, not just rote memorization, which is exactly what learning Morse Code is, and is exactly what the written tests are now. Element 1 only adds access to about 2.5% of all Amateur allocations. Those that really wanted HF priviledges only saw the Code test as a hurdle...Not a brick wall. 73 Steve, K4YZ |
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