"Mike Coslo" wrote in message
...


Carl R. Stevenson wrote:

"Jim Hampton" wrote in message
...
[snip]

I also don't want some idiot running 200 watts into a 5/8 wave
groundplane
on 2 meters next door to me. He may be ignorant, but I am not.


And what is to stop a tech from doing so? (as long as he/she does the
RF
exposure analysis ... which will probably show that it's just fine from
the
RF exposure standpoint ...)

Jim, your class elitism/prejudice is showing - why don't you stop acting
like all techs are dimwits? Many are more technically accomplished than
many extras.


I think you are pulling this out of context, Carl. The original poster
said that (paraphrasing here) the people opposed to the upgrade are
wrong in part because the Technician and General tests are nearly
identical.

Oddly enough, in a later post that same poster went on to note how many
Tower questions there are on the Tech test, yet not on the General test
- a seeming contradiction for nearly identical tests.

I am a "new" Ham, having taken all my tests in modern times. There are
significan differences between the Technician test and the General test
and the Extra test.

Jim was merely supporting adequate testing. As do I. Of course there is
a wide gap in what people consider adequate.

I know I do not consider the Technician test adequate to be classed as
a General. And I doubt I'll ever apologize for thinking that knowledge
is good.

- Mike KB3EIA -


Hello, Mike

You stated that very well. The question of "what is adaquate testing?" will
likely be a big bone of contention between a lot of folks. Certainly there
are many *very* well qualified techs. A friend of mine was a tech for
something like 25 years until they lowered the code for general to 5 words
per minute. He then got an automatic upgrade to general. His theory test,
however, was identical to a general back when he took his test. He does
have a degree in electronics and is *highly* qualified; that does not assure
me that all techs are *highly* qualified for an automatic promotion to
general. That was my only point.

Amateur radio should not be elitist; however, certain basic fundamentals
should be known before issuing a license (at least in my mind).

Most likely, since the tech license is to be phased out, the ARRL doesn't
want to upset more people than necessary (whatever decision is made, some
folks are not going to be happy).

Of course, if the FCC started cracking down hard on some of the "problem
children" of 75 and 20 meters, things might fall in line a lot better.
There exists no sanity test for an amateur license, unfortunately

73 from Rochester, NY
Jim AA2QA



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.700 / Virus Database: 457 - Release Date: 6/6/04