"KØHB" wrote in message
ink.net...

wrote


After the incentive licnesing rules went into effect
in the 1967-1969 period, the number of US hams began to
grow much faster than it had during the 1960s. The growth of
the 1970s continued into the 1980s.


Are you suggesting that making it tougher to get full privileges was the
cause that accelerated the growth of the ARS? That has to qualify as the
most outrageous notion to hit RRAP (outside the dump huck posts from Mark)
in the current century.

Clearly other "market forces" were in play for the ARS to enjoy the
popularity it did in the post-Sputnik years. Science was "cool" and the
hot ticket for education and career planning. Scientifiic-seeming hobbies
like electronics, radio, and astronomy were beneficiaries of this
attitude. If anything, dis-incentive licensing was a damper (not an
accelerant) on the growth of the ARS during that period.


If incentive licensing was so awful, why was there so much
growth in the ARS in the two decades after it was put in
place?


Can you imagine how much more growth we'd have had without its repressive
effects on our hobby!

73, de Hans, K0HB


We will never know for sure whether it had a beneficial or adverse effect on
the hobby. Although it may have made it harder to get full privileges, it
seems to have made it easier to get beginner and intermediate privileges.
The prospective ham could take the journey in smaller steps and have
meaningful privileges along the way. Although the implementation was poorly
handled (i.e. some people actually losing privileges), the concept of having
a series of smaller, easier to manage steps makes sense if you want to get
people involved in the hobby. They don't have to go all out to sample the
hobby. They can get basic privileges and see if they like it before they
dive into it fully.

Personally I think that the previous 5 license approach was too many and
that 3 steps is about right. However as far as the written test material
goes, I think the jump in difficulty from Tech to General is too small and
the jump from General to Extra is too large.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE