KØHB wrote:
wrote

First, it assumes that hams with the various license classes
stay only in their respective subbands, in that you won't find
Extras in the Advanced and General parts, or Advanceds
in the General parts, etc. But that's not how it works.

You've got it all bass-ackwards, Jim.

No, just the opposite, Hans.

My "experiment" presumes that you won't
find Advanced in the Extra portion of the band, and you won't find Generals in
either the Advanced or Extra segments.

And you usually won't!

But you *will* find Extras in the Advanced and General parts of the
band, and
Advanceds in the General part of the band.

Thus, if incentive licensing is working,
there ought to be a noticeable difference in operator/technical skills evident
between the opposite ends of the band segments.

That difference, if it exists, would be diluted by the Extras in the
Advanced and
General sections, and the Advanceds in the General section. Muddies the
waters, as it were.

There's also the effect of the bandplans. The lower parts of the
subbands
are often where the DX and DXers hang out, so you hear more pileups and
less discussion. Many of the "watering holes" for various interests and
modes are intentionally placed in the General sections: AM is near
3885,
PSK31 is around 3579, QRP is around 3540, etc.

As you so ably point out, that difference doesn't seem to exist.

It's interesting that you suggest the experiment on 'phone, not CW ;-)

I rest my
case. No benefits of incentive licensing are observed in the real world.

There are other experiments to try. For example, look in the amateur
radio publications - particularly the most technical-
and operating-skill-emphasis ones like QEX and NCJ - and see what
license classes the authors of the best articles hold.

wrote

I would expect less sophisticated discussions in the
Advanced/Extra portions simply because the Generals
may be more apt to be seeking knowledge where the
Extras may be inclined to relax.

Dee, you should submit this as the funniest-rrap-paragraph-of-the-month.

A good one!

But lemme tellya what I recall from the late 1960s....

I remember the howling and cussing over the coming
of the then-new regs. I was surprised that so many
hams that were older and more experienced than I
were so upset about having to take more exams.

You'd have thought that the Advanced and Extra
writtens were EE courses, and that the 20 wpm Morse
Code exams were world-class. Or something.

But after a bit of listening and questioning, the situation
became clear. Most of those complaining had been
licensed after the Great Giveaway of Christmas 1952,
and had little or no knowledge of how things were before
Generals and Conditionals got all privileges.

Many of those who complained the loudest had started
out as Novices, studied and practiced like mad during their
Novice year, and then upgraded to General or Conditional.
Once they'd gotten to the General/Conditional level, they
basically sat back and considered themselves "fully
qualified", and relaxed.

What really ticked them off was that FCC was saying there
was more to learn!

It didn't help their addytood when young squirts like me
started showing up with Advanceds and Extras....back when
Extras made up less than 2% of US hams....

What was even funnier was when some of the worst
complainers and moaners started
working towards the Advanced and Extra and found they
could pass those exams. They discovered that 20 wasn't
all that fast if you actually *used* Morse Code on the air
for a while, and that knowing the technical stuff in the books
well enough to pass the exams didn't take an EE degree.

Soon there were Advanceds and Extras all over the place
and it was no big deal.

Now the circle is complete...

73 de Jim, N2EY