Perturbation

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More on the Test Free License

Posted: 02 Oct 2016 03:00 PM PDT
https://ke9v.net/2016/10/02/more-on-...-free-license/


I didn’t intend to write a follow-up to the Test Free License post but the
larger conversation that it has spawned both here and on Reddit has
wandered quite a bit off the path that I tried to lay out in my
dissertation on the matter. Some of the original context has been lost and
I wanted a shot at setting the record straight – assuming that’s possible
given such a volatile topic.

The idea for the post came from a visit to a ham radio shop on Friday where
I noticed the number of books offering help in obtaining an amateur radio
license far, far outnumbered books about antennas, assembling a radio
shack, or operating procedures. Im assuming this is because demand for
training and licensing material is higher than for more general how-to
books about the hobby.



With a two-hour drive home after my radio store visit, I had time to chew
on why this might be so. I’m an Extra class operator who hasn’t taken a
license test in a long, long time and to be honest, I never think much
about our licensing process. I’ve encouraged more than a dozen people to
join the hobby over my 40-year radio adventure, but I’ve never been much
interested in becoming a volunteer examiner and have (sadly) left this work
to others.

What I’m trying to say here is that I’m no expert on these matters.

But I do find it curious that there’s so much material available for sale
on becoming a radio amateur, given that all the information necessary,
including all the test questions and answers are available online at no
cost. Further inspection reveals that there is a business here because
people look for shortcuts – or more effective ways of reaching a goal, if
you prefer, and these paid systems make such promises.

Online discussions and reviews reveal that this or that particular system
makes it easier to master the material required to enter the world of
amateur radio. Is it really possible to cover a large pool of regulatory,
technical, and operating questions in a 100-page booklet?

Not likely, though for what it’s worth, producers of this material break
things down by license class. There are different study guides for
Technician, General, and Extra class examinations.

Moving past the printed or rich media that sometimes attends these systems,
I see frequent mentions of successful Saturday morning testing sessions via
social media. Very often these take the form of a four-hour session where
it is possible to go from zero-to-license by using clever means for
memorizing the questions and answers needed to pass the test.

I’ve written about this many times over the years as it seems to me to be a
terrible system for injecting new blood in the hobby – though I admit it
has been effective at adding to our numbers.

My objections to these kinds of license mills that exist mostly to crank
out new amateurs on a monthly basis has usually been met with push back
from those involved in the process who tell me that the test isn’t terribly
important and what matters most is the experience of getting them on the
air as quickly as possible and getting them acclimated to radio operation.

If we buy that premise, then testing is probably unnecessary and has become
just another speed bump on the road to an amateur radio license. And that
makes me wonder if the current system is being perpetuated because there’s
profit in it?

The sale of books and study guides looks like a thriving business to me –
at least that seems obvious from the number of such titles for sale at the
radio store. I’ve no complaint that someone makes a few bucks for their
efforts here, unless the people who produce these materials are the same
folks promoting the continuation of the current process – or who propose
the addition of yet another license class requiring more study guides.

And that’s what seems to be happening. Some VEC’s who make up the question
pools and administer the testing processes, are also involved in the
publishing of study materials.

From these thoughts, I presented the hypothetical argument for eliminating
amateur testing altogether. I don’t believe we need more than one license
class, and I’m perfectly okay issuing amateur radio licenses without any
testing.

But I understand that completely freaks a lot of folks out.

Some feedback said that license testing is an international requirement.
I’m not sure that’s correct. The Morse code test was an international
requirement, but once that was eliminated, most nations removed their
national requirement for it.

The FCC rules could certainly be changed such that the VEC’s could make the
“test� a ten question, true-false affair that every applicant could pass
without the need for study guides.

But this brings us to the many notions that this will dumb-down the amateur
radio service. Much of the feedback I received suggested that the Citizens
Band experience was the result of a no-license service. I think these are
all patently wrong and they oddly echo the same thing most of us
incorrectly believed about the removal of the code test.

I want to wrap this long post up with a list of things that I think are
important in clarifying what I actually wrote in my original treatise
versus some of the feedback I received and that is being perpetuated.

1. I never suggested that the amateur radio service was dying and this was
never intended as a suggestion to grow the service. Ham radio in the US is
healthy.

2. Everyone who wrote to suggest that removing the license testing would
turn amateur radio into CB radio is just plain wrong. The same argument has
been made over and over for the last fifty years whenever any major
overhaul to amateur licensing has been made and they’ve always been wrong.

3. Passing a test provides ZERO assurance that a licensee won’t break the
rules or the law. It’s important to note that EVERY single FCC violation
ever made by a radio amateur since the Communications Act of 1934 has been
made by someone who passed a test. And most of those passed a much tougher
test and proved their proficiency with Morse code. This fact alone should
dispel all notions that the “test� has anything to do with creating good or
bad amateur radio operators.

4. I suggested the $100 ten-year fee for two reasons. One, it should
generate some revenue for the government. When the FCC dropped fees for
licensing a few years back they said that the cost to collect the fees was
more than the fees themselves. Still, we should recognize that government
services that aren’t revenue neutral are ALWAYS subject to elimination.

5. The other reason I suggested the fee was to clean out the FCC database.
As it is, a person can obtain an amateur radio license and later lose
interest in the hobby. These drop out yet continue to renew their license
since it is free to do. If there were some fee involved, most would
probably allow these to lapse and thus clean-up the current database which
is no doubt chocked full of non-active hams.

I think that about covers it. It’s certainly something to chew on even if
you disagree. I do appreciate all the feedback, I asked for your comments
and you offered them up. Thank you for that!