On Feb 25, 1:59 am, wrote:
On Feb 24, 11:27 pm, Mike Coslo wrote:
wrote groups.com:

On Feb 24, 11:40 am, "Dee Flint" wrote:
Well I've had a chance to tally the test results for my Feb 23rd
session in Oak Park, MI

24 candidates total. 21 for upgrades, 3 for new licenses

Dee ~ These three are the meat & potatoes of the matter, the 21
upgraders being no-counters as far as the growth or shrinkage of the
hobby is concerned. Supposedly the idea behind the elimination of the
code tests is to draw new blood into the hobby, folk who would
otherwise not bother with becoming licensed yes?

Increased numbers were not the reason for eliminating the Code
test, IIRC.

Tell that to the NCTA/NCI crowd which has been claiming for eons that
the path to growth is eliminating the code tests.

I've been claiming that Morse Code Testing was simply the wrong thing
to do.

Carl R. Stevenson NCI honcho grande, 31 Jan '07 11:03AM this NG
sayeth: "It appears that no-code WILL result in significant growth.
(as I predicted)"

Elimination of Morse Code Testing may be what keeps amateur radio from
falling into the abyss.

wrote:

I disagree. Extremely few people are interested in amateur radio
these days. Those who were and were turned off or turned away by the
Morse Code exam have found other interests satisfied by the web or
massive amounts of cable/satellite television.

Assuming for the moment that what you say is true (and I completely
disagree), then what would have presented those people from simply losing
interest and moving on to those other things anyway? Isn't that pretty much
what happened with the "Honey Do" hams in the mid-to-late 90's?


Mike, it turns people off and it turns people away. Besides, amateur
radio isn't sexy.

30 years ago radio had more "magic" to it. Today, with the huge number of
wireless devices in society, it simply doesn't seem as 'high tech' as it
used to.

On Feb 25, 12:22 pm, "KH6HZ" wrote:
wrote:
I disagree. Extremely few people are interested in amateur radio
these days. Those who were and were turned off or turned away by the
Morse Code exam have found other interests satisfied by the web or
massive amounts of cable/satellite television.

Assuming for the moment that what you say is true (and I completely
disagree),

(of course you do)

then what would have presented those people from simply losing
interest and moving on to those other things anyway?

They have...

Isn't that pretty much
what happened with the "Honey Do" hams in the mid-to-late 90's?

I thought you said your wife got you a ham license so she could keep
track of you.

Mike, it turns people off and it turns people away. Besides, amateur
radio isn't sexy.

30 years ago radio had more "magic" to it.

Thirty years ago was exactly the right time to have done it. Thanks
for mentioning it.

Today, with the huge number of
wireless devices in society, it simply doesn't seem as 'high tech' as it
used to.

Yet so many of the Extras want todays written exam to be the
equivalent of an MSEE.

wrote:

then what would have presented those people from simply losing
interest and moving on to those other things anyway?

They have...

If those people have lost interest and moved on, then they were never really
interested in radio despite getting their licenses, were they?


I thought you said your wife got you a ham license so she could keep
track of you.

I do not think I ever said that.


Yet so many of the Extras want todays written exam to be the
equivalent of an MSEE.

Can you enumerate for me who these extras are?

On Feb 25, 2:03 pm, "KH6HZ" wrote:
wrote:
then what would have presented those people from simply losing
interest and moving on to those other things anyway?

They have...

If those people have lost interest and moved on, then they were never really
interested in radio despite getting their licenses, were they?

Were they?

Remember, even people who have passed code exams have let their
licenses expire and moved on, so who is to say that those who passed a
no code exam really weren't interested?

I thought you said your wife got you a ham license so she could keep
track of you.

I do not think I ever said that.

Oh?

Yet so many of the Extras want todays written exam to be the
equivalent of an MSEE.

Can you enumerate for me who these extras are?

They can speak for themselves.

On Feb 24, 9:24 pm, John Smith I wrote:
wrote:

...

Kelly:

One good way to start generating some new blood:

Print up a bunch of flyers touting the benefits of exchanging their cb
rigs in for ham rigs, then post 'em up at all the truck stops along all
the major freeways and highways ...

The CB equipment stores in those truck stops wouldn't particularly
appreciate that.

Instead go to a truck stop, buy a CB rig, get on 27Mhz and talk up ham
radio.

Gasp!

Wash my 'mouf!

JS

w3rv

On Feb 25, 9:02?am, "KH6HZ" wrote:
wrote:
I don't remember writing anything like that. But I
could be mistaken about it.

I tried to find the attribution on Google, but there is so much noise in
this group it made wading thru hundreds of messages impossible. Perhaps it
was Dee or another regular poster who alluded to the fact. I wasn't
attempting to put words in your mouth -- I remember someone making the
comment, but cannot find the post.

OK, no problem.

If it were *really* a barrier,
we will see big jumps in both the number of new
hams and the number of upgraders. The ARS
License Numbers thread will tell the tale.

Right.

And we just may see that.

And my own anecdotal observations show
me that the code test was
never a real barrier to entry.
It isn't the code test that has turned people
away, it is simply that "radio" isn't "sexy".

Not for most people. To most, it's a means
to an end, not an end in itself. Hams are
the exception.

This is why I predicted that the result
from these changes will be 0 to -1%
growth. What the changes may do is
tap a few new people into the ARS and
slow the rate of decline for a year -- but
I really suspect what we'll see
over the next 6 months is a huge number of
upgrades, and very little in the
way of "growth" in new hams (over the rate they're already added to the
ARS).

Perhaps. Time will tell.

IMHO, the real "barrier to growth" wasn't the
license
test requirements at all. Rather, it is simple
lack of
publicity about amateur radio.

That could be be.

I think it's *the* major factor. I have met far too
many people who, before they met me, had all
sorts of inaccurate ideas about amateur radio.
Fortunately, I've been able to correct a lot of
misconceptions, and the result has been *a few*
new hams.

But the usual reaction I encounter isn't that people
don't want to learn Morse Code, or think the theory
is too hard. Rather, most people just aren't interested
in "radio for its own sake".

Remember the explosion of CB radio
after "Smokey and the
Bandit" and similar movies in the 70's?

Sure. cb was all over the popular media, in
movies, on TV and in music. Heck, it got to
the point where "First Mama" Betty Ford had
one in a White House limo.

How many active cbers are there now?

What percentage of those who were cbers
in the '70s are still active cbers now?

What percentage of those who were hams
in the '70s are still active hams now?

Consider this: When's the last time you saw
Amateur Radio portrayed in the movies or on
TV in a positive and accurate manner, and in
such a way that a nonham could understand that
amateur radio exists today and they could be a
ham if interested?

Even if they did put it in a movie, what
would it show? Someone talking to
another dude 1/2way across the world?

It could be done in a way that would emphasize
the things which make Amateur Radio unique.

For example, did you see the movie "Contact"?
Opening sequence is a pretty good demo of
amateur radio, except for two omissions:

1) The fact that amateur/ham radio is being portrayed is never
mentioned.

2) The fact that amateur/ham radio exists today,
not just in the past, is never mentioned.

Most people would say "what's the big
deal, I can do that too" as they pull their credit-
card-sized cell phone out
of their shirt pocket.

Of course - because they aren't interested in
"radio for its own sake".

Heck, way back 40 years ago, when I was first
licensed, what was the big deal to work a ham
across the continent? Long distance telephones
weren't new in 1967.

The best explanation I can give is an analogy to
transportation. If you just want to get from A to B,
the main concern is which way is easiest/fastest/less expensive,
depending on the particular situation.

But if the journey itself is important, everything
changes. Driving a minivan is definitely not the
same *experience* as riding a Harley, even if
both take the same route and go the same speed.
There are far more people in minivans than on
Harleys, too - but that's completely irrelevant to
the journey and the experience.

73 de Jim, N2EY

Print up a bunch of flyers touting the benefits of exchanging their cb
rigs in for ham rigs, then post 'em up at all the truck stops along all
the major freeways and highways ...


The CB equipment stores in those truck stops wouldn't particularly
appreciate that.


Those stores shouldn't mind, they already sell "ham" rigs for 10m....

Of course, as long as the truckers do take and pass the written exams
and get ham licenses, and they don't do any "pecuniary interest" traffic
on the ham bands, why not...

On Feb 25, 2:26 pm, wrote:
On 25 Feb 2007 11:22:10 -0800, wrote:

On Feb 25, 2:03 pm, "KH6HZ" wrote:
wrote:
then what would have presented those people from simply losing
interest and moving on to those other things anyway?

They have...

If those people have lost interest and moved on, then they were never really
interested in radio despite getting their licenses, were they?

Were they?

well I saw 3 of those fellows at AES yesterday taking general exams
with expired tech licnes still in the grace period

I agree that Jim and Mike were wrong.

Remember, even people who have passed code exams have let their
licenses expire and moved on, so who is to say that those who passed a
no code exam really weren't interested?

the coded extra have powers to see into the minds of mere mortals yuou
know BB

And reach across broad oceans and into the PO Boxes of others.

On Feb 25, 2:40 pm, wrote:
On Feb 24, 9:24 pm, John Smith I wrote:

wrote:

...

Kelly:

One good way to start generating some new blood:

Print up a bunch of flyers touting the benefits of exchanging their cb
rigs in for ham rigs, then post 'em up at all the truck stops along all
the major freeways and highways ...

The CB equipment stores in those truck stops wouldn't particularly
appreciate that.

Instead go to a truck stop, buy a CB rig, get on 27Mhz and talk up ham
radio.

Gasp!

Wash my 'mouf!

JS

w3rv

Somehow I think you're no stranger to CB Radio.