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#1
April 15th 04, 01:50 AM
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Can anyone explain why Technicians should be upgraded to General?
It seems that ever since the ARRL made its restructuring proposal,
many of my fellow Anti-Code-Testers have jumped onto the ARRL restructuring bandwagon. The NCVEC submitted a new proposal that seemed to piggyback on the ARRL's proposal instead of sticking to the old proposal. What happened? I thought that eliminating the Morse Code testing requirement was the #1 most important thing in restructuring. Would there still be an alleged need to upgrade Technicians to General if the ARRL hadn't suggested this? Is there any reason to support this idea other than the alleged needs to 1. Reduce the number of license classes to 3 2. Introduce a new entry-level license 3. Avoid downgrading privileges I fully agree with #3, the need to avoid downgrading privileges. #1 and #2 individually sound reasonable. But insisting on meeting all three of these goals requires that Technician licensees be automatically upgraded to General. If it's that essential that there only be 3 license classes, then why not keep the Technician license and upgrade the current Novices to Technician? If a new entry-level license is necessary, then what's wrong with having 4 license classes instead of 3? What's wrong with compromising on #1 or #2? Can anyone provide any other reason why Technicians should be upgraded to General? I realize that there are some Technicians from before a certain date in 1987 who passed the General exam, but I the restructuring of 2000 allows them to upgrade without taking a single exam. The current General exam question pool has always been much more advanced than the Technician exam question pool and is a great deal larger. Today's No-Code Technicians haven't had to study the General exam material, which goes into substantial depth on HF issues. The General exam has always been separate from the Technician exam. While most of the current Amateur Extra question pool was covered in the old Advanced question pool, you can't argue that most of the current General question pool was covered in the Technician question pool. Upgrading Advanced licensees to Amateur Extra in the interest of merging license classes sounds reasonable due to the similarity between the two classes. But upgrading Technician licensees to General is too extreme given the wide gulf in required knowledge. (I realize that there are Technicians with more know-how than some Amateur Extras, but these Technicians should have a big advantage on the General exam.) I've heard some defenders of this upgrade argue that No-Code Technicians should have HF privileges. But eliminating the Morse Code exam requirement would give the No-Code Technicians all Novice/Tech Plus privileges and also make it easier for them to upgrade to General. I realize that Novice/Tech Plus privileges on HF are extremely limited, but that can be resolved simply by expanding these privileges. These more modest measures would address the rationale for the automatic upgrades WITHOUT resorting to such extremes. I advocate eliminating the Morse Code testing requirement because its unilateral authority makes no sense. But the written exams do make sense because they are relevant to operating. Not every question will be relevant to everyone, but many will be. I don't believe the General exam poses an undue burden on No-Code Technicians. The questions are all multiple-choice, the question pool is public information, and no one topic or question has the unilateral authority of the Morse Code testing requirement. The more experienced and knowledgeable Technicians won't have to expend much effort in studying in order to upgrade. The current written exams aren't perfect, but I can't think of a better system that wouldn't pose an undue burden on applicants, VEs, or the FCC. Jason Hsu, AG4DG |
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#2
April 15th 04, 01:26 PM
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If doesn't matter who gets on HF anyone and their class or lack of a license . BPL is going to wipe it all out in a short time and HF will be useless. Then again BPL might be an easy hack for those so inclined. |
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#3
April 19th 04, 08:38 AM
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On Thu, 14 Apr 2004, Jason Hsu wrote:
It seems that ever since the ARRL made its restructuring proposal, ... Is there any reason to support this idea other than the alleged needs to 1. Reduce the number of license classes to 3 Why do we even need 3? Why not simply TWO: Below 30Mhz and above 30Mhz, and people can hold both. 2. Introduce a new entry-level license A new "entry-level" license: Why? The TECHNICIAN class, as it is now, IS the entry-level license. It doesn't matter that it was not originally meant to be; it has evolved into such. If the ARRL can't see that, then their leadership are truly idiots. 3. Avoid downgrading privileges I fully agree with #3, the need to avoid downgrading privileges. #1 and #2 individually sound reasonable. But insisting on meeting all three of these goals requires that Technician licensees be automatically upgraded to General. If it's that essential that there only be 3 license classes, then why not keep the Technician license and upgrade the current Novices to Technician? If a new entry-level license is necessary, then what's wrong with having 4 license classes instead of 3? What's wrong with compromising on #1 or #2? I disagree. However, if a license privilege is going to change, there should be a transitional period of two years where a person can do whatever is needed to upgrade to the appropriate class where the privilege will be retained (or expanded, if that class has more privilege), and for all those who do not upgrade, they get what they deserve by their inaction. Can anyone provide any other reason why Technicians should be upgraded ... |
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#4
April 19th 04, 01:16 PM
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If the ARRL can't see that, then their leadership are
truly idiots. You just figured that out. |
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#5
April 19th 04, 01:48 PM
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"D. Stussy" wrote in message
g... It doesn't matter that it was not originally meant to be; it has evolved into such. If the ARRL can't see that, then their leadership are truly idiots. I like this statement. The recognition of evolution wrt radio services is somewhat dear to my heart. ggg 73 de Bert WA2SI |
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#6
April 23rd 04, 06:49 AM
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On Mon, 19 Apr 2004, WA8ULX wrote:
If the ARRL can't see that, then their leadership are truly idiots. You just figured that out. No. I've known that for years. However, the person I replied to never seemed to have figured that out for himself. |
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#7
May 6th 04, 11:44 PM
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#8
May 7th 04, 02:51 AM
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Subject: Can anyone explain why Technicians should be upgraded to
General? From: (stewart) Date: 5/6/2004 5:44 PM Central Standard Time Message-id: (Jason Hsu) wrote in message .com... ... But insisting on meeting all three of these goals requires that Technician licensees be automatically upgraded to General. If it's that essential that there only be 3 license classes, then why not keep the Technician license and upgrade the current Novices to Technician? Because we need to bring back the eliminated entry-level license! No, we don't. All of the Amatuer Radio periodicals are ripe with stories of K I D S passing ALL classes of Amatuer Radio licensure. If a new entry-level license is necessary, then what's wrong with having 4 license classes instead of 3? Because it is UNNECESSARY... the General, Technician, and TechPlus tests are/were virtually identical - ergo, MERGE 'EM ALL! "Virtually identical"...?!?! You really ARE an idiot. Not to mention that you've not been keeping abreast of the question pools. What's wrong with compromising on #1 or #2? Forget it... NO MORE COMPROMISING! It has been attempted over the years, and all these foot-draggers want to do is pull us back to December 6, 1941... 'aint gonna happen McGee... It is 2004, and we have Cell Phones, the Internet, 125 Channels on TV, etc., etc., etc... time for US Ham Radio to join the 21st century. It's already there. Too bad you keep trying to take us back to 1951. Morse Code will now officially be IRRELEVANT (at least as far as Novice and General Classes are concerned). LIVE WITH IT. Hardly irrelevant. The ARRL proposal is PERFECT... time to MOVE ON! No, it's not. - Stewart (N0MHS) Another "zero" worthy of the number. Steve, K4YZ |
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#9
May 7th 04, 08:41 PM
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stewart wrote:
(Jason Hsu) wrote in message . com... ... But insisting on meeting all three of these goals requires that Technician licensees be automatically upgraded to General. If it's that essential that there only be 3 license classes, then why not keep the Technician license and upgrade the current Novices to Technician? Because we need to bring back the eliminated entry-level license! We have a perfectly good entry level license, the Technician level. If a new entry-level license is necessary, then what's wrong with having 4 license classes instead of 3? Because it is UNNECESSARY... the General, Technician, and TechPlus tests are/were virtually identical - ergo, MERGE 'EM ALL! I took all of my tests during the last restructuring, and the tests are not even close to identical. What's wrong with compromising on #1 or #2? Forget it... NO MORE COMPROMISING! It has been attempted over the years, and all these foot-draggers want to do is pull us back to December 6, 1941... Wow, some spin there, Stewart! and just whose "no more compromising" are you talking about? And are you suggesting that Code tested hams are responsible for Pearl Harbor? ;^) 'aint gonna happen McGee... It is 2004, and we have Cell Phones, the Internet, 125 Channels on TV, etc., etc., etc... time for US Ham Radio to join the 21st century. Morse Code will now officially be IRRELEVANT (at least as far as Novice and General Classes are concerned). LIVE WITH IT. The ARRL proposal is PERFECT... time to MOVE ON! I wouldn't know why morse shouldn't be eliminated for Extra also, it it is eliminated for the General class. And no, the ARRL proposal isn't anywhere near perfect. The Morse code requirement for Extra is just a bone thrown to the people that still want Element 1 testing. If we are going to get rid of element one, get rid of it for cryin' out loud. Why subject it to a lingering decline? Over half of the Generals will then have been tested at the Technician level. Despite what you say, the tests are quite different. I've taken them all, and in my experience and opinion, they are appropriate for the privileges granted. The administrative quagmire of Novice and Advanced class licensees that is stated as the reason for further untested upgrading simply doesn't exist. Not a terribly perfect plan at all. - Mike KB3EIA - |
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