Does anyone at the ARRL actually ever get on the 75 meter band and listen any? The segment they suggest from 3900-4000 Khz is already so crowded now I wonder where they think they're going to put another 378,000 licensees in that part of the band? Instead of giving more frequency privileges to people who haven't earned them through incentive licensing (today's typical progressive liberal rewards system) they should be throwing their resources into getting more frequencies authorized on the 75/80 meter band to relieve some of the overcrowded conditions that already exist, but instead they want to do this crazy proposal plus make 3600-3700 for digital modes only! They want to keep taking away phone operating frequencies! That's not what is needed! More operating frequencies are needed than anything else! What they're suggesting is only going to cause more interference which is already terrible now because Laura Smith and the FCC get paid well at the U.S. taxpayer's expense for sitting on their hands or playing on the world wide web all day instead of enforcing Part 97 rules! Apparently the ARRL's so-called study committee hasn't done any listening between 3900 and 4000 Khz because if they had they'd know that unless they're deaf, dumb, blind, and stupid!
Maybe we need some one else to represent the amateur radio community besides the arrl,that is not concerned about membership . And keeping the standards up to a respectable level ?
...because Parity Act has failed, and the League hasn't accomplished anything else substantial for the entire service for years. So they need to look busy. It's kind of like how many of my coworkers faithfully punch the clock every day, and sit at their desks all day long banging away on the keyboards. What you find if you pay attention, though, is that they are all surfing Facebook and YouTube all day, and accomplishing very little actual work. It's a bit like that. Look busy, do nothing.
They couldn't include any real data in their proposal, nor were they interested in collecting such data. Were such data ever collected, it could very easily show that Technicians aren't active because amateur radio as a whole is considered by them to be irrelevant or outdated. You can't ask that question because then you are stuck with the answer. Why confuse an issue with facts, when innuendo will serve the cause better?
Gee, for a second there, I thought you were referring to the silly year long grid square (non) contest. NO additional effort required, just operate normally.
What's funny is when you skip to the end of the survey results PDF, the results show that nearly 90% of the respondents held higher class licenses. That is, only 10% of the respondents to the poll held a Technician class license. It's not the Techs who are pushing this. What is your present license class? Novice........21....0.3% Technician...815...10.3 General.....1777...22.5 Advanced.....383....4.9 Extra.......4848...61.4 blank.........37....0.5 If the Techs aren't the ones that want this, you have to wonder, who is? And why? Just under 84% of respondents were General or Extra class, with Extra outnumbering General by nearly 3:1! Apparently that upgrade path isn't difficult at all.
Let's face it, the ARRL as an agenda. If Techs get more HF privileges, manufacturers will sell more radios. If the parity act in it's original form had passed, manufacturers would sell more antennas to HOA residents. The ARRL makes money selling advertising to the manufacturers, and the manufacturers donate equipment to ARRL sponsored activities. If you want to know the truth, follow the money. We've seen over the past few years under the new regime that it's all about the bottom line. The ARRL is working for the commercial vendors while making it look like they are working on your behalf. Whether you agree with what the ARRL is doing or not, you must recognize that there is a political agenda today that wasn't there in the past. I have not renewed my membership...I'm taking a break. If they can right the ship under new leadership, maybe I'll be back. I'm not holding my breath.
It still does, but now it comes in the form of, "you just hate hams and you don't want people to stay in the hobby." A simple yet effective approach to understanding most of the "nonlinearities" in human endeavors.
The notion that Techs don't upgrade because they don't have an opertunity to experience HF is just ludicrous . All they have to do is show up at any Field Day operation and poof Extra Class privileges just for the asking. Really all they have to do is ask at time and if theres an General or Extra in the room ...and poof . The whole point in having a higher class license is to ensure that the operator has minimal technical competence to operate a radio. Newer radios may radios may not require as much competence , but there's no forced obsolescence either , you can still buy and use older equipment , so the need for technical competence is still there. At least by going thru the testing process for a high class they get exposed to more than just rules and regs, and some stuff will leak in by osmosis and you show that your will to go the extra mile to learn something if needed. Hf is a spectrum that we share with the rest of the world (even without sunspots) ..If you screw up on VHF UHF you only effect a small group , Screw up on HF and the whole world can hear you . Past history shows that when it comes to licensing issues ,the FCC pays little attention to what the ARRL says or does. So... I suspect that the motivation here is a little less altruistic . I think this is a case of a weak ,embattled , unpopular BOD trying to garner some popular support for itself before an October election by making promises it cant keep,in the hope of holding on to its seats. At the same time , they want to wrap themselves in the armored cloak of public service to justify what ever they do .
I think we should take the ARRL at their word that the additional privileges are necessary to get new hams "engaged". Let's give them the new privileges for the Tech license --- but make the Tech ticket a "TIME BOMB" like the original Novice class. Give them a year to upgrade, or they risk starting over! This gives them a year to "engage". Then they "put up or shut up". If they have purchased equipment in the meantime, I guess they will have motivation to upgrade.
I would agree , except i think will create a huge burden on VECs for retest. Make it one and done. In other words make the Tech a one time temporary permit w/HF. If they think they still need to have that many people operating on VHF UHF for Emcom or some other reason then convert part of 144 /440 to licenseless DMR operation and roll it into FRS. Its going that way anyway. Since the radios have to registered for DMR anyway ,theres no technical reason that i can see that would require a license...registration should give traceability/accountability. Most of the ones i see are just getting licenses so they can use a radio in emergency....Licenseless DMR would fill that goal and we wouldn't have to waste callsigns. It would also create a much larger pool of potential ops in crisis. I don['t really see how moving 375000 techs onto HF SSB is going to benefit or enhance the radio art. But it might enhance ARRL coffers or change the voting dynamics by diluting the members it already has .
