ARRL Proposal to Give Technicians More Operating Privileges

That is correct. I did that last year. After many years, decided that it was time to learn something new, improve my operating practices, study and pass the general test. I scored a perfect 100%.
I put the time in and made it happen, in between my family issues, full time Finance job, and other things. I am not in support of any free hand outs. You want expanded band options, put the time in and earn it.
Sorry techs.

 

Congratulations on your upgrade ,two thumbs up!!

 

How is this a "hand out"? Are Technician license holders begging for HF? I'm not seeing it.

Maybe if they get an introduction to HF beyond just CW they might see more value in it. It seems too many people are seeing this as handing Technician license holders a fish instead of a fishing pole. This is a hand up, not a hand out. They passed the testing on operating on 80, 40, and 15 meters, or at least they should have had that on the test since they've had access to these bands for something like 30 years now.

If people with a Technician license truly and actually do not want access to HF then what is the harm in giving access to frequencies they will not ever use?

 

If you read between the lines you did get your answer, there is nothing that would make operation of phone or digital any more a matter of safety than the existing CW only mode restriction. The complaint is nothing more than a subjective assertion that those with a Technician license didn't "earn" these additional privileges.

Of course. Therefore any claims that this update in privileges destroys the incentive in incentive licensing is moot. If additional HF privileges is not an incentive to upgrade then the incentive to upgrade beyond General has been gone for a very long time.

I believe this question should not be rhetorical.

I'd ask the same of those with an Advanced or Novice license as well.

This is the same argument that was dug up and dusted off from when the Morse code testing requirement was eliminated. It didn't work then and I don't expect it to work now.

The complaint that those with a Technician license was not properly trained for HF operations is another dusted off complaint from the time when the Morse code testing requirement was eliminated. Back then there was some truth to that, as I recall the ARRL admitted as such. That testing oversight was apparently rectified when the FCC denied the request to remove HF access to Technician license privileges then.

It's not just Technician license holders that are not upgrading. At least that is how I see it. This is a problem that is not unique to Technician. It's long over due to reconsider how incentive licensing should work, or if there is even a means to keep incentive licensing working.

I do believe that this experiment to resurrect incentive licensing will fail. I point to the large numbers of licensed Amateurs of all license classes that appear to not see much value in upgrading. So, again, maybe it is over due to reconsider the value in incentive licensing.

Precisely. If those with a Technician license now are not using what HF privileges they currently have then adding more will do nothing. I suspect this is what will happen. That is until we have enough newly licensed Amateurs that do not have the preconceived notions of what a Technician license is and what it means to have it. If this experiment works then it won't be because of those with a license now, it will be with the people that get this license in the future.

 

How do you come up with that very wrong statement?

The Extra Class and General combined is just behind Tech in the numbers and those had the incentive to upgrade and one must assume they are using those new privileges on the air. The manufacturers are surely targeting them in the ads and must be happy with the results.
http://www.arrl.org/fcc-license-counts

OTOH a large number of Techs have never been on the air, buying equipment or doing anything but clogging up the FCC.

Carl

 

A hand out is getting something for free that I have earned (along with others).

 

N7KO has shared a wonderful story of hard work and accomplishment, and you turn around and piss in his cornflakes. You're a real class act, JEM ... LOW class!

 

How is my claim that there are many at every license level not upgrading false? Your own link shows over 8000 people with a Novice license and over 38000 people with an Advanced license that have not upgraded in nearly 20 years. For many of them this is far longer as it is unlikely they all upgraded immediately prior to the licenses being grandfathered and no longer issued. It is undeniable that these people failed to upgrade in the last 20 years, and they kept their license current by renewing at least once by now.

You say that we must assume that those with a General license are using their privileges on the air. I'm guessing that there is a lot of truth in that. What we cannot assume is that those with a General license have any incentive to upgrade. If there are 46000+ licensed Amateurs with Advanced or Novice licenses that have not upgraded in 20 years then it's likely safe to assume that there are many with a General license with no intention to upgrade to Extra. There is no incentive in incentive licensing any more.

How else can I say that there is no incentive in incentive licensing any more? The opponents to this ARRL petition admit as such. They will write to the FCC claiming that if this addition to Technician privileges had been in place when they were a Technician then they would not have upgraded to General. Others claim that if this petition is adopted that there would no longer be an incentive to upgrade because all the "best" bandwidth would already be available to those with a Technician license. If there is no longer an incentive to upgrade because of this teeny tiny update to Technician privileges then there is no incentive to upgrade beyond Advanced or General. We know that incentive licensing is largely a failure because of the large numbers of people that have not upgraded in the last 20 years.

They could not be bothered with taking a simple 35 question test to upgrade from Novice to Technician, or Technician to General. FOR TWENTY YEARS!!! Same for the many with a General or Advanced license, they could not be bothered to upgrade to Extra even with the (as they call it) "simple" 50 question exam. FOR TWENTY YEARS!!! How can I say that there's plenty of people with a General license that have not upgraded in this time? I can't say for sure but I am guessing that if someone were to dig through the FCC database they'd find a sizable portion of those with General that have not upgraded in decades.

So what? Lot's of people at all license levels "clog up" the FCC database. Why pick on only those with a Technician license? There is undeniable evidence of large numbers of people not seeing the incentive in the incentive licensing system. It's right there in the link you provided.

 

Here's the definition of a hand out

To be a handout the recipient must first ask for it. I don't see a whole lot of Technician license holders asking for this update.

Here's the definition of hand up

This is giving something to future licensed Amateurs to get a better introduction to HF than the current population of licensed Amateurs. The fact that current holders of the Technician license also benefit is incidental. It seems to me that the ARRL would have preferred a new license class to address this problem but those surveyed seemed to largely reject the idea. A majority of those surveyed held an Extra license, and the large bulk of the balance held a General. Very few people with a Technician license responded, so this isn't a hand out to beggars.

Also, how is it that current holders of the Technician license did not "earn" this addition to their privileges? Were they not already tested on the safe and effective communication on these HF bands? If they were not then that is a failure of the question pool committee to put the required material in the question pool. This claim of Technician license holders not being prepared for HF operations has been brought up before, when the Morse code testing requirement was on the chopping block, and the FCC rejected it then. To make that claim again now does not follow.

 

Could be they are testing radios under a wide range of space to ground communication situations.

 

I don't see how his remarks have anything to do with the petition.

 

So....there must be other reasons for the opposition.....

 

Not in their (radio) back yard ?

 

The petition is at odds with the express goals of the FCC for our humble service.

One need only agree with FCC to be against the petition. No other motive is necessary.