ARRL Petition to Expand Technician Privileges

They would like you too if you brought them a treat. Guaranteed.

 

I would much prefer to give Koda and Rufus a treat rather than argue with other posters on these forums over an adult play toy.

 

Yoda?

 

To be constructive here, you seem angry at anyone who questions you and specifically the blame you place on others. If you look objectively, you might find that the way people react to you is self-inflicted.

 

Your rant represents what's wrong with the Technician ticket. It was never meant to be the 'beginner' license, but that is what it has become. It was intended for people who wanted to only play on VHF, not for those who wanted the classic ham radio experience. Unfortunately, since the Novice license was abolished, it has become the defacto beginner license. Being a 'beginner' implies that there is some higher level of achievement. You didn't ask for that label, but most of the current Technican class did.

We don't mean to be condescending. It's just that we're the people who started out on HF, and we can't imagine that two meter FM can possibly be as much fun as HF. They roll up the sidewalks and turn off the repeaters after dark, don't they? I have spent enough time in the Twin Cities to realize that there is more activity there than there is 50 miles away, but I'm not sure I'd be entertained with just VHF/UHF there. Now, I used to live in the Silicon Valley, and I would be happy on the repeaters there - you can find a good QSO any time of day or night. But there are tens of thousands of hams in that small area, too. In recent years, activity has dropped off in Silicon Valley, so it's harder to find a QSO, but linked repeater systems make it easier.

I know from experience that using the digital modes on HF is more fun than FM or digital modes on VHF/UHF. I like the digital voice modes and now own all three popular flavors - I like to listen to it while I'm doing digital data modes on HF. It's something to have going in the background, which for most of us is what two meters is all about.

As stated previously, the current proposal is not perfect, but it's the way ARRL has chosen to deal with the fact that our entry license isn't working for too many people. I and others would prefer a different solution - an entry level license that is truly entry level, with some meaningful HF privileges and very limited VHF/UHF privileges. I would make the test about the same technical level as the Tech, but with more emphasis on HF operations and practical knowledge - very similar to the British Foundation license.

I'm sorry you're offended by attempts to give you advice, and I do understand the existence of cliques, particularly in regard to VHF/UHF operations - they turn me off, too. Those things are very easily avoided on HF, just turn the dial. You can't and won't change the repeaters. Indeed, cliques are a major reason we have far, far, too many repeaters on the air, resulting in dilution of the available operators to use them, and inactivity.

 

I'm sorry guys (and gals) but I see his (kdØtls) point and I think it's a valid one. I remember way back experiencing the same sort of thing (promised someone I wouldn't cuss) from the upper decks and since I was in it for radios sake, I basically told them to go autorotate themselves and persevered. Now, on the top deck myself, I still tell them to go autorotate themselves.

Not much progress in 22 years it seems...

 

Let's be fair, though... the Tech ticket is at least as useful as an "entry level license" as the Novice was, because it contains all of the Novice privileges, and then some (actually, quite a few). It also takes far less effort to obtain than when the Novice was still being issued as its prerequisite.

If the goal is to expose newbies to radio through privileges, the current Tech is as good as it has ever been since incentive licensing came to be. So if the Tech isn't good enough for that purpose, the gripe is with incentive licensing as a whole, not the license class contents.

 

Yoda, Matt???? I prefer Princess Leia

 

...back when cute girls were still allowed to make movies.

 

Agreed. But then there was this guy that came along first...
Oh, hi Dad.