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HamRadioNow: That ARRL Entry Level License Survey

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by K4AAQ, Mar 2, 2017.

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  1. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    Yep. YOUNG PEOPLE are absolutely more important than anyone else. They are continuity. They are legacy. They are future.
     
  2. AD5KO

    AD5KO Ham Member QRZ Page

    I love radio, I think it's amazing and of course it has changed the world for the better by far. But I don't see a way of comparing an Iphone 6 Plus or a 7 with a radio because the phone can do everything the radio can do and many many other things at the same time. There is nothing to sell to a kid. If they were interested in radio they would already be on CB or FRS or MURS.. just like I was when I was a kid. I didn't need persuading, I saw it and had to have it.

    It's almost as though people think we can educate or brainwash others into this hobby, I don't think we can, kid's or adults. It's like every other hobby you like it, love it or hate it, or just don't care.

    Why exactly does it have to be ham radio.. what about the other radio services, hobbies?
     
    KF4ZKU, AB4D and KK5JY like this.
  3. KK5JY

    KK5JY Ham Member QRZ Page

    Still waiting for that data showing that these folks need an easier test in order to be all those wonderful things.
     
    KB0FKT and AD5KO like this.
  4. KK5JY

    KK5JY Ham Member QRZ Page

    This is what happens when a hobby becomes a faith. Just trying talking trash about football to a devoted NFL follower. You'll wake up the next day to eggs on your car, and a paper bag filled with smelly brown material at your front door.
     
    AD5KO likes this.
  5. AD5KO

    AD5KO Ham Member QRZ Page

    You know, one thing I have learned from all the threads on this subject.. Let them go ahead and create a simple license, because I have realized that it won't make any difference at all.
     
    KK5JY likes this.
  6. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    No, a simple license in the expectation that she may be interested....

    You guys are so sexist sometimes...
     
  7. AD5KO

    AD5KO Ham Member QRZ Page

    Then she can joke about it like my wife does.
     
  8. AD5KO

    AD5KO Ham Member QRZ Page

    Talking to a bunch of old men on a CB radio... so much more fun than chatting to friends of the same age via social media apps and listening to music on a smartphone.:rolleyes:

    Ooh.. a radio.. and old people talking.. Oh wow.. so exciting! Yes they say, lets all rush to ham radio.

    [​IMG]
     
    KF4ZKU and N3AB like this.
  9. KK5JY

    KK5JY Ham Member QRZ Page

    It's okay, they're not going to get the "simple license," because FCC already considers the General class license test to be "easy." When second-graders are regularly acing the Extra, there are no "hard" ham tests.

    The real goal here is to put more HF privileges in the Tech license. That's it. Making the license easier isn't part of the recipe, because the VEC's already have power to make the tests easier, since they control the question content. What all these proposals have in common is to put more HF privileges in the bottom-level ticket, so people can do HF without ever having to upgrade. If it was really about making the trip to HF "easy," these proposals wouldn't happen because the General license is already "easy." No matter how it is worded, all of these proposals are all about HF privileges for Techs, which has also been squarely rejected by FCC, who also explained why they aren't interested in HF privileges for Techs.
     
    AD5KO likes this.
  10. KK5JY

    KK5JY Ham Member QRZ Page

    This is a really interesting point, and I'm surprised this doesn't get discussed more... why is the average age of a radio amateur in the US so high? I rarely meet amateurs in my age range (40-ish), unless they are DX. When I talk to people who are DX, they are often young people. I wonder how one could set out to investigate why that is (without guessing at it)?
     
    AD5KO and KF4ZKU like this.
  11. AD5KO

    AD5KO Ham Member QRZ Page

    I am starting to suspect that when they talk about getting kids into the hobby they may in fact be talking about people of your age group.. this could be where the confusion comes from when discussing this subject. :D

    Perhaps this is the mistake I am making when trying to understand their motivation.

    [​IMG]
     
    KK5JY likes this.
  12. NV2K

    NV2K Ham Member QRZ Page

    The problem be cannot be, "The Tech exam is too hard;" it's wicked easy. The problem is one of misperceptions: that the exam is hard, that hams are old guys in wife-beaters, that this is obsolete technology in an age of Wifi and 5G.

    Say what you will about it, the ARRL has been trying to change the latter two misperceptions. Sad to say that a monthly periodical offered by a different publisher, on sale at a newsstand near you (probably right next to _QST_), nearly always seems to have an old guy on the cover (though not always dressed in wife-beaters).
     
    KF4ZKU and KK5JY like this.
  13. AD5KO

    AD5KO Ham Member QRZ Page

    It's starting to look like a push for a flat out license purchasing system. Sign your name, pay the fee and your license is in the mail. I think that's what's going on here.
     
    KB0FKT likes this.
  14. NN4RH

    NN4RH Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Two assumptions in one! First assumption is that "ham radio is dying". What's the evidence? Sure it's changed over the past 100 years but is it "dying"? I don't see it. Second assumption, IF it's dying, it's because there's "absence" of "young people". Evidence?

    Boring? Then it's too easy. Make it more challenging.

    Onerous? I've never heard or read any "young people" complain that it's "onerous". Young people are not as stupid and apathetic as some here seem to be assuming. They're into some pretty cool things these days. Robotics competitions for example.

    Why should they if they're just not interested in radio?

    Another assumption with no evidence to support it.

    Things were a lot different back in the 50s-60s. For one thing, radio was more interesting to more people back then. You say yourself that it's "dying" now. What young people would want to get involved in a "dying" hobby? 50 years ago it was quite alive.
     
    KF4ZKU, AD5KO and KK5JY like this.
  15. NN4RH

    NN4RH Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    ARRL's budget is hardley "big bucks". It's pretty modest.

    If this is driven by financials, then you should be able to find some clues in their Annual Reports.
     

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