HamRadioNow: That ARRL Entry Level License Survey

YOUNG people

Y-O-U-N-G PEOPLE....

Not adults...

You prefer pejoratives like 'youth'; 'kids'; 'teens', ad nauseum?

 

Actually I am only 53. As far as old people go, there are cool old people and then there are just old people.

 

Your implicit diss that I am not a worthy role model or Elmer for young people is wrong and stupid, and is incompatible with the facts. So...go fact check. Ask Marty.

Above is a photo of 4 young interns I mentored in 2010. One is now one of my chief engineers; another is a Ph.D. in robotics working with a DOD firm; a third is a venture capitalist working with Steve Jobs son; and the 4th is a consultant at Bain and Company.

Christmas! The Bain guy makes more bucks than I do!

They ALL got to play radio. They all got bored looking at the Tech license pool. They all got turned off by the license process. Successes, but no hams.

When they played around with robots and drones they found they could do what they wanted with wifi, and although they appreciated that a ham ticket would enable greater capabilities, they found the Tech pool onerous in the sense that it wasted their time.

 

That's kind of sad actually.. I never meant to imply that.

73.

 

Look at it from a different perspective:

With cell phones you can pretty much call make a call to anyone anywhere (No need for a radio, antenna, power-supply, coax etc)

Many prefer just a quick text message again from their cell phone (no need for RTTY, PSK, etc)

They can even send Pictures and Videos (so much for SSTV and FSTV)


So why would someone spend money to set up a Amateur radio station when they can do all that now and easier?


Beyond the actual interest in radio why would someone actually spent the time and effort to get on the air?

 

N2EY, to answer your question; the U.S. amateur radio service would have been the same--the victim of on-going new technology. In 1951, the Novice was established as a beginner's license and the Technician License was an experimenter not a communicator ticket. Tech privileges at that time (1951) was 220 mc and above. 6 meters was added in 1955; and 145-147 mc came above for Technicians in 1959--the same year that 11 meter Citizens Band Class D came about. Within one year after the Citizens Radio service established; the number of CB licenses issued far exceeded the number of US amateur radio licenses. Radio manufacturers were busy churning out tube CB transceivers and 6 and 2 meter AM transceivers for the Novice and Technician Beginners . Novice, Technician and Conditional Licenses were "mail order" tickets based upon an "honor system" in which, up to 1963, any U.S. citizen over the age of 21 could administer the written elements but it was mostly radio amateurs. The ham population increased from 160,000 to 247,000 in a six year period (1957-1963) partly due to the ease of obtaining a ham license by "mail order" , the introduction of commercially made radios on six and two meters (Novices had 2 meter AM voice privileges at that time). Many of these early CBers became "mail order" Novices and Technician communicators when it was realized that more RF power and further ground wave communication distance was available on VHF. Back then, as with today; not that many amateurs advanced to General Class which required taking the exam at an FCC Field Office--with at that time frame--conveyed ALL operating privileges.

ARRL incentive licensing proposed in the early 60s and implemented in the late 60s nearly killed off U.S. Amateur radio with many General Class Licensees--who had full privilege prior to 11/68--losing portions of the phone sub-bands and selling off their equipment. The advent of 2 meter FM repeaters in the early 70s helped to revive U.S. amateur radio growth and radio manufacturers were again coming out with 2 mtr FM transceivers. American radio manufacturers such as Drake, Swan, Atlas, Collins, Heathkit began to leave amateur radio due to declining sales. Yaesu, Icom and Kenwood rose to take their place.

In essence, amateur radio is a communicator hobby past, present and future. Today's young people can communicate over the internet all over the world and by cellular phone--no FCC license or knowledge of electronics is necessary.

 

Nice summary. Correction: the 'mail order' licensees were administered by hams. Non-hams couldn't give a code exam, for example.

 

Exactly

I got back into radio once I got a little older and had more time

 

Young adults are young people. And I said, young adults.

If you meant minors or children, then just say that up front. If you talk to the kids you want to recruit like you talk to people in the forums, it's no wonder they don't want to be hams.

And now that we're on that subject, trying to make minor children into HF hams is just pointless -- particularly during a sunspot low. What 14- or 16-year-old has enough money to build an effective station for 80m or 160m when the SSN is zero? Mom and Dad might come up with the cash, but I don't see that as a common case. Most of the moms and dads I know run with a net-zero balance each month.

Yes, there will be exceptions, especially for kids whose parents are already HF-active hams. But as explained earlier, the General class license is easy (FCC's word), and there is no need to change the licensing structure, even to accommodate kids enough to get them into HF. They're already Extras in 2nd grade. There is no barrier to an HF license, even for a grade-school kid.

 

A beginner's license may be a great idea but I think maybe a license for Radio Controlled "Drones" would be a better idea. Now before everyone blasts me saying things like "Drones have nothing to do with amateur radio" and The FAA controls "drones", I am an R/C Pilot that uses First Person View (FPV) technology... The main reason I got my Tech license was so that I can fly my multirotor legally but during my studies, I started listening to the local repeaters on the scanner and decided it sounded fun. Some pilots use 70cm to control the vehicles and other pilots use 5.8GHz for FPV use, both of witch require the pilot to be a licensed amateur radio operator. Some pilots I've talked to have complained that the test has nothing to do with radio control aircraft. Maybe the new license should be designed around the very basic of radio operation and the use of both 70cm and 5.8GHz use along with rules and limits of said frequencies. Giving the Pilot use of the 70cm digital and 5.8GHz video bands along with limited use of 2m, 70cm and 10m voice to help encourage getting on the air.

Just my $0.02

 

Most of the minors holding ham licenses and operating HF is became one or both of his/her parents has a ham ticket along with a half-decent HF setup living in a house. You're correct on the decline of the sunspot cycle. Very rare short and long skip openings on ten and 15 meters which is dependent on a high number of sunspots. 20 meter amateur operation is generally high powered with directional antennas on towers costing time, effort and money that school age children don't have. True, most adult people I know live "paycheck to paycheck" with no discretionary funds available.

Today's Amateur radio licenses are easy to obtain. All questions, answers, and detractors are in the "Study Books". Rote memorization of Q&A is possible without an actual understanding of the material present. Prior to 1976; the only available study guide was the ARRL License Manual and it only covered a generalization of what to expect on the test and NOT an exact Q&A. The question pool for all written exams were not released by the FCC at that time.

 

Just a FYI -- my XYL still holds her Novice license, after all these years -- and still happy with it. Heck, she even learned the code!
Mark AA6DX -- Hammin' for over 52 years!!

 

Mark, you're an OT like me!...LOL!!

 

Anyone who is intelligent can pass the technician test without studying. If they had wanted a license they would have got one. It's likely that those kids were just appeasing you.

This is a very good example of highly intelligent young people who have no genuine interest in ham radio but could breeze through the technician test if they wanted it. Or do you really think they could not.. my wife did and she still thinks it was a joke and she has no interest in electronics or radio at all. In fact tonight I mentioned this thread to her and she said she wasn't interested in what the AARP was doing.. I laughed and said you mean the ARRL, she laughed and said what's difference they are all about the same thing aren't they. I asked her how do you mean.. she grinned and said you know, old people.

 

Exactly. A guy who would spend years getting a PhD can pass an Extra during half-time at one of his school's Saturday football games. The problem wasn't the licensing process. Maybe that was the story that got told out of kindness to their mentor, but guys who can't be bothered to tick a few multi-choice answers on a test sheet just have no interest in the hobby. And there's nothing wrong with that.