Loopholes With Restructuring!!!!!

N3WVB writes




With the new proposals in full force there are still many questions that are unanswered. Though Part 97 is written in full on many web sites including the ARRL’s, very few are fully aware of all the changes, including myself until some reading and a phone call to Newington CT.</P>





The latest controversy deals with a current or new Technician who decides to take the 5 wpm code test and passes. Would this allow the existing Technician to operate on the HF sub-bands including phone on the 10m band up to 28.5000mhz? According to Section 97.301 the answer is yes. The Technician is given a Certificate that is valid toward the acquisition of General for one year. After one year if the individual does not pass the General Theory he will have to retake the code test to be valid again for a second run at the General level. However he would have permanent HF privileges in what use to be the Tech Plus HF spectrum.</P>


The only problem here is that no one will be able to confirm or verify his HF privileges via QRZ, Buckmaster, FCC Database or any call book even after several years, because his classification will always be Technician. What prevents anyone from saying that they took the code test, passed it, decided not to pursue the General written test and now has no need to worry about verifying his privileges? Looks like a loophole in Restructuring.</P>


To add more complication, any current Tech Plus who renews his license will be classified a Technician from that point on even though his Tech Plus privileges will always be in effect. How do we eliminate the possibility of abuse? Either make it mandatory to pass the General written with code to access the HF bands, or re institute the Tech Plus classification or give the four HF sub-bands to all Technicians. Any of these possibilities would be better than allowing the system to be abused.

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