New classification and the woes of it....

KB9WZT writes "Hello everyone. Allow me to introduce myself... My name is Dave Stopher. I have been a ham operator since September 19, 2000. I took and passed the Tech and Code tests in one sitting. The problems that I see with the new classifications are these:




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<LI>On 10-19-00, I received a postcard from an amateur observer stating that I was operating out of my classification on 10-17-00, at 28.425 Mhz. (FCC Regulation 97.301e). At the time of this alleged infraction of the rules, KB9VLC (Jerry Scribner) was there at the operating station as a witness to the QSO. Now this could be a valid assumption, providing that the person looked up my callsign on this wonderful data-base, and seeing that it only said "Technician". Had the FCC left the Tech Plus classification alone, this would have been a non-event.



<LI>The second problem is, who is responsible for keeping track of the Technician class operators that have not passed the CW test and operate on the four slivers of bandwidth on the HF bands allocated to those those that have passed the code test. If one operates in these bands, (i.e. 10 meters voice...) how does an observer go about proving or disproving whether the person in question has passed the element 1 test? It seems that with all the hub-bub going on about enforcement, the FCC has created yet another fiasco for enforcement. Maybe it would be a classification that would be well worth bringing back in to exhistance.


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For those out there wondering, I remained a Technician (with element 1 credit) for merely 30 days. I passed the element 3 test and earned my General class ticket on 12 October, 2000. Hopefully if all goes well, I'll make the Element 4 level by the end of the year!"