What It's Going to take...

George, I agree with what you said and I believe that the key lies in two ideas:

1. Vent all you want on QRZ (within the rules).
2. Play nice together on the air.

I am just as concerned that the Comission could be so HUA where the health of Amateur Radio is concerned. But telegraphy testing is merely the lightning rod. It stands for the parceling away of the service to the unmotivated. Like many I will be concerned about this issue for years to come, and I plan to make my views known. Here. Not on the air. On the air, the only thing I want to know is my impression of the person's willingness to be friendly, and not be a "know-it-all" butt head.

I see in every one of these chains someone popping up and saying "....what if a new person came across this. This might be their first impression of Amateur Radio". I hate to be cruel, but if someone is not bright enough to know the difference between an internet site and being on the air in Amateur Radio, then heaven help them.

And for those who need Cliff Notes, my offering says (repeating):

1. Rant all you want on QRZ and other places on the 'net.
2. When you're on the air, leave all this behind and be nice.

 

I just got my General License a couple of months ago and yes I found learning the code difficult, but not impossible. I have been active now on the HF and yet I never hear hardly anyone discussing the new code issues on the air. I see all the moaning and complaining going on here on this and other reflectors. Look guys, I have enough problems worrying about my little Windom antenna and trying to get out with 100 watts of power and wether I should get a amp so I can make contact with you wonderful fellows. And thats hard enough to do because most of you won't even talk to me either because you can't hear me or you don't want to waste your time with this low powered newbie. So, I spend a lot of my time just checking in to the different net controls on 20, 40 and 80 meters in the mornings and evenings. At least there I'll usually will get a reply. I find that my CQ's are a waste most of the time and god forbid if I were to try and make friendly contact with an on going QSO. I have already been run off from some of them just for trying to say hello. I see more discussion going on here on the internet then I have ever heard on the radio. So it makes me wonder about all you people that complain about how ham radio is being dumbed down when you yourself are using the internet to communicate rather then utilizing your radio equipment. I don't really care if morse code gets ditched. I don't use it myself, but I do respect those that enjoy it. And it will always be there for those that have an inclination and interest in it. The way some of you talk on the forum would make you believe that the code is going to be banned from the airways. Well, its not. Like I have said before, its not the code requirement that will keep people from upgrading to a higher license class. It will be the disgust and disinterest of the new hams towards all this eternal bikering and whinning they see going on with the more so called experienced hams. See you on the air, guys!!

 

ke5bge

Get your antenna to work on 17 meters. It's a fun band with great conversations.

 

GET OVER IT AND GET WITH THE PROGRAM!
W9JAB
JOE

 

Charlie,

You and I usually agree on most things either one of us posts about. In this case you seem to think that hams with code will not vent on the air when they have an online forum to vent on. Maybe it will work. It would be great if it does

However, I have been around long enough to remember what happened on the air when the Generals, Advanced and Extra class licenses were segregated into their own band segments. A lot of on the air friendships went down the drain when activity move into segments that others could not use. The attitude of some Advanced and Extras was one of  'pass the tests and come join us'.

As I mentioned in my post, the ARRL through QST as well as the ARRL forums were pleading for civility towards the then new NCTs. It took years for them to be accepted and in the mean time old time users of 2 meter repeaters left in droves. An argument could be made that this is what led to the the very low user levels on 2 meters that we now have. Of course there was no where else to vent back then (and at the time of incentive licensing) so it happend on the air, at hamfests and at the club level.

I still think that this is a two way street and It certainly will be interesting to see what happens when the code requirement is dropped and how us OFs react to those who will, in time, inherit the service, and how the newcomers will react to us.

KI6ADA,

I don't hold out a lot of hope that the written tests will become more difficult in any meaningful way. Back in 1997 No Code International (NCI) was telling anyone who would listen that they were more than willing to increase the scope of the testing if the code requirement was dropped. I have not heard anything from them or seen a post here about the possibility of NCI spearheading  action as to what they wanted to in the late 90s concering the tests.


73
George
K3UD

 

Refer to NA4IT's post and please get your blood pressure back down.You'll feel better.

 

How many older hams could pass a "test" involving all the new digital forms of communication? If not, would they be "dumbing down" the hobby?  Is the only way to determine if someone is "stupid" is by the number of years a particular mode has been in operation?

 

Are you serious? What is there to test? How to hook up to an irlp node? How to hook up your computer to your radio? How to type?

 

There has been a deepening and widening chasm in amateur radio, and that is going to continue to worsen. Part of it is the "now" of the NPRM, but it has so many other parts it stands no chance of being corrected.

Couple of years ago I heard a local fellow, an N9 something or other, talking on one of the 2 meter nets. He was griping, using the letter "F" for the word he really intended, because he had been on ten meters and could not work some DX or someone, down in the Extra portion of the band. He failed to realize that he, as a General, was already in an area of ten meters that the Technician could not work. While complaining about discrimination, he was practicing it.

There are those of us who simply look for a reason to sneer. I have oft told the story of how I learned about ham radio "sneerdom" when I stumbled quite accidentally across a Field Day site in 1991. I introduced myself as a ham, and when I was asked my call, the response from one of the gentlemen to the other was, "Sounds like a Tech to me." The tone was clear. (I had at that time been an Extra Class for 22 years.)

Because of that incident, I changed my call sign. I became AB5HK, and I had call sign plates. One day at the post office someon approached me with "Oh, you're a ham!" Yes, of course. We chatted a moment, and then he asked what class I was. I stated I was Extra. He said, "Really? That is an Advanced Class call sign."

For me, conversation was over. I had not asked him what class license he held. It didn't matter. I wasn't going to operate his radio. Why he had to know what class I was is not clear to me. Why he had to doubt what I told him is even less clear.

I was, though, soon to realize soon that class had become everything in ham radio. It was used as a 'sneering' post by all. With that in mind, I dropped my class-based call sign, one that had been randomly issued by the FCC, and recovered my "Tech sounding" call I had had for 16 years. The hell with 'em, I thought.

During the 50s and 60s, and largely in the 70s, no one cared what class of licensed you held. You were a ham. But with the code free tech in 1991, the class segregation really leaped to the forefront.

Since then, ham radio has been two, and sometimes three and more, different entities. It has become the OLD versus the NEW, the HF versus the VHF, the CODE versus the NO-CODE, and the HOBBY versus the SERVICE/EMCOM. We have found divisiveness to be our strongest trait. And our most destructive.

In my eyes, there are no cures. Ham radio will continue to be divided. On that score, the fat lady has not only sung, she has died and been buried. Nothing will turn us back toward a united hobby. And none of the incoming hams want us to return to anything that resembles the Golden Days of ham radio. They have no desire to practice or even know about the traditions of the hobby. It is a part of some history that is totally unrelated to anything they want.

That seems to be a defeatist attitude, I guess, but there are certain realities in life. It will rain. It will get cold. There will be earthquakes and hurricanes. The bad comes. It is beyond our control.

I am one AG4YO mentions who will remain primarily on CW, but I do so not to avoid the newcomer. I do so because that is where I have always been. For the times I do operate voice, I will not let the newcomer run me off, anymore than he will let me run him off. We will have to be hams, both of us.

If he is ready to contact me, ham to ham, and not CBer to ham, I am ready to contact him. It really doesn't matter to me. I am not going to do my part to further widen the chasm.

If, on the other hand, I hear him doing "breaker on the channel, anyone on the 'bye" he will not exist for me. I have so far avoided contact with the "the first personal here is" type of ham, and I shall continue to do so. That is a personal thing with me. Doesn't matter if he was licensed yesterday or 15 years ago. If he can't do it the ham way, he can't do it my way. And I absolutely won't do it his.

If at some point that is all that is left on HF, I shall be on CW. I'm not going to argue with anyone on the air. Not even on CW.

I can't save ham radio by doing the above. No one can save ham radio. I can, though, save my personal pride and self respect. I won't talk to CBers on the ham bands. Won't argue with them. Just flat won't talk to them.

Ed

 

KE5BGE:

Come on down to the CW portions of the bands. You won't get ignored there. You might have to call CQ for a while till we find you.

If you think you are low-powered, you should have started with a 25watt rig!

tim ab0wr

 

As I study to take my Amateur Extra examination tommorow, it occurs to me that I am being tested on many different modes of communication that I will probably never even experiment with; ATV, SSTV, facsimile, meteor scatter, and EME communications. Why? Because by testing to sit at the top tier it is expected that I be familiar with (if not proficient at) ALL the different modes of communication.

I say that perhaps the code should be dropped for General class licensees, but ANYONE who wants to sit "on the top rung" of the ladder should be required to send and receive at least 10WPM to obtain their Extra class license.

N4AVQ
General licensee (via 13wpm)

 

"Consequently, you cannot expect the FCC to realize the fundamentally important nature of CW, or appreciate the reasons to keep it. "

1) The FCC FULLY realizes the nature of CW It's just another mode.

2) "appreciate the reasons to keep it. " They DID keep it PLEASE show me any part of the FCC PRM that says CW will be abolished ......

 

There is more than one way to skin a cat.  You abolish it by squeezing out it's band space so we can accommodate more phone.  It's a self-fulfilling ruling.   Most new people will not learn cw so they will automatically need more bandspace for other modes of operation.  Where will it come from?  The CW portions of the bands.

 

I don't understand why the FCC didn't at least keep the Morse requirment for the Extra Class license. It is obvious that with almost half the hams being Technician class that Morse is somewhat of a barrier to advancement. However, what's wrong with an Extra Class licensee being proficient in CW?

I spent a year getting to 5 wpm and almost another year getting to 13 wpm to be able to reasonably communicate via CW. I moaned and groaned and grumbled and complained but I got there.

I suppose we live in an instant gratification world. Buy a book, memorize some material, and access the HF phone bands.

"Life isn't just about the destination, it's also about the journey."

 

All this biasing is what keeps a lot of people from going ham. I waited 15 years to go ham because of this and now that i am a ham i see the negativeness in a huge way and IMHO it will be what kills of teh hobby one day. I see a lot of new guys me included get ignored on the air and a lot of them go away never to be heard again on the air.. Sad but true! I refuse to let it bother me. i enjoy the hobby too much to let the biased ops get to me. Im on my way to upgrading to General and someday eventually Extra.
The biasing isnt just on ham another hobby thats even worse with the biasing is RC model airplanes. Most of the older guys around here that fly will not even talk to anyone under the age of 40! No wonder the modle aircraft clubs around here have all pretty much folded. The old guys pretty much DO NOT want anyone thats new in their precious clubs!!!

KC9GUZ....:angry: