Has Ham Radio become too easy?

[KA9QPN]

Random thoughts:

Standards change. An analogy that I like to use here is that to graduate high school, my parents had to master English Literature, Calculus, World History and Geography, and Latin. I had to be proficient in American Literature, Geometry, US History and French. My children did not have to crack a book of literature and barely wrote, had a brief brush with pre-Algebra, studied something called World Culture and were not required to learn a foreign language. All of our diplomas are valid as they were issued according to the standards in force at the moment.

Years ago, it was a point of honor that the Amateur Radio dealers required a copy of a valid license with an order. No force of law behind it, they just wouldn't sell the stuff to you without a license. "Store policy".

Interesting, the talk of memorizing question pools. It was Dick Bash and his after-exam interviews that were the beginning of memorization of answers. Before VEs, there were no published question pools from the FCC. They were a deep dark secret, until Bash and his minions started hanging around FCC offices and buttonholing people as they came out of exams. From interviews, Bash compiled the exact question pools and published them. Of course, the Pass rate for Amateur Radio exams skyrocketed, but he also incurred the wrath of the FCC, ARRL, Wayne Green and anyone else in the 'hierarchy'. But, the new hams loved it. Rather quickly, the FCC cobbled together the VE program as they had pretty much lost control of the exam process. They bundled it up as a cost savings and the rest is history.

Again: completely random.

73--
Tom KA9QPN

"Ham" in reference to an Amateur Radio Operator is not an acronym for anything. It's just a word. It does not need or want to be capitalized.

[W5JER]

Originally Posted by KA9QPN

Random thoughts:

Standards change. An analogy that I like to use here is that to graduate high school, my parents had to master English Literature, Calculus, World History and Geography, and Latin. I had to be proficient in American Literature, Geometry, US History and French. My children did not have to crack a book of literature and barely wrote, had a brief brush with pre-Algebra, studied something called World Culture and were not required to learn a foreign language. All of our diplomas are valid as they were issued according to the standards in force at the moment.

Years ago, it was a point of honor that the Amateur Radio dealers required a copy of a valid license with an order. No force of law behind it, they just wouldn't sell the stuff to you without a license. "Store policy".

Interesting, the talk of memorizing question pools. It was Dick Bash and his after-exam interviews that were the beginning of memorization of answers. Before VEs, there were no published question pools from the FCC. They were a deep dark secret, until Bash and his minions started hanging around FCC offices and buttonholing people as they came out of exams. From interviews, Bash compiled the exact question pools and published them. Of course, the Pass rate for Amateur Radio exams skyrocketed, but he also incurred the wrath of the FCC, ARRL, Wayne Green and anyone else in the 'hierarchy'. But, the new hams loved it. Rather quickly, the FCC cobbled together the VE program as they had pretty much lost control of the exam process. They bundled it up as a cost savings and the rest is history.

Again: completely random.

73--
Tom KA9QPN

"Ham" in reference to an Amateur Radio Operator is not an acronym for anything. It's just a word. It does not need or want to be capitalized.

One thing you got right here is today's school learning curve has really been dumbed down a lot. Goes to show you what sitting in front of a game console your whole childhood proves.

[TheSpaceMan]

Originally Posted by KA9QPN

Random thoughts:

Standards change. An analogy that I like to use here is that to graduate high school, my parents had to master English Literature, Calculus, World History and Geography, and Latin. I had to be proficient in American Literature, Geometry, US History and French. My children did not have to crack a book of literature and barely wrote, had a brief brush with pre-Algebra, studied something called World Culture and were not required to learn a foreign language. All of our diplomas are valid as they were issued according to the standards in force at the moment.

Years ago, it was a point of honor that the Amateur Radio dealers required a copy of a valid license with an order. No force of law behind it, they just wouldn't sell the stuff to you without a license. "Store policy".

Interesting, the talk of memorizing question pools. It was Dick Bash and his after-exam interviews that were the beginning of memorization of answers. Before VEs, there were no published question pools from the FCC. They were a deep dark secret, until Bash and his minions started hanging around FCC offices and buttonholing people as they came out of exams. From interviews, Bash compiled the exact question pools and published them. Of course, the Pass rate for Amateur Radio exams skyrocketed, but he also incurred the wrath of the FCC, ARRL, Wayne Green and anyone else in the 'hierarchy'. But, the new hams loved it. Rather quickly, the FCC cobbled together the VE program as they had pretty much lost control of the exam process. They bundled it up as a cost savings and the rest is history.

Again: completely random.

73--
Tom KA9QPN

"Ham" in reference to an Amateur Radio Operator is not an acronym for anything. It's just a word. It does not need or want to be capitalized.

Good points! There was a time when one had to meet a certain level of competency to get into a college, and a time when retailers were not just obsessed with selling anything they could to anyone for the sake of making a buck. Times have changed.

[WZ1]

Some people take HAM radio way to seriously! Its just a hobby and dont ever forget that!

And for those that say it is not just a hobby.. your wrong.. the word amateur is in the definition. I know there is ARES and lots of other community service focused groups out there and I am not taking away from them at all. The reality of the whole argument ... like it or lump it... is that it doesn't take a lot of skill or knowledge to press the PTT button and nor should it. I personally dont give a crap if you studied for five years or five minutes your just another voice on the radio.

if you want to make it an elite club then why not become a professional? do it for a living.. as for the stuck ups who get upset when someone uses a 10 code .. grow up or give it up.. if the founding fathers keep up with all the *****ing about newbies eventually there will be no more newbies and the government can take back the spectrum and sell it off to the highest bidder.. that will teach ya.

that's my rant..

[WB4CS]

Originally Posted by WZ1

that's my rant..

And rant you did! I think we all know it is a hobby, one that I do take seriously. Here's an example why: You know how a lot of people politically rant about others freeloading off of the government and not working hard for the things they have? That's kind of how I feel about this hobby. Myself, and many before and after me, have worked hard to earn my license. I'm the OP of this thread and if you'll read the OP I stated that (in my opinion) as it gets easier to get on the air we have increasing numbers of people that have no idea even the basics of radio operation. If we as a community want to keep this little hobby from becoming another CB band or have the FCC reduce our spectrum due to poor use of the service, then we have to keep a level of professionalism and knowledgeability in this hobby. I think we have a greater risk of loosing spectrum if we become overwhelmed with malicious interference and hams that break the rules, than if we have a few less newbies that join the ranks.

Now, that's MY rant

[shortride]

I've found that a lot of the amateur radio operators I know are either engineers or have some other occupation that is fairly regimented. Engineers in general like to do things by the number and it's difficult in my experience to tell or suggest how to do anything to an engineer. No disrespect intended here. Regimentation and having organization plays an important roll in being a responsible amateur radio operator. It may be a hobby but it can become a very important and responsible hobby pretty dog gone quickly in a local or national emergency.

[k3cfc]

Originally Posted by shortride

I've found that a lot of the amateur radio operators I know are either engineers or have some other occupation that is fairly regimented. Engineers in general like to do things by the number and it's difficult in my experience to tell or suggest how to do anything to an engineer. No disrespect intended here. Regimentation and having organization plays an important roll in being a responsible amateur radio operator. It may be a hobby but it can become a very important and responsible hobby pretty dog gone quickly in a local or national emergency.

Well here is the first bit of sense ability i have heard in a while.


K3CFC

[bill4long]

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