Around here nothing but rednecks thinking they own the channel. both ham and CB.
Bringing In New People To The Hobby
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belvdr
No longer interested in living
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Lol nobody gets on 2m or CB around here to claim ownership.
I acyually gave a grant XL to a local, he talked fine on it but took a screwdriver to th pots. He threw it on mt car roof and has been bad talking me since. I pretty much told him never set foot on my prperty, you will leave in a body bag. He still edges me on. There are bad people on radio.
He did say he will kill me, so the sheriff has been contacted and knows what is going on
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You want new folks into the hobby, open up beginners to the lowest level license free without taking a test. Otherwise, not much difference than cb shooting skip.
N4JKD
Amateur Extra
If I am going to do POTA, I am going strictly with intention to do just that. If I am going camping or hiking by myself or with friends, I will take a HT and that will be the extent of it. If I am going camping or hiking, I go to spend time with family and enjoy nature, not to work the radio. I get what you are saying 100%.
N4JKD
Amateur Extra
They won't do that now. They want licensed people on the air to have some know how of how things work for the license that they have. The ARRL has bills that they have sent to the FCC to consider for several of years now, but they keep getting put on the back burner, as amateur radio is not a priority it seems to them.
The Technician exam is straightforward and the questions are all published. There is no practical or theoretical need for a number of application-only licensees. The exam is a rather easy buy-into the hobby.
N4JKD
Amateur Extra
That's right. A week or two of hard studying will get it for you. Two weeks of studying every free moment I could is how I got my Amateur Extra. It is all really about how bad a person wants to get their license.
Yeah, you aren't kidding. The technician test is really easy if you have a basic knowledge of electronics and what not. Seeing as how much of what you would be doing with a technician license is covered in the technician test, it makes sense to keep that as it is.
The General test is one I think they should totally revamp. They have some technical questions that have nothing to do with operating HF in todays world. They have questions about tube radios. Who uses tubes? A select few Hams? I'm lucky if I can run into a tube radio at a flea market and even then it is a shortwave radio that doesn't work, something that belongs in a museum. Tubes are irrelevant today unless you happen to be someone who gets into that sort of thing. I haven't seen any companies out there selling brand new tube radios. And then you have the rest of the stuff on there that has nothing to do with contesting. Maybe they should have an entry level test for technician and then just pay $100 to upgrade to General. I mean, correct me if I am wrong, but isn't HF just about calling CQ and contesting using several different modes and bands? That is literally THE only thing I hear every Ham Operator talk about and pretty much the only thing I have heard when monitoring HF. You contest, collect callsigns, get awards and repeat. Here and there there are nets and some rag chewing. Even your digital modes and CW are just throw your call out and get a 5x9 response back and then move onto the next callsign. At what point do you finally collect all the callsigns in the world and then have nothing else to do because you have used every mode and gotten every callsign and worked every contest?
What I am saying is that the test should reflect what you will REALLY be doing. The whole General test should be all about CW, FT8, RTTY, FSK31, and contesting. And maybe they could make it easier and just eliminate the General and Extra and just make the HF license class seeing as how an upgrade to General only gives you HF and an Extra just loosens up the room you have to contest in, giving you ALL amateur radio bands. They just need to keep the tests relevant. I don't want to have to learn about all of this stuff if in reality, I will never use it. It makes it much easier to learn when you are only studying for what you will actually be doing. Then you can see the goal and focus on getting to that goal knowing the whole truth about all that you will be getting into.
A new General class question pool goes into effect July 1, 2023: NCVEC - 2023- 2027 General Question Pool Release
I trust that you provided your input to the NCVEC or will provide input in the near future.
Aside from gramp's garage and museums, about the only place today's hams are likely to encounter "tubes" is in amplifiers.
All the ham tests should be subject to editing by radio-literate copy editors. There were (maybe still are) inconsistencies in the way some questions were presented. I'm not saying the questions should be dumbed down, but they should be voiced in colloquial English--and not written like legal documents.
Writing test questions for technical subjects is not simple, nor is it straightforward. The author may understand what they are referring to but do the test audiences understand the question topic based on their education on the subject, the style of education - did the applicant learn from the ARRL manual, Gordon West materials, simple memorization of the test question bank, or a random YT video set? People have brains that do not process queries in the same way and this is supported by cognitive studies. As a graduate TA, I've written exams for university professors and adult vocational education at all levels and have had both questions and proposed answers appealed.
ladn is correct. All proposed test questions should be reviewed by language editors and avoid 'unusual' language not commonly encountered. Then they should go before Subject Matter Experts who know radio communications theory to ensure that facts are correct and electrical theory is correct as well.
VA3WEX
Member
As an aside: this is true in contracting too! Many a construction claim happens because of unclear or mis-used grammar, punctuation, etc.
I may have to take exception with this comment
Although my memory is fading a bit, I can remember that ham radio augmented 9-11 communications for a few days. The towers contained NYFD repeaters and cell phone sites. Hams were being used to relay messages for the FD for a short time.
One I do remember more clearly. When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, hams were the only communications for awhile. Hams were relaying police and fire calls for a week while public service radio was down:
Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico one transmission at a time | CNN
When Hurricane Maria knocked out power and phone services, volunteer "ham" radio operators lept into action to support rescue and recovery communications.
www.cnn.com
belvdr
No longer interested in living
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There are exceptions to my statement, but overall, I don't buy into "when all else fails". There are some that practice these skills and have made a difference, but for the majority, it's about awards, nets that serve no purpose other than to put call signs into a log, and simply talking.I may have to take exception with this comment
Although my memory is fading a bit, I can remember that ham radio augmented 9-11 communications for a few days. The towers contained NYFD repeaters and cell phone sites. Hams were being used to relay messages for the FD for a short time.
One I do remember more clearly. When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, hams were the only communications for awhile. Hams were relaying police and fire calls for a week while public service radio was down:
Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico one transmission at a time | CNN
When Hurricane Maria knocked out power and phone services, volunteer "ham" radio operators lept into action to support rescue and recovery communications.
I am reminded of a firefighter I knew that didn't care to come to the business meetings or trainings at the volunteer fire department, but was one of the first at the station when the tones dropped. Simply put, he was just in the way at scenes, so thankfully his tenure was short.
If amateur radio is exclusively / near-exclusively about EMCOMM and 'first responder' nonsense, I'll cancel my ticket. I had enough of that excrement over two+ decades as a paid professional responder.
I did my time and now I want nothing more to do with it.
"When all else fails, call someone else. It's not my job any more."
I did my time and now I want nothing more to do with it.
"When all else fails, call someone else. It's not my job any more."
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
"When all else fails" is a wet dream for ham radio operators, and a marketing scheme by ARRL.
Does ham radio get used in emergencies/disasters? Sure, sometimes. It's one of many tools in the toolbox. Periodically that tool is used.
Do public safety agencies rely on amateur radio operators to do their job? No. There are many options available to agencies now. Ham radio can be a tool, but it's not the only tool in the tool box.
Most hams I've run into have very limited understanding of how public safety radio systems are designed, or what happens in a failure.
Public Safety radio systems are not these fragile egg shell systems that crumble when the wind blows a bit too hard.
Our officers have access to many systems that are spread out across our county. They also have access to a lot of simplex systems, as do the PSAP's. Our OES has portable satellite terminals, satellite phones and now commercial HF radio equipment.
In my nearly 30 years doing this stuff, we have never, not once, relied on amateur radio operators to meet our communications needs.
But, hey, amateur radio is a good tool, but let's not over exaggerate its role in public safety.
Does ham radio get used in emergencies/disasters? Sure, sometimes. It's one of many tools in the toolbox. Periodically that tool is used.
Do public safety agencies rely on amateur radio operators to do their job? No. There are many options available to agencies now. Ham radio can be a tool, but it's not the only tool in the tool box.
Most hams I've run into have very limited understanding of how public safety radio systems are designed, or what happens in a failure.
Public Safety radio systems are not these fragile egg shell systems that crumble when the wind blows a bit too hard.
Our officers have access to many systems that are spread out across our county. They also have access to a lot of simplex systems, as do the PSAP's. Our OES has portable satellite terminals, satellite phones and now commercial HF radio equipment.
In my nearly 30 years doing this stuff, we have never, not once, relied on amateur radio operators to meet our communications needs.
But, hey, amateur radio is a good tool, but let's not over exaggerate its role in public safety.
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The ham guys here will do a brief safety check to see if there's any issues around. After that, it's where's dinner at and how does my new antenna sound. I pulled them out of my programming. Too annoying, and couldn't listen to fun stuff.
Reading all these replies won't attract anyone new to the hobby. 
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