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Author Topic: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?  (Read 2388 times)

KD6DXA

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Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« on: July 07, 2019, 10:08:31 AM »

I was wondering if the time has come to bring back the “Novice” license class. My soon-to-be stepdaughter is currently studying for her ticket, and I can’t help but notice that the Technician exam and study guides seem geared more toward VHF/UHF operating, deemphasizing HF operating to some degree, and a bit more technical than I remember the old Novice exam being.

I am a third-generation ham; my dad is a ham (WA6SOP) and so was my grandmother (WA6TOA). I got my Novice license back in 1991 when I was 13 years old, and I feel like the structure of the old Novice license was geared toward guiding new hams into HF operating, which was definitely the case for me (although my dad and grandmother steered me toward HF operating as well).

It’s not a likely possibility, I realize, but I just wonder what the pros and cons and effects of reintroducing a Novice class license would be. Thoughts?  :)

Zachary, KD6DXA
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Zachary Fruhling, KD6DXA
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K6CPO

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2019, 10:46:31 AM »

The Technician exam and study guides are geared toward VHF/UHF operating because that's where Technicians have the most privileges. The tiny little segment of 10 meters where they have sideband phone privileges isn't worth the financial outlay for an HF radio, so most don't get on there. 

I don't think either the re-introduction of the Novice license or the league's current proposal would achieve the stated goal of keeping more people interested in ham radio.  What we need to keep new Technician licensees interested and involved is to make a conscious effort to welcome them to the hobby and involve them in what we are doing.  Unfortunately, there are too many older hams that want nothing to do with the newcomers and go out of their way to make them feel unwanted.  Those are the people we need to get out of the hobby.
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KD6DXA

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2019, 11:32:40 AM »

I can speak only from personal experience, but while VHF/UHF is arguably more useful, the real “magic” of amateur radio for me has always been a voice (whether literal with SSB or metaphorical on CW) from afar coming through the proverbial ether on HF. So I guess my conviction is that HF has better promise of keeping the interest of new hams than VHF/UHF overall, were new hams to be guided and mentored effectively, and in a fun way, into HF operating.
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Zachary Fruhling, KD6DXA
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N3DF

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2019, 12:13:07 PM »

My VE team routinely has high school (and some younger) students pass the General class exam.
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Neil N3DF

K7MEM

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2019, 02:05:51 PM »

I was wondering if the time has come to bring back the “Novice” license class.

Wax and wain all you like about the Novice license, but it isn't going to come back. The number of current Novice license holders continues to decrease. It doesn't cost anything for the FCC to keep them on the books. They will just fade away on their own, without the FCC doing anything.

Getting a Novice wasn't all roses for everyone. I obtained my Novice license in 1965, when I was 16. At the time, the Novice license was good for only one year and was non-renewable. It was either upgrade or hit the road. There was no time to just enjoy operating. There was a time limit on your license.

Some were able to upgrade to General, but with school and work, it wasn't that easy for everyone. I didn't have a mentor. I had to have a job. Mostly because, I took a liking to eating and my car didn't run on air. I upgraded to Technician, but with the Technician license you lost privileges. No HF privileges at all.

Some will say that the Technician license, at that time, was not meant as an upgrade. It was meant as an experimental license. Then why was it in the line of upgrading? You couldn't get to General, Advanced, or Extra, without taking the Technician written test. If you took the Technician and General written tests, but failed the General, you were bounced back to being a Technician, without any HF privileges. That was a real nice way to bring new hams in to the fold. It's a good thing they came to their senses a few years later.

But I stuck with it. I worked with the Technician license as best I could, operating on 2 meters AM. FM and repeaters were not around then. At least not in my area. And, as much as I hate to admit it, I learned a lot during my time as a Technician. I finally let that Technician license expire. A few years later, when the Novice and Technician license were changed, I got my license back.

In the end, the current Technician license has all the privileges the old Novice license had, and they may be getting more. The current Technician license is, what the old Novice license was, and more. And that includes the CW privileges, but without the CW requirements. Whey recreate a redundant license?
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Martin - K7MEM
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K4EMF

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2019, 05:41:49 PM »

I was wondering if the time has come to bring back the “Novice” license class. My soon-to-be stepdaughter is currently studying for her ticket, and I can’t help but notice that the Technician exam and study guides seem geared more toward VHF/UHF operating, deemphasizing HF operating to some degree, and a bit more technical than I remember the old Novice exam being.

I am a third-generation ham; my dad is a ham (WA6SOP) and so was my grandmother (WA6TOA). I got my Novice license back in 1991 when I was 13 years old, and I feel like the structure of the old Novice license was geared toward guiding new hams into HF operating, which was definitely the case for me (although my dad and grandmother steered me toward HF operating as well).

It’s not a likely possibility, I realize, but I just wonder what the pros and cons and effects of reintroducing a Novice class license would be. Thoughts?  :)

Zachary, KD6DXA

As a traditional old fashioned sort of guy I wish they'd never eliminated the Novice, Advanced license classes or code requirements to begin with
I say that with the full knowledge that the Extra exam I recently passed would only have me at the advanced privilege level IF I had my way.  I could just barely do 20wpm when I was 14 - 15 years old.  After a three decade absence I'm only back up to 5wpm now.

That said, I don't think for a moment the Novice or code is coming back.
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W6BP

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #6 on: July 08, 2019, 03:46:16 AM »

Some will say that the Technician license, at that time, was not meant as an upgrade. It was meant as an experimental license.

According to the 1967 ARRL License Manual:

To encourage a greater interest among would-be amateurs in experimentation on and development of the higher radio frequencies, the Federal Communications Commission has established the Technician amateur license.

Quote
Then why was it in the line of upgrading? You couldn't get to General, Advanced, or Extra, without taking the Technician written test. If you took the Technician and General written tests, but failed the General, you were bounced back to being a Technician, without any HF privileges.

The Tech was part of upgrading to General? Not that I recall. I upgraded from Novice to General in 1966, and I passed the 13 WPM code test and a single written exam to do it.  The Technician and General theory exams were the same at the time (and remained so until March 1987). If you took the Tech test by mail and later went for the General at an FCC office, you were required to retake the theory test, but in each case, it was Element 3.

The principal difference between Tech and General was 5 WPM CW vs. 13 WPM.
« Last Edit: July 08, 2019, 03:49:22 AM by W6BP »
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W6SWO

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2019, 03:14:32 PM »

I don't think there's anything wrong with the current licensing structure.  In getting the Tech license, you're getting plenty of theory and technical rigor.  Then, if people want to enjoy the hobby at Tech for the rest of their lives, let them!  There are others who want to enjoy the hobby building and experimenting; let them!  There are still others who want to do contests, DX, and ragchewing on HF; let them!  Some folks just want to do CW on HF (like me); let them!

My point is that the license structure doesn't make much difference to the individual who wants to do A, B, and C in the hobby, but not D, E, and F.  This thinking that "if we JUST bring back the novice license", or "if we JUST bring back the code requirement", or whatever, that THEN people will flock to being hams "like the good ol' days" is fallacy.

Make a habit of welcoming new hams no matter what license they have or what interest they have.  Look to make ham radio interesting to people.  Do something new in the hobby.  Those are the things that will bring people to the hobby, not a particular license nor any other requirement.
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K7MEM

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2019, 01:50:07 PM »

The Tech was part of upgrading to General? Not that I recall. I upgraded from Novice to General in 1966, and I passed the 13 WPM code test and a single written exam to do it.  The Technician and General theory exams were the same at the time (and remained so until March 1987). If you took the Tech test by mail and later went for the General at an FCC office, you were required to retake the theory test, but in each case, it was Element 3.

The principal difference between Tech and General was 5 WPM CW vs. 13 WPM.

I assume what you say is true. It was very long ago and I really don't remember much about the test, other than it was pretty simple. However, it still means that, if you took the written test, but fell short on the Morse test, you were relegated to the ranks of Technician, and lost all of your low band privileges.
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Martin - K7MEM
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K0UA

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #9 on: July 12, 2019, 09:43:33 AM »

The good old days are now. Embrace the present and plan for the future.  Time's arrow only goes one way. Slipping, Slipping Slipping into the future. The past is done and over with.  You can never "go home".  Even if you did manage to do that, they wouldn't recognize you any more. You would be old.:)  People seem to want to "capture their youth, or relive their youth." The way to do that is to look toward the future and the good you can do there. Look forward my good man, not backwards. There is nothing to be gained by reminiscing. 

73  James K0UA...
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73  James K0UA

W6BP

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #10 on: July 12, 2019, 11:25:08 AM »

The good old days are now. Embrace the present and plan for the future.  Time's arrow only goes one way. Slipping, Slipping Slipping into the future. The past is done and over with.  You can never "go home".  Even if you did manage to do that, they wouldn't recognize you any more. You would be old.:)  People seem to want to "capture their youth, or relive their youth." The way to do that is to look toward the future and the good you can do there. Look forward my good man, not backwards. There is nothing to be gained by reminiscing. 

73  James K0UA...

Thank you for telling us, on this thread and others, exactly what we should and shouldn't be talking about. I don't know what we would do without this valuable service.
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N9FB

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #11 on: July 12, 2019, 11:55:28 AM »

Some will say that the Technician license, at that time, was not meant as an upgrade. It was meant as an experimental license. Then why was it in the line of upgrading? You couldn't get to General, Advanced, or Extra, without taking the Technician written test. If you took the Technician and General written tests, but failed the General, you were bounced back to being a Technician, without any HF privileges. That was a real nice way to bring new hams in to the fold. It's a good thing they came to their senses a few years later.

??? weren't the Technician and General written exams the same back then (Element 3 written exam) except the General required passing a 13wpm code exam?  I went from Novice to General (and a month later to Advanced) in 1977, but that was because i passed the 13wpm code exam the same day at the FCC office (if i remember right i took the 13 wpm code test prior to being given the element 3 written exam)  

Quote from: K7MEM
In the end, the current Technician license has all the privileges the old Novice license had, and they may be getting more. The current Technician license is, what the old Novice license was, and more. And that includes the CW privileges, but without the CW requirements. Whey recreate a redundant license?

good question.  bringing back the Novice license could simply be a matter of changing the name from Technician to Novice ???  (although if i remember correctly Novices were limited to 75 watts input power)
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"When you throw dirt, you lose ground."

AA4PB

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #12 on: July 12, 2019, 12:38:35 PM »

The Technician license was NOT in the upgrade path when it originally appeared. The Technician, like the Novice, was taken by mail. The Novice expired in one year, and the normal path was to  then upgrade to General by taking the code and theory test at an FCC office. There was no requirement to take the Technician test before you could advance to General. I understand the questions were the same for the Technician and General written exams. Even the holder of a Technician license had to take the General written exam at the FCC office.

The original concept of the Technician was to encourage "technical types" who wished to experiment with VHF/UHF without requiring them to pass a 13WPM code test.

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Bob  AA4PB
Garrisonville, VA

K0UA

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2019, 01:22:46 PM »

The good old days are now. Embrace the present and plan for the future.  Time's arrow only goes one way. Slipping, Slipping Slipping into the future. The past is done and over with.  You can never "go home".  Even if you did manage to do that, they wouldn't recognize you any more. You would be old.:)  People seem to want to "capture their youth, or relive their youth." The way to do that is to look toward the future and the good you can do there. Look forward my good man, not backwards. There is nothing to be gained by reminiscing. 

73  James K0UA...

Thank you for telling us, on this thread and others, exactly what we should and shouldn't be talking about. I don't know what we would do without this valuable service.

I am pretty sure you would be spending all of your time looking back instead of looking forward.  :) Let me know if I can be of further assistance.
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73  James K0UA

W6BP

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RE: Is It Time to Bring Back the Novice License Class?
« Reply #14 on: July 12, 2019, 02:12:46 PM »

The good old days are now. Embrace the present and plan for the future.  Time's arrow only goes one way. Slipping, Slipping Slipping into the future. The past is done and over with.  You can never "go home".  Even if you did manage to do that, they wouldn't recognize you any more. You would be old.:)  People seem to want to "capture their youth, or relive their youth." The way to do that is to look toward the future and the good you can do there. Look forward my good man, not backwards. There is nothing to be gained by reminiscing. 

73  James K0UA...

Thank you for telling us, on this thread and others, exactly what we should and shouldn't be talking about. I don't know what we would do without this valuable service.

I am pretty sure you would be spending all of your time looking back instead of looking forward.  :) Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Believe me, you've already done more than enough.
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