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Author Topic: TECH ONLY  (Read 900 times)

K1FBI

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Re: TECH ONLY
« Reply #45 on: November 16, 2020, 04:21:22 AM »

All the time crying and whining about licenses you don't have to earn, could have been better spent studying for that license.

Even the participation award generation had to at least suit up, show up and try. Now people want to be rewarded for not even trying. ::)
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K6CPO

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Re: TECH ONLY
« Reply #46 on: November 16, 2020, 12:07:46 PM »

What if the FCC changed the rules and made the current TECH License the ONLY license?  That's it now you have everything a Extra class does.  What would it hurt?  What would it help?

If you are going to have one license with ALL band privileges, then you can't use the current Tech exam.  You will have to combine the material from all three exams to properly test for a single all band license.
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AC2EU

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Re: TECH ONLY
« Reply #47 on: November 16, 2020, 02:14:00 PM »

All the time crying and whining about licenses you don't have to earn, could have been better spent studying for that license.

Even the participation award generation had to at least suit up, show up and try. Now people want to be rewarded for not even trying. ::)

Perhaps the incoming administration will pass a 'program" to abolish licensing ( not a level playing field) and provide the radios for those who can't afford them!   :o

K1FBI

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Re: TECH ONLY
« Reply #48 on: November 16, 2020, 03:03:10 PM »

All the time crying and whining about licenses you don't have to earn, could have been better spent studying for that license.

Even the participation award generation had to at least suit up, show up and try. Now people want to be rewarded for not even trying. ::)

Perhaps the incoming administration will pass a 'program" to abolish licensing ( not a level playing field) and provide the radios for those who can't afford them!   :o

Why can't I stop laughing? This is so sad and such a possibility I shouldn't be laughing; damn that's funny though.
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KI7OF

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Re: TECH ONLY
« Reply #49 on: November 29, 2020, 09:41:56 PM »



Perhaps the incoming administration will pass a 'program" to abolish licensing ( not a level playing field) and provide the radios for those who can't afford them!
[/quote]

It's a possibility.
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W9FIB

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Re: TECH ONLY
« Reply #50 on: November 30, 2020, 04:00:35 AM »



Perhaps the incoming administration will pass a 'program" to abolish licensing ( not a level playing field) and provide the radios for those who can't afford them!


It's a possibility.

Good idea if you think its good to buy your radio and everyone else's radios (just like Obamacare), distributed by a government agency (think post office or VA as examples), putting more ham radio stores in a position of closing (difficult to control, ban them), someone else deciding what you can or can not have (rationing), no more small vendors run as a hobby by other hams (again, difficult to control, ban them) , the end of home brewing (again, difficult to control, ban them), higher taxes (got to pay for all this and the associated waste somehow), draconian rules with no appeal process (think of how Covid has been used to undermine the constitution, and a police state will enforce the rules), and a ruined hobby for all OP's.

Doesn't that just sound wonderful? (Think the United States of Venezuela)

Lets hand over all our rights  and have a dictator with 50 governors appointed by him to serve him and not the people. I bet we will be there within 50 years. But I hope I am wrong. Although I wont be here by that time, so wait till then to tell me I am wrong.
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73, Stan
Travelling the world one signal at a time.

WW5F

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Re: TECH ONLY
« Reply #51 on: November 30, 2020, 04:58:14 AM »

yup.
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G8FXC

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Re: TECH ONLY
« Reply #52 on: November 30, 2020, 05:19:57 AM »

When this kind of discussion arises - which it does quite frequently on both sides of the Atlantic, I think it is worth taking a step back and looking at the history of radio in order to understand the background to licencing. A lot of hams - particularly the old guard - seem to think that licencing exists to protect elitism in amateur radio. CBers come at the bottom of the pile - they have done nothing to earn their licences - but "no-coders" who have gained HF access simply by the removal of the morse test and "foundation licence" holders who have gained a licence by ticking the correct couple of dozen boxes on a multiple choice test are little better. But amateur radio licences are just one class of licence that the FCC or OFCOM issue - they are equally responsible for issuing broadcasting licences, marine radio licences, aeronautical licences and many other classes. They have no interest in helping us maintain our artificial elitist structure, they are just there to maintain an adequate level of discipline in the use of the radio bands.

Licencing dates back more than a hundred years to a time when radio equipment was a lot less sophisticated and radio communications was a lot more strategic. Look back to Titanic in 1912 - radio was the only form of communications with a ship that was over the horizon. Radios were spark-gap with signals that were tens or hundreds of kilohertz wide and frequencies above 1MHz were a black art. The radio spectrum was an incredibly valuable resource and lives would be lost if misuse blocked an SOS call. Access to that spectrum was strictly controlled. Most governments recognised the value of amateurs who were experimenting and developing the technology and they also recognised the value of having a pool of experienced operators that they could call upon, But they also recognised that they also needed to maintain the discipline and they introduced some strict licencing rules.

This situation continued more or less until the late 20th century. The development of valves got us away from spark-gaps and we could make better use of spectrum with narrow band transmissions, but until satellites became relatively cheap to own and operate, we were stuck with a pretty limited spectrum that would support long distance communications. Then, in a short period of time, along came satellites, computers and the internet. Entertainment pretty much abandoned the HF bands together with the military and most marine communications. Even VHF is moving ever upwards - nobody wants our beloved HF bands! The FCC and OFCOM will continue to go through the motions of trying to police the HF bands, but we are increasingly an irrelevance to them. If you were to fire up your rig, spin the dial and plant your carrier on a random frequency between 3MHZ and 30MHz and start broadcasting garbage at a couple of kW, the chances of you causing inconvenience to anyone that the FCC cares about is close to zero.

So, the reason for issuing licences is rapidly disappearing. It was never to protect the ego of someone that has passed a load of technical exams and proved that they can operate CW at 50wpm. It was to stop an idiot with a transmitter blocking the SOS call from another Titanic or communications between a bomber and its base - and almost all that traffic has now moved to microwaves bounced off satellites. Governments will continue to go through the motions for a while yet - but in an increasingly hands-off manner. It is already the case that licence applications in Britain are processed on-line, free of cost, and with no human input at OFCOM. Your behaviour on air here has to be pretty terrible before anyone at OFCOM will think it worthwhile to get out the DF gear and track you down!

Martin (G8FXC)
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AC2EU

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Re: TECH ONLY
« Reply #53 on: November 30, 2020, 07:37:11 AM »



Perhaps the incoming administration will pass a 'program" to abolish licensing ( not a level playing field) and provide the radios for those who can't afford them!


It's a possibility.

Good idea if you think its good to buy your radio and everyone else's radios (just like Obamacare), distributed by a government agency (think post office or VA as examples), putting more ham radio stores in a position of closing (difficult to control, ban them), someone else deciding what you can or can not have (rationing), no more small vendors run as a hobby by other hams (again, difficult to control, ban them) , the end of home brewing (again, difficult to control, ban them), higher taxes (got to pay for all this and the associated waste somehow), draconian rules with no appeal process (think of how Covid has been used to undermine the constitution, and a police state will enforce the rules), and a ruined hobby for all OP's.

Doesn't that just sound wonderful? (Think the United States of Venezuela)

Lets hand over all our rights  and have a dictator with 50 governors appointed by him to serve him and not the people. I bet we will be there within 50 years. But I hope I am wrong. Although I wont be here by that time, so wait till then to tell me I am wrong.

50 years? Isn't that what is going to happen in January? More than half the U.S. voted for this type of system.
You know like: "workers unite, you have nothing to loose but your chains". How did that work out?
I guess the promise of  "free stuff for all and utopia on earth" is just too appealing.
The age of aquariums is here and we will be singing kum bay ya with the Iranians by February.

  ::) ::) ;D  ;D

 

N5KO

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Re: TECH ONLY
« Reply #54 on: November 30, 2020, 08:29:54 AM »

This topic has run its course and has been locked.
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