[Boatanchors] ARRL Band Plan

Mon Apr 13 17:28:03 EDT 2015

I'm all for a one-class amateur license. Prospective amateurs merely file
FCC Form 610WOW(I made this up) to apply for an amateur license. As it
stands today, amateur license testing does not prove or validate any
amateur radio operator competency or knowledge; it merely validates a
person's ability to memorize answers to questions.

Of course giving all amateurs access to all the amateur band segments and
modes, may bring new meaning to "busy" band or band congestion,

Time will tell.

Pete, wa2cwa

On Mon, 13 Apr 2015 15:34:18 -0500 "Jim Wilhite" <w5jo at brightok.net>
writes:
> This logic leads to the upgrade argument and could, in the digital 
> mode, be applied to the Novice and Technician classes as well.  If 
> they wish to operate digital, they could just take the test.  
> However segment limits have been argued to be unnecessary.  If the 
> addition of the two classes did, in fact, begin begin to really 
> overcrowd the digital band segment, then it would be appropriate to 
> review and authorize additional space.  At the moment, only the SSB 
> segment of 80 meters can be a problem.  Some of it is holdover of 
> nets that operate for various purposes and they must operate above 
> 3.8 for maximum participation and the General class operators.  
> Those nets begin on the East Coast at 5-6 PM and continue across all 
> 4 time zones and that causes a lot of the congestion.  I do not hear 
> CW nets any longer nor have I ever heard a digital net.
> 
> I suspect the FCC would not buy that argument but it does have an 
> example to review carefully.  That example is 160 meters where all 
> classes and modes are available to Extra, Advanced and General.  
> When there is a CW contest you hear CW stations all the way up to 
> 1.9 Mc, the same for digital.  Most of the time when conditions are 
> good there is no purposeful interference among stations and SSB 
> stations rarely if ever go below 1.850.
> 
> I recall one instance when someone did and an FCC official chastised 
> them.  That created a minor uproar because some felt that the FCC 
> did not have jurisdiction in the matter.  They did not, but the 
> effect reminded everyone that cooperation among us was paramount, 
> and to my knowledge that has never happened again.  Most of this 
> proposal is aimed at 80 meters.  I have listened to that segment and 
> do not see night to night congestion that would support additional 
> space.  80 meters at night can be a coast to coast band when 
> conditions are right and I live in the middle of the country like 
> you Glen.  So I can hear both coasts and still do not hear enough 
> stations to say the digital segment is full.
> 
> Jim
> W5JO
> 
> 
> 
> From: Glen Zook 
> 
> Today's Amateur Extra Class written examination is pretty darn easy! 
>  Also, using the various "sample" tests, one acquires the ability to 
> recognize the correct answer without have any understanding of the 
> question.  Since the correct answer, and all of the incorrect 
> answers, MUST be presented on the examination papers using the exact 
> wording as in the examples, the human brain very soon recognizes the 
> correct answer.  The only thing that is permitted is to vary the 
> order in which the possible "answers" are presented on the 
> examination papers.
> 
> 
> This is very unlike the General Class examination that I took in 
> October of 1959.  Instead of being multiple choice answers, one had 
> to draw schematics, determine the value of things using memorized 
> formulas showing your calculations on supplied "scratch paper", fill 
> in the blank, etc.  There were VERY few multiple choice questions.
> 
> 
> The old Advanced Class examination was multiple choice.  However, 
> one had to choose which components that were missing from 
> schematics, calculate things, and so forth.  For "grins", I worked a 
> couple of the calculations using misplaced items in the formula and 
> the "wrong" answer that I got was definitely one of the possible 
> multiple choice answers.  However, the General Class examination was 
> considerably harder.
> 
> 
> The Amateur Extra examination was only harder than the Novice Class 
> examination that I took in February 1959 because it had 50-questions 
> instead of 20-questions!
> 
> Glen, K9STH 
> 
> Website: http://k9sth.net
> 
> 
>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
> From: "pmarkavage at juno.com" <pmarkavage at juno.com>
> To: w5jo at brightok.net 
> Cc: Boatanchors at puck.nether.net 
> Sent: Monday, April 13, 2015 1:38 PM
> Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] [Bulk] Re: ARRL Band Plan
> 
> 
> If Generals feel their portion of the band is congested, they only 
> have
> to upgrade to Extra (under the current FCC rules) to take advantage 
> of
> all the band spectrum. Sounds like a no-brainer to me. 
> 
> I would also suspect many of today's newly minted Technicians 
> (computer
> savvy et al) would have more of an interest to operate digital modes 
> then
> the traditional CW mode.
> 
> It's the 21st century; times are changing and amateur radio 
> operating
> practices, procedures, wishes, and desires need to evolve.
> 
> 
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