[Boatanchors] relicensing NPRM

[Richard Knoppow]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Todd, KA1KAQ" <ka1kaq at gmail.com>
To: "Boatanchors" <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2012 6:31 AM
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] relicensing NPRM


> On Fri, Oct 5, 2012 at 7:59 AM, David Stinson 
> <arc5 at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>
>> Why not just quite all the pretense, "cut to the chase"
>> and print licenses on boxes of Cherrios?
>> The ops certainly wouldn't be any worse
>> than what I hear on 2 meters.
>
> Or 75, or 40, or 20, etc etc etc. AM, SSB, CW, SSTV, on 
> and on.
>
> There have been lids, idiots, and other fools on the 
> amateur bands as
> long as I can recall. Granted, they are in the minority 
> and less
> noticeable than the CB band by virtue of the much lower 
> numbers of
> hams.
>
> Clearly we're not doing a very good job of attracting new 
> talent to
> the hobby, and the FCC sees this as a viable alternative 
> to letting
> amateur radio die off.
>
> I'm sure they're open to better ideas that anyone has to 
> offer.
>
> ~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4

     I agree with Todd. The lack of new hams is of course 
partly due to the competition from other means of 
communication which have developed over the last couple of 
decades.  Ham radio was once a way of being in the forefront 
of technology so it attracted bright young people who wanted 
to do something new.  It was also exciting, one could talk 
to others in distant places with relatively simple and 
relatively inexpensive equipment. I am very much afraid 
there is not much romance in it any more.
     The FCC is overburdened with work, they are charged 
with regulating a great many services including much of the 
telephone industry and broadcasting. They palmed off ham 
radio onto the hams to try to reduce the work load. 
Regulation of ham radio is nearly non-existent but so is 
regulation of broadcasting and other services.  The reasons 
for this get us into politics and are sure temper triggers.
     As far as recruiting new hams, I have two thoughts: one 
is that the desire must be in the person to begin with, the 
second is that ham radio needs some publicity so that these 
people will know that it even exists. Also, up until fairly 
recently there was a lot of activity on "short wave", many 
broadcast stations and the maritime services with many 
stations running CW. One could tune around on a minimal 
receiver and hear lots of stuff.  I think this was an 
encouragement to many to find out more about it and perhaps 
become a ham. If you listen around now there is really not 
much there.
     A problem I see with simply re-issuing licenses to 
those who have held them in the past is that regulations 
have changed and there is new technology.  I think a new 
test covering at least regulations is in order.
     Ham radio, like other hobbies, seems to be periodic; 
people are enthusiastic about it for a time and then drop 
away, perhaps to come back to it but sometimes leave 
permanently.  I don't think that can be changed.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk at ix.netcom.com