[Boatanchors] Novice Redux

[Glen Zook]

Not really true!

If you look at the older versions of the ARRL License Manual, at the Novice Class section, you will see 50 "questions", really areas from which questions on the written examination may come.  Of those, 31 are technical and some of those are more involved than any on the present Technician Class examination pool.  In fact, quite a number of the "questions" actually have several parts ("answers") and where the present examination pool is concerned, they would be separate questions.

The only thing was that the Novice Class written examination had only 20-questions.  Frankly, the old Novice Class licensee had to be considerably more technically "savvy" than any Technician Class licensee of today.

If you look at the cost of equipment today versus the 1950s, 1960s, and even well into the 1970s, in terms of what the average wage levels and the capabilities of the equipment, equipment these days is dirt cheap!

For example, using the calculator at

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/


A Heath DX-40, which was a very popular Novice Class transmitter, cost $64.95 in 1958.  That equates to $547.62 today.  The DX-40 was crystal controlled and only AM and CW with 75-watts CW input and 60-watts controlled carrier AM.  The VF-1 VFO cost $19.95 which equates to $168.21 today.  Many Novice Class operators used the Hallicrafters SX-99 receiver that cost $149.95 plus the speaker which was another $19.95.  Today the $149.95 equates to $1264.28 and the speaker to $168.21.  

The total, in today's money, for a pretty basic "starter" station, it would cost $2148.32!  Look what capabilities you can get for that amount today!  There are a number of SSB transceivers that run under the $547.62 for just a simple transmitter.  For example, HRO has the Alinco DX-SR8T 100-watt, 160-meter through 10-meter, SSB, CW, AM, and FM, transceiver on sale for $479.95. 
Glen, K9STH 
Website: http://k9sth.net

      From: K5MYJ <macklinbob at gmail.com>
 To: jbrannig <jbrannig at verizon.net>; Rob Atkinson <ranchorobbo at gmail.com>; Boat Anchors List <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net> 
 Sent: Wednesday, February 8, 2017 8:27 PM
 Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Novice Redux
   
The original Novice ticket was for non-technical people. They only had to 
know the operating rules and send and receive CW at 5WPM.

What was wrong with that.

Let them do CW at any speed on HF and 2M FM. Neither requires any technical 
skill.

Are there any entry level HF radios?