[CW] Novice Bands are still there

[David J. Ring, Jr.]

Hello Al,

You're absolutely correct:  dumbing down is going to attract some "hf 
deprived" individuals at first, but after that not many.

The ones now that are going to be interested in radio are people in a moving 
environment:  trucks, cars, boats, ships, aircraft.

The Pilots already get tested for Morse Code, likewise the mates and 
captains on ships.  That leaves pleasure boaters, truckers, and people who 
have cars.

The people in the cars are more likely to want a cell phone.

My crystal balls say that ham radio will have six months to a year of growth 
and then will thereafter decline at twice the current rate.

Ham radio is one of the two things that were moderately difficult to get 
when I was a teen ager.  Actually ham radio is more difficult (or was) than 
getting a automobile operator's license.

I still have both - but everything else that I did or had or wanted when I 
was a teen ager (except sex) has gone by the wayside and no longer interests 
me.

Fast cars, fast women, and fast CW - life doesn't get any better than that. 
(No comments about my wife's driving her Mustang at breakneck speed while 
playing 50 wpm CW in the car stereo tape player, please... but you're right 
it doesn't get much better...)

73

DR

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alfred Lorona" <w6wqc at dslextreme.com>
To: "List CW" <cw at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2005 11:39 PM
Subject: Re: [CW] Novice Bands are still there


Of all the things that have been dumbed down through the years, not
necessarily restricted to ham radio, what improvements have there been in
the things that were dumbed down?

Now back to ham radio. If the license requirements are dumbed down, what
improvement will we see?  A larger head count? Is that the improvement? How
will the hobby benefit?

Check out the bands any evening. Occupancy is nil. Everybody is surfing,
playing video games or talking on their cell phones. How many of these good
souls are engaged in these pastimes simply because the present license
requirements are beyond their grasp? But let's say 500,000 new hams are
inducted into the licensed ranks as the result of a dumb-down. Is it the
consensus that they will discard their game controller and substitute a mic
for it? Just what will be accomplished?  :-)

73, AL

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