[Milsurplus] Things that affect us all...

[Thomas Adams]

What really irritates me is the number of dudes wandering around with the "Extra" class license.

I got MY Extra in the 1960s. Besides the written and code tests, you had to have been a General or
Conditional for at least 2 years before you could even apply for an Extra.

Back then, and Extra class ticket MEANT something in terms of knowledge, skills, and experience.

Nowadays...  some guy comes in off the street with no license at all, sits thru a test that's a bit of a
joke IMHO, and walks out with an Extra.

He then walks down the street to the nearest ham gear emporium, plastic in hand, and comes out
with a pile of overpriced equipment that he barely understands beyond which buttons to punch to 
make it talk. 

He wouldn't DREAM of building his first transmitter... let alone his receiver!

These days, we've lost something valuable.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Camp <kb8tq at n1k.org>
Sent: Aug 14, 2025 7:16 AM
To: Hubert Miller <Kargo_cult at msn.com>
Cc: Milsurplus <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Things that affect us all...

Hi 
I got my first license in the 1960&rsquo;s &hellip;. Even then, there was a significant range of knowledge. Some folks had trouble working out the issue when a fuse randomly blew &hellip;(which they did from time to time in various radios)
 
Was the &ldquo;average&rdquo; higher? Sure. The testing process was far more rigorous. The typical training for that process was usually a &ldquo;bit over the top&rdquo; in terms of what was on the test.
 
That &ldquo;know a bit more&rdquo; also translated into a lot of folks grabbing a random piece of surplus gear and chopping it to pieces. We have the examples of those &ldquo;efforts&rdquo; on eBay. Often, their knowledge didn&rsquo;t quite come up to the level needed for the project. Yes, I very much was one of those folks.
 
Lots and lots of learning by doing back before you could use Google. 
 
Bob
On Aug 13, 2025, at 11:33 PM, Hubert Miller <Kargo_cult at msn.com> wrote:
 
I helped out some at the recent Field Day. I was astonished by how little one person with the same class license as I, actually knew. I suppose i shouldn't be negative, but i wonder if some of these folk could draw out the schematic of a flashlight, and i do mean a pre-LED one. Oh well, times change.
-Hue Miller
 
 
Sent from my Galaxy

 
 

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