[OKDXA] INTERESTING MORNING

[John Geiger]

Hi Kim,

My point is more that there used to be a logical
progression to the license classes.  You started out
as a novice, with fairly small band segments on HF,
where everyone knew where the new hams were.  You
would work lots of other new hams and learn the ropes
of HF operating in the process.  The time I spend as a
novice on 15m and 40m were some of the best times in
my ham career and I worked some DX on 15m and 10m,
learning about propagation, operating techniques, and
such.  You also were limited to fairly low power-today
you can pass a 35 question exam where the answers are
published beforehand, and immediately run 1500 watts
on 10ghz-probably qualifying for a Darwin award in the
process.

Upgrading to general was tough, both in learning the
material and getting your code speed up to 13wpm.  You
generally did that by getting on the air and making
QSOs.  It took me 2 years as a novice before I
upgraded to general.  When you had your general you
got much more priviledges and really got into DXing,
but still most of the real DX spots were still
somewhat out of your reach.  Look at where the DX SSB
calling frequencies are-14.195, 21.295, 3.799-they
aren't in the general band, they are in the advanced
band.  So you played DXer in the general band while
you studied for your advanced.  That was a tough test
for many people.  It took awhile to pass.

You then learned that the real DX action on CW was in
the bottom 25khz, so you wanted your extra.  Well to
get to 20wpm took more operating and learning the
ropes.  Like most things in life you learn how to
become a good operator/DXer/Contester by doing it!  I
took me a year to go from advanced to extra. In all it
took me 3 1/2 years to go from novice to extra.

Now all of that has changed.  People go straight to
extra with no on the air training.  They end up on HF
wanting to chase DX with no idea of what they are
doing.  It really isn't their fault, the licensing
structure today (and much elmering) doesn't really
support any on-the-air training.  If your club is
anything like my local club the only thing they teach
you is how to get on a repeater or to run APRS.  Those
things are ok but they don't translate much at all to
operating on HF.  

I would bet 15 years or so ago no one ended up as an
extra without years spent operating as a lower class
of license.  Today I would bet that there is a high
proportion of people getting their extra who have
either never been on HF or have spend less than 6 mo.
operating on HF.  I am not sure that the name "extra"
is really appropriate for the license today.

There are plenty of other factors leading to the mess
we see today, but the change in license structure is
definitely one of them.  I think we see a similar
attitude in both-there are those with the "I want an
extra class license and I want it now without having
to learn too much" which can translate to "I want to
work the DX now without having to work at it too
much."

Glad I already have TI9 confirmed on 80-10 (minus 60m)
but would like them on 160 if possible.
73s John AA5JG
--- Kim Elmore <cw_de_n5op at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> I wish I could see it so simply, but I can't.
> 
> I love CW. I'm a FISTS member. I wrote a sappy
> Christmas story for CQ 
> that featured CW as epitomizing Real Radio, though I
> didn't hit any 
> one over the head with it. For me, CW is the *One,
> True Mode.*
> 
> That said, it's simply a  mode, like RTTY, PSK31,
> AFSK16, SSB, AM, 
> digital voice, etc. As much as I love it, I can't
> justify testing a 
> prospective ham on it without all the others.
> 
> Rather, I think it's more a sign of the times than
> the result of a 
> change in the way we're licensed. The nature of
> society has drifted 
> to a less polite, more self-serving "what's in it
> for me?" attitude.
> 
> "Elmer? I don't need no steenking Elmer!" Everyone
> is an expert at 
> everything -- just ask. If they have the highest
> class of license, 
> then they're de facto experts! They don't need to
> read about any of 
> this because... Yes! They're experts! Culturally, we
> are driven by 
> certification and they have the highest possible
> class of license, 
> hence the highest certification.
> 
> Add to this that we have no patience anymore. Way
> back when, one had 
> to be licensed as a General class or higher for a
> minimum of 2 years 
> before one could even sit the Extra class exam.
> Forget the code!  You 
> had to have actually had the license for two years.
> But did this 
> guarantee that you knew anything about radio? Or
> procedures? Or how 
> to chase DX? No, but it arguably raised the odds a
> bit. Do I think we 
> should do that again? It probably wouldn't matter
> because the problem 
> goes deeper than this could address.
> 
> My point is that this has less to do with our
> licensing system and 
> more to do with our current culture.  In the end,
> it's still up to us 
> to educate our newbs. We have to own this problem,
> make it ours, and 
> address it with tact and diplomacy. Even then, we
> must do it with a 
> complete understanding that you can lead a horse to
> water, but you 
> can't make it drink. Some people are not interested
> in learning, but 
> most, by far, really are. They simply don't want the
> lesson to start 
> with "You (no code/non-CW/multiple choice/ricebox 
> operator/keyer-using/keyboard slinging) jerk!"
> 
> Kim Elmore, N5OP
> 
> At 08:33 PM 2/10/2008, you wrote:
> >I don't think it took Nostradomous, Edgar Cayce,
> and
> >Miss Cleo to see this coming.
> >
> >When the ARRL and CQ are constantly screaming that
> we
> >need a trillion new hams on HF or we will loose all
> of
> >our bands (funny how no one has actually tried to
> take
> >an HF band from us, and instead we keep getting new
> >ones, including the 136khz band at the latest WRC),
> >and the licensing standards get reduced to the
> point
> >that someone can go from no license to having an
> extra
> >with a weekend of study, it only figures that you
> will
> >end up with loads of people on the air with
> absolutely
> >no clue as to what they are doing.
> >
> >Now of course we hear that we are supposed to
> "elmer"
> >them, but even that is becoming impossible.  The
> first
> >time you point out to them that they are doing
> >something wrong you hear about how your attitude is
> >driving new hams away, etc.
> >
> >I guess we only have ourselves to blame for this
> mess
> >since we didn't fight harder to preserve the
> standards
> >we had.
> >
> >73s John AA5JG
> >
> 
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