FCC Denies Petition to Increase Size of Amateur Radio...

[Pete, WA2CWA]

From the ARRL web site, March 19, 2009:

FCC Denies Petition to Increase Size of Amateur Radio Question Pools

In April 2008, Michael Mancuso, KI4NGN, of Raleigh, North Carolina, filed a petition with the FCC, seeking to increase the size of the question pools that make up the Amateur Radio licensing exams. Mancuso sought to increase...

For the rest of the story, go here:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/03/19/10711/?nc=1

[KL7OF]

What license class is Mancuso and when was he licensed?

[flintstone mop]

Looks like an ordinary guy with a General license. QRZ doesn't display what class license. He lives in a antenna restricted neghborhood (communist community).

Seems like he wants to stifle the growth of amateur radio by tripling the number of questions. "Too easy to memorize the present pool"

I thought he might be an Extra and doesn't like the extra band use that was previously unused.

Phred

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Looks like an ordinary guy with a General license. QRZ doesn't display what class license. He lives in a antenna restricted neghborhood (communist community).

Seems like he wants to stifle the growth of amateur radio by tripling the number of questions. "Too easy to memorize the present pool"

I thought he might be an Extra and doesn't like the extra band use that was previously unused.

Phred

If you want to determine someone's license information, you should go to the FCC data base:
http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp

You said: "QRZ doesn't display what class license"
That's incorrect. The QRZ data base does show his class of license. In this case, it's Extra.

[flintstone mop]

YUP Pete,
I didn't click on "more information"
The floor mat for QRZ must have changed in the last month

Fred

[k4kyv]

What's the point of even having an exam if the Q-A's can simply be memorised from the pool without understanding the content?  If the candidate knows the material, it shouldn't matter how many questions are in the pool.  There is a difference between the number of questions in the pool and the range of subject matter covered.  The pool could be trebled in size and still cover the same material without including any new topics. If someone had wanted to write out all the Q-A's, a Novice question pool that size could have been composed.

I don't think it's a valid argument that increasing the size of the question pool would make the exam more difficult or that it would stifle growth.

Isn't a written test passed by rote memory from a question pool basically the same thing as the code test?  Just a different memory exercise.

For me, it would be much easier to learn the basic principles of the subject matter than to cram for hundreds of Q-A's by rote memory without understanding what it means.

In the order denying the request, the FCC dodges the issue by saying that he offered no data to back up his claim, which therefore made it speculative at best.

But the FCC also said "As noted above, the purpose of the examinations is not to demonstrate an applicant's comprehension of certain material, but rather to determine whether he or she can properly operate an amateur station". I don't see how rote memory from a question pool accomplishes that, either. 

When I was about 10 years old, I had a friend who attended parochial school classes in which he had to memorise the "catechisms", but he had no clue what they actually meant nor did he care the least.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

What's the point of even having an exam if the Q-A's can simply be memorised from the pool without understanding the content? 

That reminds me - I should study up and give the Extra a whirl at Timonium.  Quickly, before someone submits yet another petition to bring back the code requirement to make me a 'better ham'. 

[WB2YGF]

But the FCC also said "As noted above, the purpose of the examinations is not to demonstrate an applicant's comprehension of certain material, but rather to determine whether he or she can properly operate an amateur station". I don't see how rote memory from a question pool accomplishes that, either.

To be fair, when I took my Novice, having to memorize the Novice band edges and the formula to calculate a dipole length was REALLY useful information and didn't require total "understanding".  I suppose one could memorize all the dipole length Q&A's, but isn't it easier just to memorize the formula? 

I suspect is most cases, on the EXREA exam, some learning actually takes place especially where memorizing is the hard way.