Amateur Radio Dead in 5 Years?

[k4kyv]

In RSGB advert

You have to hit the zoom-in button to read text.

http://www.ukirlp.co.uk/g3zhi/rsgb_advert.jpg

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Spelling and grammar were not high on the creator's skills.
For starters:
"Licence For Life"
"You Do The Maths"

[VE3BEE]

Hmmm, Amateur Radio must be dead up here in Canada.. We have had license for life for about the last 5 years....

[Jack-KA3ZLR-]

Well i can grasp the thought, i can see the possibility and it does exist, actually What Power do we weild, we are Not Masters of our Space and we answer to a Higher authority.

Situation requires a need, what Need do we Fill, and by definition in todays world what purpose do we serve. Food for thought.

The Situation Needs attention...

[W1GFH]

Spelling and grammar were not high on the creator's skills.
For starters:
"Licence For Life"
"You Do The Maths"

That's actually the correct spelling and phrasing -- for England. You know how they spell color "colour", etc.

[Bacon, WA3WDR]

It does smack of Doom and Gloom, especially with the Grim Reaper on it.  Things are getting worse, but Doom and Gloom is almost always overblown.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Spelling and grammar were not high on the creator's skills.
For starters:
"Licence For Life"
"You Do The Maths"

That's actually the correct spelling and phrasing -- for England. You know how they spell color "colour", etc.

Yep. Someone dropped me an e-mail earlier pointing that out. I guess I didn't realize I was looking at UK info. (duh on my part)  Poking around the RSGB site, it seems they use licence or licences, as in amateur radio licence, but also use licensee and licensing, as in amateur radio licensee or amateur radio licensing. I didn't try to tackle the math vs. maths. I'm sure their audience knew what the poster was saying.

Time to modulate the pillow and catch you all on the flip-flop.

[W1UJR]

In RSGB advert

You have to hit the zoom-in button to read text.

http://www.ukirlp.co.uk/g3zhi/rsgb_advert.jpg

I think the advert is on point, despite the gloomy graphic.

Can't you see that happening...unless a group like the ARRL or RSGB lobbies otherwise?

If you look at the progressive decline of the standards for obtaining an amateur radio license, along with its decline in importance to government organizations, I can see that day coming.

Remember the early ham radio tickets, the license was something to behold.
I think that Don once posted a copy of his license here, quite impressive.

Given the current cost cutting and political atmosphere in Washington, I could easily see the FCC allowing an outside contractor to administer the entire amateur radio licensing and enforcement structure.
From there it’s just a hop, skip and a jump away to the FRS type of regulation.

Let's face it; the amateur radio service is not as valued as it once was.
There was a time that people felt good about having a ham for a neighbor, ham radio operators were looked up to as heroes who had some type of magical ability.
Witness the assistance of amateur radio at the turn of the century with floods and other natural disasters.
Today we’re just pests who up big antennas and ruin the view at “Tasty Meadows”.

[k4kyv]

Poking around the RSGB site, it seems they use licence or licences, as in amateur radio licence, but also use licensee and licensing, as in amateur radio licensee or amateur radio licensing.

It's less a matter of where the site originates than a matter of inattention to one of the many subtle details of English grammar.  The preferred spelling of the noun form of the word is licence, while the verb form is spelt license.  You have a ham licence, while you are licensed by the FCC; therefore you are an amateur licensee.  As our language is systematically dumbed down and the rules of grammar taught less in school, the two forms have largely become interchangeable in the popular language of the masses.  In Britain, I often see the spelling licence for both the noun and verb form, while here, the usage tends more towards license for both.

As a part-time foreign language teacher at a local high school, I often find it exceedingly difficult to get essential grammar points across, because students are no longer required to master English grammar.  It's about like trying to converse with a typical slopbucket appliance operator on the subject of modulation reactors, zero-beating and class C amplifiers.

I didn't try to tackle the math vs. maths. I'm sure their audience knew what the poster was saying.

A simple abbreviation...  Mathematics

As for the web site, I do find it a little alarmist, especially as a magazine ad for a membership society of the calibre of  the RSGB (basically the British equivalent of our ARRL).  I almost looked  to see if the picture showed black helicopters in the background.  It looks as if they are becoming desperate for new members.  I see the same thing with some  recent tactics of the ARRL, as membership has declined to a relatively small percentage of the total ham population.

However,  I do get their point regarding the dumbing down of ham radio.  One concern of mine is that if eliminating the code requirement does happen to generate the hoped-for onslaught of new hams on hf (which I still consider unlikely), while we maintain the ridiculous present-day subband structure, the phone bands could become crowded enough to ressurect demands to phase out AM because it takes up so much "bandwidth."  If the ARRL bandwidth proposal goes through, all they will have to do is delete the special 9 kc/s exemption.

[W1GFH]

Let's face it; the amateur radio service is not as valued as it once was.

You can say that again. Just look at that old certificate --- compared to the Cracker Jack Box thing we get today. You could get a real sense of having achieved something special with that thing on your wall.

[k4kyv]

Let's face it; the amateur radio service is not as valued as it once was.

You can say that again. Just look at that old certificate --- compared to the Cracker Jack Box thing we get today. You could get a real sense of having achieved something special with that thing on your wall.

That certificate is an old Extra First Class.  They issued them sometime in the early 30's.  Not the same thing as the Amateur Extra, which  was a revived version created  in 1951.  Like the original post-WW2 Extra Class, it brought no additional privileges beyond Class A, and I believe  it had a 20 wpm code test.

The original class B (General) code test was 10 wpm.  The ARRL in about 1934 petitioned to raise it to 12.5 wpm.  The FCC thought  that would be too messy to calculate, so they raised it to the nice even number of 13 wpm.  In those days there was no Novice class or similar entry level.  You  had to start off cold at 13 wpm.  Needless to say, an amateur licence was extremely difficult to obtain.  This was also during the depth of the Great Depression, so most people couldn't afford even a simple receiver to copy code on.

When the Novice class was created with the 5 wpm code test, many old timers were complaining that the Novice class would irrepairably dumb down amateur radio.  It did generate a boom period that lasted throughout the 50's and early 60's.  One of the reasons incentive licensing was initiated was that the boom in new licensees was beginning to clog up the bands with QRM.  The ARRL petition was to go back to the old Class A and Class B system that had existed before 1951.  The FCC, in its infinite wisdom instead chose the path of the ridiculous subband structure we have today.  This is a good example of being  careful what you ask for - you might get it.  And there is no guarantee that the final FCC ruling will be the same as what you petitioned for.  Something else to be wary about regarding the current ARRL proposal and 9 kc/s "exemption" for AM... It would be easy for the FCC to adopt the proposal minus the exemption.  Good thing Johnny Johnston is no longer with the FCC.

[wa2zdy]

I haven't seen my 2nd telegraph ticket in a lot of years, but I still have my Extra class op license in a frame.  No, it's not quite as impressive as the old buzzardly ones, but still, it came from FCC, not some $4.95 print shop and it has a lot of meaning to me.  I'm actually glad FCC doesn't issue these anymore.  I know I EARNED mine.

[Jack-KA3ZLR-]

Well, I'm doing my small part to Help this Not Happen,I have One more to add to the ranks a good friend of the family has been spending alot of his spare time here at my place, I think he was sold on my 897 Station i put together at the computer desk here, or I think that's what sparked it, he's into computing quit a bit and the melding of the two techs really caught his eye..So I think That's where That's at...

One Call at a Time if that's what it takes...

[Tom WA3KLR]

It's all about money.  Amateur radio bands will be here 20 years from now IF none of the Fortune 500 companies come up with a money-making idea that require use of any ham bands.

I don't see ICOM, Kenwood, Ten-Tec or Yaesu on the Fortune 500 list.  We are dependent upon the whims of the WalMarts, Verizons, Lowe's, Hewlett-Packards, etc.

[ve6pg]

...WELL,THEY GAVE US OUR TICKETS FOR LIFE,DROPPED THE CW REQUIREMENT,AND I DONT KNOW WHAT IS NEXT.I MUST ADMIT,LATELY I'VE BEEN SELLING OFF STUFF I DONT NEED,AND WHEN A HAM SHOWS UP HERE,HE IS QUITE TAKEN ABACK BY THE OLD GEAR. NO COMMERCIAL ANTENNAS,ALL HOME-BREW STUFF,TUNERS ETC. I DO HAVE A RICE BOX FER 6 METRES,BUT THESE GUYS END UP STAYING FOR HOURS,ASKING QUESTIONS,LISTENING TO AM BOAT ANCHOR STUFF,AND WHEN THEY LEAVE,THEY APPEAR VERY INTERESTED IN LOOKING INTO THIS STUFF. I TELL THEM THAT MAYBE AFTER THEY WORK THEIR 200 COUNTRIES,AND GET TIRED OF THE SAME TYPE OF DAILY QSOs,THEY MIGHT FIND THEMSELVES LOOKING INTO THIS STUFF.  TONIGHT WE ARE GETTING AURORA,AND THE HF BANDS ARE WIPED-OUT.I EXPLAINED TO THIS HAM WHO JUST LEFT,THAT HE CAN SPEND THOUSANDS ON A NEW YAESU/ICOM/KENWOOD,AND STILL NOT BE ABLE TO TALK TO ANYONE.BUT WITH A FLEA MARKET SPECIAL,HE CAN STILL ENJOY THE HOBBY,BY HAVING SOME PRIDE IN RESTORING AN OLD PIECE,WORKING ON IT WHEN THE BANDS ARE CRAPPED-OUT.THIS GUY WAS AMAZED..HE HAS HAD HIS TICKET FER 25 YRS,AND HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING MORE THAN HANG A COMMERCIAL DIPOLE UP IN THE TREES.  I THINK HE LEFT HERE THINKING THERE IS ALOT MORE TO THIS HOBBY,OTHER THAN USING A CREDIT CARD...SK..

[Glenn NY4NC]

Ham radio outlawed in this country? I guess it is possible, but no doubt, out of that action will come a very large community of boot-leggers. Answer this question.... would you stop operating if ham radio was outlawed?

Interesting thought? 

[WA1HZK]

Nope
I would just dig up the old call sign W1NXZ and claim I was Timmy!

[Glenn NY4NC]

 

Nope
I would just dig up the old call sign W1NXZ and claim I was Timmy!