Brian and All, There is a danger here...... I think we would all like to see more hams and more kids in ham radio. By making the exams harder, whatever that means (more questions or more difficult material) we may be limiting our market. Kids are going to have to up their reading skills or be older to master the material. Older individuals will be intimidated by the number of questions. This is not going to be helpful. In the past every time there is a perceived "dumbing down" ( I really hate that expression!) we, as a group, want to "upgrade the exam" to stifle that criticism. I hope that this time we will resist that temptation. We have over the past few years increased the size of the question pool and broadened the scope of the exam. Both of those things make the exam more difficult. Perhaps we have already gone too far to pacify those who scream, "ARRL is dumbing down ham radio!" I got my Novice ticket in January of 1962. I actually took the exam in October of 1961 just after I finished college and had started teaching. I thought the exam was hard because I knew nothing about radio and I was not a science or engineering major. Dave Sumner took that same exam as his entrance to ham radio at about the same time. A few years ago he brought in the license manual from that era. When I looked at it I was astonished at how small the question pool was an how simple the exam seemed. But that was hind sight looking back almost 40 years. I think I have learned a lot since then and forgotten a lot of what the Army taught me later in 1962 in the Signal Corps' "Field Radio Repair School." I believe we frequently loose sight of the fact that we are getting an operators license and not an engineering license. Please, let's resist those who want to make things harder or expand the question pool. Should we choose that route we may find that we are getting even fewer hams than we are now. (This is not directed at you Brian or anyone on the Board...) On a side note, I went through sixteen years of Catholic school all the way through college, but I don't believe that you have to suffer or do some form of medieval penance in order to become a good ham. But to hear some of our members talk I sometimes think they do. Some expect that if you want to become a ham, you have to go off to a monastery, wear sack cloth and study all day long and occasionally go to hamsfest and flail away at your bare back with hunks of RG-8. Hey, I thought this was the 21st Century and not the middle ages - the 1950's and 1960's. Sometime in January or February we will need to make a reality check. But then the entire country seems to be in a period of denial or alternate reality, a twilight zone if you will. 73 de Frank...N2FF...... Brian Mileshosky wrote:

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While I'm not predicting the demise of Ham Radio, I am unfortunately led to ponder when the day will come when even the theory exam will be whittled down to a seemingly level on non-existence because "everyone should be able to get a license if they want one." I can't place blame on the Hams for jumping at the opportunity, and I'll respect every one of them as I do current hams who are on the air...it's the "system" and society that I blame for the 'instant gratification for minimal effort so we don't hurt feelings' attitude that seems to exist.

Back to what I alluded to in the first paragraph of my Saturday night rant, it's not just because it's CW (and I'm a CW op, and as Frank said below it's a mode, not a religion). I'd feel better if the theory exams were beefed up as a result, just so a respectable bar remains for one to meet and exceed in order to get their ham ticket. Not everyone is cut out to be a Ham, and that's consistent with an unwritten rule of life that I accept wholeheartedly.

My whippersnapper point of view...whew!

73, Brian, N5ZGT

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Joel,

I could not agree more with the statement below. The FCC has ruled: CW is Mode and NOT a religion. I for one have had the debate up to my ears for far too long! I will be interesting to see how ham radio goes in the next few years. It is, I am sure, not the end of the world. And yes, it is LONG overdue! I think it's a nice Christmas present.