QRZ! Ham Radio 5/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 5.iso/digests/policy/940046.txt

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Date: Wed,  9 Feb 94 04:30:12 PST
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Subject: Ham-Policy Digest V94 #46
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Ham-Policy Digest           Wed,  9 Feb 94       Volume 94 : Issue   46

Today's Topics:
                          Exams are Trivial?

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Archives of past issues of the Ham-Policy Digest are available
(by FTP only) from UCSD.Edu in directory "mailarchives/ham-policy".

We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text
herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official
policies or positions of any party.  Your mileage may vary.  So there.
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Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 19:45:19 GMT
From: emba-news.uvm.edu!griffin![e-mail]
Subject: Exams are Trivial?
To: [e-mail]

  I've noted for some time, since the ham exams are written and administarted
by the VEC rather than the FCC, the whole level of difficulty has shifted.
Now, not only can all of the questions be memorized, the entire exam
can be passed without even knowing the most simplistic application of
Ohm's law.

I have a friend who recently passed his Advanced ticket who asked me,
afterward to explain Ohm's law to him and also what exactly an antenna tuner
might be good for.

 Since the exams do not test for technical ability or knowledge, then they
are a sham. We should either return to the "secret" pools that were used
during the FCC examiner period or drop all exams for amateur licenses.
The study needed to memorize the material is very easy for bright people
and easily done with more effort by bulbs of lessor wattage.

The exams as they now exist are a joke and a waste of time. Who do we
think we are kidding when we suggest that amateur radio is a technical
person's hobby? Now, all the family, including those not too far out of
the diaper, can pass at least the NOCODE test.

Anything gotten with little or no work will not be long valued and I
predict this will be the general course of the NOCODER. Yes, some have
upgraded and some are girl-geneses, but most will ho-hum their HT away
for the next toy in a year or so.

Let's be honest when it comes to the exams. They are a trivial pursuit
for most average IQs and a joke for brighter bulbs.


WQ1F Gary
Skunk Hill, Vt

" Not only does the truth hurt, it smells bad too."




--
            ******** Gary E. Davis***** WQ1F *****
 The most common of all follies is to believe passionately in the
 palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.-H.L.Mencken

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Date: 3 Feb 1994 14:36:52 -0600
From: mvb.saic.com!unogate!news.service.uci.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!menudo.uh.edu!uuneo.NeoSoft.com!sugar.NeoSoft.COM![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>com
Subject : Re: Guns and O2 (was Re: Antenna Lawsuit

In article <[e-mail]>,
Dana Myers  <[e-mail]> wrote:
>
>Now, back to amateur radio concerns...
> * This Extra supports the abolition of the 13 and 20 WPM tests *

Why not abolish ALL testing. It seems to me that's what most of the
whiners want anyway, right?



--
Radiographers who are able to use a radiographic machine well are
great assets to the health care facility in which they are employed.

   --Dianne C. DeVos, "Basic Principles of Radiographic Exposure"

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Date: Mon, 7 Feb 1994 21:20:08 GMT
From: unix.sri.com!headwall.Stanford.EDU!Csli![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>
Subject : Re: I just HAD to. Really: Goodwill, contesting and DXing

 [e-mail] (Gary Coffman) writes:

>Since most of our international spectrum is "worthless" anyway,
>the cost of this "goodwill" is small. But the bulk of HF operation
>doesn't promote "goodwill". Mostly it's obnoxious contest and DX
>operating with no real meaningful exchange of views between citizens
>of different nations.

First of all, both DXing and Contesting belong to a limited set of nonathletic
international competitive activites, such as chess.  Historically, they've
transcended politics (the Oblast Awards come immediately to mind) to allow
participation in competition worldwide.  Both activities have large,
international communities, which are fairly closeknit, communicating on and
off the air.  As an example, the Stanford Radio Club is fairly well known
in both communities, and each year we get at least a dozen requests from
foreign visitors to tour and use the shack.  We also supply a large number of
Japanese Class 4 operators with their first US QSL.

Far and away, however, the most important factor is that Contesting and DXing
are simply the best emergency communications trainers available.  In order
to really use HF in an emergency, you need a well worn set of basic skills,
including a knowledge of propagation and operating practices (pileup
management and fast logging) that are required for successful Contest/DX
operation.

I'm beginning to get the distinct impression that you don't spend much time
on HF.  In the past, you've repeatedly proclaimed that those who operate on
the low end of the bands are merely a bunch of old coots (it's about 50-50
these days, given the influx of QRP enthusiasts, who tend to be much younger),
and now you're crusading against contesting and DXing. What gives?


--
-=Paul Flaherty, N9FZX | "Fighter pilots make movies.  Bomber pilots make
->[e-mail]   |  history."  -- Jake Grafton

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End of Ham-Policy Digest V94 #46
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