TID: Mystic BBS 1.12 A48
MSGID: 1:226/44 6fc34c31
REPLY: 1:135/250@fidonet 68f84aed
TZUTC: -0500
On 21 Oct 2025, Rug Rat said the following...
 
 RR> I also always thought it was funny.  The General had theory in it that
 RR> would have been great to learn and viable for the Tech, the same with
 RR> the Extra, such as satelite operation.  It even has one large chapter
 RR> dealing with VHF/UHF theory and operation.  I am not upgrading to Extra
 RR> so I can know more about VHF/UHF...

Digging up some slightly older posts... Sorry about that.

Anyway, I absolutely agree. Some of what was in the Extra test pool would have
been fantastic to know when I was just getting started. (Yes, I know --
there's nothing stopping me from "reading ahead" as it were, but it's really
hard to know what you need to know without being able to practically apply
much of anything first.)

I always thought it was curious that we test and license the way we do. I'd
suggest that radio is slightly less dangerous for the public at large than
driving a car, yet we have thousands of inexperienced drivers on the road
before they get their licenses.

I understand the idea of keeping a ham-in-training to bands and modes that
cause the least amount of interference to the fewest number of people, but
there really should be some allocation to allow a tech somewhere on a reliable
HF band beyond CW. Open up a 25kHz stretch of 20m for phone, or at least allow
some of the data allocation so they can play FT8 and get their feet wet with
other digital modes.

I'm sure there are downsides to that, but given the gradual decline of radio
as a hobby, it feels like it's more good than harm.

73,
WZ8Q

... The secret of getting ahead is mastering the guillotine.

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