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Kenneth
Jones G3RRN (925)
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At this time, I cannot help considering Amateur Radio as we have known it and where certain people, who think they know best for whatever reason, are trying to push it now. Progress and improvement are essential qualities of human achievement, and the history of Amateur Radio and the efforts of radio amateurs have been a reflection of these qualities; at least until recently.
When I was issued with my licence nearly 40 years ago, much of the knowledge required to become a radio amateur was acquired from a period, sometimes prolonged, of being a short wave listener and learning about amateur radio and about the skills required to become a radio amateur. Some were in a greater hurry than others to get a licence, but if my declining memory is not too defective, there was no expectation that the licence would be handed to you on a plate, so to speak, just in case you lost interest waiting!
I don't think I was unusual in my feeling that to be issued with an amateur radio licence carried with it a sense of achievement. The ordinary young people, some of whom were handicapped or had no outstanding educational attainments, and who joined the radio society I helped to found in 1963, were glad to make the effort to get a licence and, I feel sure, by their efforts were proud of their achievements when they obtained it eventually.
There appears to have emerged now an attitude that the issue of a licence to transmit in the amateur HF bands is almost right, and that it is wrong to impose what are seen as undue obstacles to being issued with a licence, even though it is probably easier now than it ever has been. It is assumed that if too much effort is expected, young people, and perhaps others, might just be put off and lose interest.
This is not about learning Morse. Morse has become, in current techniques of communicating by radio, about as relevant as the steam engine is to railway traction. It is still a highly effective method, for many it is very attractive, and it is still an important part of the culture of Amateur Radio, which it would be extremely regrettable to lose. But progress has provided techniques that are easier and, in some respects, at least as effective, if not more effective.
Also, we need to consider CB. Amateur Radio is not a more privileged form of CB. Indeed they have no more in common than a tabloid newspaper has to a good book, other than they both use the printed page. Any amateur, or aspiring amateur, who has any real interest in the genuine feeling for Amateur Radio, should be glad of that sense of achievement and pride in holding an amateur radio licence, as a result of a personal effort.
We have been told recently, that..."we must make amateur radio attractive to a wider audience, right across the age range..." and that "...our hobby will surely decay if we cannot attract newcomers to it". I feel that the latter is, to say the least, an extremely dubious assumption. Those who may be genuinely interested in Amateur Radio have to become less intelligent, or less capable of passing the very basic RAE. They no more need to be pandered to now than was the case in the past.
In every other field in which educational attainment plays a part, there is an aspiration to higher not lower standards. This is being applied now even at the political level. Efforts to attract large numbers by lowering standards, in a misguided endeavour to persuade people to be interested, is unbelievably crass.
In my first piece in OT News, I wrote that "You can lead a horse to water...!" Potential radio amateurs do not turn to the Internet, or to any other pastime, because they find it easier to achieve, or because it is inherently more attractive. Such people, young or old, are just not interested in Amateur Radio. You can't make such people drink if they don't have a thirst.
As a 14 year old, I recall travelling many miles by bus, on a very wet day, to reach a Field Day location. I was not a member of any radio club and I had never before met a radio amateur or received help and encouragement from one. But my reading and listening had fired in me a driving enthusiasm for amateur radio as a technical hobby and means of communication with those of a similar interest. Had it been available, I feel sure that the internet would not have distracted me, and I had access to a telephone if I simply required telecommunication.
I know many amateurs, both old and young, and including former professionals, who feel the same way. Their basic enthusiasm for Amateur Radio has not changed with time. This is because they had a genuine interest in the first place. For this reason, easing access to the HF bands to keep the interest of Novices I believe to be nonsense. Just as no self respecting educational establishment would lower standards because recruitment to a course of study was not as high as it would like. Amateur Radio, whether through the RSGB or any other means, should not encourage the Radiocommunications Agency to go on lowering standards.
I heard a suggestion recently that traditional radio amateurs, and indeed Amateur Radio itself, as epitomised by RAOTA, are fast declining. I do not believe that to be essentially true. But regrettably, there are certain people, purporting to speak for radio amateurs and exerting apparently undue influence on the R.A., who would like it to be so. They are attempting to push amateur radio increasingly in that direction, for spurious reasons.
It is not enough to say that standards will be maintained, when the moves, expressions of intent and the indications are to the contrary. I understand that the R.A. listens to all who wish to and are qualified to offer advice, and not just because they hold positions in large national organisations. If my understanding of the R.A. is correct, I feel RAOTA should endeavour also to be "...in discussion with the Radiocommunications Agency..." about the future of Amateur Radio, before traditional standards are depressed further.
Ken, G3RRN (925)
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