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Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] HF + six contests
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Some may have made the mistake of thinking I was stating MY motivation.
I was not. I have nothing to do with this; I'm hearing about it for the
first time just like most of you are. I was shaking my head a little
bit, tho, at some who said they had no idea why this idea might be put
forth. There are some obvious reasons why. And...I might add, there are
some obvious reasons why it's a bad idea.
And, I agree that upgrading is the best answer. Upgrading from tech no
code to novice or tech plus is just too easy not to do. Friend of mine
with no significant electronics experience flipped through "Now You're
Talking" and sat for and passed tech and novice (= tech plus), then, with
my encouragement, sat for general and missed by two. He had studied no
general class study material. People who don't upgrade don't upgrade
because they have irrational anxieties about failing or because they just
don't care about ham radio as much as I do and most of you do...we went
to the trouble, and it really wasn't that hard was it?...and we did the
small amount of studying and practicing Morse that it took and we got it
done with and could go on with the full ham radio experience. Guys who
get stuck at one of the three beginner's classes (tech no code, novice,
and tech plus, in that order, in my opinion) are just really wasting
their ham radio life...getting off 10M phone for a little while to
upgrade would pay off with ham radio benefits many times that of hanging
out on 10 phone. Some of the guys stuck at tech plus have available to
them some of the best ham radio and Morse tutors imaginable but don't
avail themselves. It's pretty sad.
When I was a 13-year-old kid and started studying for general, yeah, I
was intimidated by it. But I liked ham radio so much that I was driven
to do it, couldn't stop myself, didn't want to. Taking "D.C. Transit"
bus to downtown D.C. by myself to take the test at FCC was part of it
too. Quite an adventure and I was pretty proud of myself afterward.
Okay, I had to take the test 3 times to pass...didn't know to study very
well I think. Still, I wasn't going to accept failure. I was going to
do whatever it took to pass, eventually. And I know guys who've gone
from novice (seems to me novice and tech plus are too easy to get to
start as a no code tech -- why? -- start on the third rung of the ladder,
tech plus...which by the way is why I think most people start with tech
plus, isn't it? Or do they start at tech no code. Not sure. Whenever
ARRL mentions this they always say most people now start at tech...which
I guess means tech no code, but it's ambiguous, since there are two
technician classes, one below novice and one above.)
Instead of begging guys to come to 10M to work you in a contest cuz
you're just a tech plus (or 6M), if you'd put a little time in upgrading
you could go to the other bands!
73 - Rich Boyd, KE3Q
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