I am shocked at the following report from the ARRL!
I am sending this to a fairly wide distribution with this
question: is this where Amateur Radio really wants
to be going? Or do you think the following is just
great and wonderful??
>From today's ARRL Letter:
"New York's Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club--LIMARC
--reports its first "one-day Extra" licensing upgrade class was
such a success that it's scheduled additional sessions for later
this spring. LIMARC recently attracted two dozen students to its
first Extra class license study short course, and nearly all who
attended walked away with their Extra tickets.
"....the session involves seven hours of
intensive study. Five instructors taught the nine Extra examination
subelements, which include FCC rules, operating procedures, radio
propagation, Amateur Radio practices, electrical principles, circuit
components, practical circuits and antennas and feedlines.
When the session ended, 20 of the 24 applicants had passed
Element 4. "
All in a "one-day" short course.
Wow, I am impressed. Took me an entire semester in engineering
school to learn how to solve all those impedance, complex
plane, R+/- jX problems. And 20 of these guys learned how
to do those, along with all that other stuff, and STILL the same
day took and passed the Extra license exam????
Maybe what those five instructors "taught" was the answers
to the questions on the test to be given that day??? At least
one enquiring mind would like to know! I believe what is
being reported is not possible and still be legitimate, unless
those 20 guys had way above genius IQ's. Or maybe, they
all have "perfect recall" memories.
Guess I was a real slow learning; I was years getting the education,
experience and UNDERSTANDING under my belt before I went
for the Extra. Oh yes, also had to pass the 20 wpm CW test
that same day, but that isn't needed anymore. Maybe it was
getting to 20 wpm CW that took me all that time, no, don't
think so. Just took me awhile to learn/understand what the
meaning of the stuff on the Extra Class license was all about.
Yes, what does the Extra Class license mean anymore??
Just a bit disappointed,
73, Jim KH7M
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