[UK-CONTEST] Off Topic (Licensing) - another route
Peter Hobbs
peter at tilgate.co.uk
Sat Aug 29 02:49:34 PDT 2009
I seem to remember that holders of a PMG certificate (as commercial ship
wireless operators were required to have) could get out of the whole
deal, because that was one of the options I considered at the time
(mid-50's). In the end, the local RNV(W)R station in Southend came up
trumps. This organisation paid volunteers to qualify as a RN
telegraphist through attendance on Tuesday evenings, when you were
taught morse and learned how to operate and maintain the station
equipment. As soon as the CPO was satisfied that 12wpm had been
achieved, a loan CR100 (with CO/PA transmitter in the lid) was made
available, allowing participation in the local Weds evening on-air
exercise from home and access to the "common" channel (5320kc/s). An
official naval shore station callsign was issued. Those with space for
a reasonable wire antenna could then chat nationwide at weekends, as
long as proper naval operating procedure was observed. With only a
single channel available, one had to wait one's turn. Outboard 807 PAs
were not unknown.
Several of us from school took advantage of this deal, the other main
attraction being an annual all found fortnight in Devonport to play with
real radios and get involved in sufficient square bashing to compete
with the Army reservists on Remembrance Day. Her Majesty has
regretfully drawn the naval purse strings a little tighter since those
days . . .
73, Peter G3LET
g3ory at lineone.net wrote:
>Ken,
>
>My recollection is that things were a bit tighter than you indicate.
>Certain service trades (example: Foreman of Signals in Royal Signals
>(quite an advanced technician position, usually S/Sgt rank)) qualified
>for a bye as far as the RAE was concerned. Some operating trades
>qualified for a bye for the CW. I believe that few (if any) trades had
>both the technical plus the operating skills to be given a licence
>without either a morse test or an RAE pass.
>
>73 Bob
>G3ORY
>
>
>
>>----Original Message----
>>From: ken.g3lvp at btinternet.com
>>Date: 28/08/2009 23:21
>>To: <uk-contest at contesting.com>
>>Subj: Re: [UK-CONTEST] Off Topic (Licensing)
>>
>>There was a precedent for a fast track route to the amateur licence.
>>Admittedly it was a long time ago but I believe that after WW2
>>
>>
>anyone
>
>
>>who had been in the services in a communications role was granted an
>>amateur licence without taking the exam or Morse test, perhaps there’
>>
>>
>s
>
>
>>an early G3... around who could confirm this.
>>
>>I view the licensing issue from the perspective of having passed the
>>
>>
>old
>
>
>>(written) RAE when I was 14 and many years later (in the 1980’s) as
>>
>>
>an
>
>
>>RAE instructor. This leads me to believe that the RAE either in
>>
>>
>written
>
>
>>or multi-choice format was never difficult to pass. In the 1960’s
>>
>>
>(and
>
>
>>later) many schoolboys passed the exam before even taking their
>>
>>
>GCE's.
>
>
>>As an RAE instructor I found that a very high percentage of students
>>
>>
>>from a wide range of backgrounds, abilities & age were able to pass
>the
>
>
>>RAE at the first attempt (I should point out that even then and to
>>
>>
>my
>
>
>>surprise very few prospective amateurs were following the SWL route).
>>
>>What then was wrong with the C&G RAE ? I think that the C&G process
>>
>>
>was
>
>
>>incredibly slow especially for a multi-choice exam which could
>>
>>
>almost
>
>
>>have been marked on the spot. From memory enrolment for the May exam
>>
>>
>was
>
>
>>in February and the result wouldn’t be received until August.
>>
>>
>Missing
>
>
>>the enrolment deadline meant waiting until December for the next
>>
>>
>exam
>
>
>>with a further wait for the result.
>>I can imagine that today many people would lose interest at this
>>
>>
>point
>
>
>>especially when paying around over £50 (?) for the privilege.
>>
>>The present scheme does appear to make up for some of the
>>
>>
>deficiencies
>
>
>>of the C&G. I believe that in some areas it’s almost possible to
>>
>>
>take
>
>
>>the exam on demand with a quick result. Parts of the practical
>>
>>
>element
>
>
>>are might be useful but being able to demonstrate soldering and
>>
>>
>fitting
>
>
>>a plug is probably of less use to most amateurs today than the
>>(unfortunately) defunct Morse test. However it’s still necessary to
>>
>>
>take
>
>
>>three exams to get the full licence & I’m told that this costs more
>>
>>
>than
>
>
>>taking the old single RAE and in some places I understand that it's
>>difficult to find anywhere to sit the advanced exam.
>>
>>I too fail to see where ‘incentive’ comes into the scheme when the
>>
>>
>only
>
>
>>difference between the three classes is the power level. Many M3-6
>>
>>
>&2E’s
>
>
>>seem to be using 100W transceivers ‘turned down’ to 10 or 50 W. At
>>
>>
>the
>
>
>>very least there should still have been some restriction on the
>>frequencies available to M3-6’s /2E’s.
>>
>>How successful have the Foundation/Novice schemes been? I’ve not
>>
>>
>seen
>
>
>>any figures for examination passes for many years. One thing is
>>
>>
>certain
>
>
>>there are few M3-6/2E’s active on VHF at least around here and the
>>general level of activity on these bands is far less than when the
>>
>>
>Class
>
>
>>B VHF licence existed, remember use or lose? If contest entries are
>>
>>
>any
>
>
>>measure of activity both HF & VHF contests show very little activity
>>
>>
>by
>
>
>>M3-6’s/2E’s.
>>
>>I believe that one objective of the foundation licence was to bring
>>youngsters into the hobby, perhaps someone has some statistics to
>>
>>
>see
>
>
>>how successful this has been. The impression that I have today is
>>
>>
>that
>
>
>>most new licensees are approaching retirement age, perhaps it’s this
>>group which we should be encouraging. It’s not surprising given that
>>
>>
>the
>
>
>>youngsters who in the past might have been interested in amateur
>>
>>
>radio
>
>
>>now have their mobile phones, PC’s etc. are all very much occupied
>>
>>
>with
>
>
>>their school work show no interest in the hobby.
>>
>>One final thought, when I was first licensed there were around 6,000
>>
>>
>G
>
>
>>licences, now I believe the number is 60,000 therefore should we
>>
>>
>worry
>
>
>>about the number of new people coming into the hobby although I can
>>
>>
>see
>
>
>>that this might concern the Amateur Radio Dept. of RSGB PLC.
>>
>>73...
>>
>>Ken
>>
>>G3LVP
>>
>>
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>
>
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>
>
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Peter Hobbs
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