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Gareth,

I'm rather the reverse Gareth. I spend most of my spare time helping others be safe and helping children learn new things as a volunteer.

You stated that you would like to see the beginners licences removed to "preserve the eliteness" but by your other comments it almost sounds as if would prefer it just to keep out the riff-raff and youngsters. Is that right?

That's precisely the reason I'd avoided RA for such a long time.

As for 14 year olds being on "the threshold of maturity", I've met plenty of immature 30 yr olds and young carers below the age of 12 who are far more mature than them.

As someone who as a primary school pupil was reading 'A' level Physics text books I'd challenge your dismissiveness of the young. Granted 5 may be a little too young but by 9 I was helping solder together my first computer (a ZX80).

I fully intend to work through my intermediate and full as soon as I can. Let's hope we still have some people on the air and we've not lost more swathes of spectrum due to underused.?

Regards

John

On Tue, Oct 15, 2019 at 06:04 PM, John Summers wrote:

Why do we need additional "eliteness"? The number of licencees may exceed
those from back then, but how many are active? The bands are, by and large,
empty as many have already observed. If someone wants to just "play" with
radio then PMR and CB are there and require no licence at all now.

Is access to NoVs, full spectrum, additional power and the ability to self
build not enough? I'd challenge any "self-taught 14 yr old" to get past the
threshold of many RA clubs (if they can get to one at all) due mainly to the
"eliteness" you desire. And even if they did most clubs do not have the
safeguarding controls in place to allow a child to attend in the first place.
So, they're not going to be passing a test there...

If it hadn't been for NBARC I'd have been scuppered and I'm 48, not due to
difficulty (passed the practical and exam 100%, self taught, <15 minutes for
reference)?but due to bureaucracy and logistics.

Experimentation, education and self improvement should not be the preserve of
an elite, ever.

I do not agree with most of your observations.

I'm not proposing any eliteness in addition to the eliteness that is already there
and which has always been there; the
permitted ability to manufacture our own transmitters, a permission that is not
available to any other users of radio systems.

14 years old, on the threshold of maturity, and interested in a pursuit of adults
and prepared to follow the example of adults, is about the right minimum age for
a licence.

You raised the spectre of safeguarding which is why I think it to be inappropriate to
award licence to 5-year-olds, which had been made much of the the RSGB press,
but I would question such licences anyway because a 5-year-old simply does not
have the mathematical ability to tackle even the most elementary aspect of
our technology, the evaluation of resistances in parallel. In any case, in my
social life I do not wish to associate with such children (Pace that with another
hat on I am the Fat Controller at a miniature railway but it is with the
parents whom we deal)

Gareth,

Why do we need additional "eliteness"? The number of licencees may exceed those from back then, but how many are active? The bands are, by and large, empty as many have already observed. If someone wants to just "play" with radio then PMR and CB are there and require no licence at all now.

Is access to NoVs, full spectrum, additional power and the ability to self build not enough? I'd challenge any "self-taught 14 yr old" to get past the threshold of many RA clubs (if they can get to one at all) due mainly to the "eliteness" you desire. And even if they did most clubs do not have the safeguarding controls in place to allow a child to attend in the first place. So, they're not going to be passing a test there...

If it hadn't been for NBARC I'd have been scuppered and I'm 48, not due to difficulty (passed the practical and exam 100%, self taught, <15 minutes for reference)?but due to bureaucracy and logistics.

Experimentation, education and self improvement should not be the preserve of an elite, ever.

Regards

John Summers

There are those (not including me) who refer to the 1950s and 1960s as the golden
years of amateur radio.

The number of licensees today far exceeds those that existed in those years.

Therefore there is no need today, nor has there ever been, a need for beginners' licences
because otherwise-unqualified self-taught 14-year-olds with a genuine and passionate
interest in the technical pursuit that is amateur or ham radio tackled and passed both
the written RAE and the 12WPM Morse Test with ease.

Amateur radio is a technical pursuit and not a bums-on-seats numbers game.

Those that are not motivated by a desire to know how things work are not suitable
candidates for an amateur radio licence, and we dilute the entry requirements to
something a little removed from a CB licence at our peril.

AIUI, there are some jurisdictions (I don't know which) that limit equipment to
off-the-shelf commercial productions and if we give the powers-that-be the
idea that we are all black box operators without the capability of maintaining
our rigs then we risk such off-the-shelf limitations being imposed here.

This is especially true with the trend in silicon chips moving towards
very high density of integration where details of the internals are
not available to the general public being jealously guarded by their
inventors.

I am in favour of all beginners' exams being removed and for there to
be a single entry qualification for a full licence in order to preserve
eliteness, and it is such eliteness that IMHO that will make us
desirable to newcomers.

My ha'p'p'orth, for what it's worth.

(I passed the written RAE in 1970 and the 12WPM Morse test in 1983)

73 (genuinely) de Gareth G4SDW

I hadn't thought of it like that, but yes it would be.

Like a motorcycle CBT?

Hi,

as a recently qualified Foundation Licence holder I would agree that there is certainly scope for a limited "beginner" licence, perhaps duration limited as well requiring the holder to progress to the next level within a time frame.

The club who helped me get everything sorted, NBARC, (along with the EssexHam training) put in a lot of work with regards to the practicals, exams etc and I think this also poses a barrier. Applicants are limited to when clubs are able to run training, plough through the paperwork, practicals and exams. Compare that to the US model where you turn up to a testing location, pay your $15 and take your test.

I'm working towards my Intermediate but not looking forward to the hoop jumping which (along with equipment cost) is the biggest obstacle. I'm a long term IT specialist with Electronics qualifications and (non-Amateur) radio experience so the technology side isn't the problem for me, it's the bureaucracy!

John?

please may we have new licence?

will it be able to use a full licence station under supervision?

please support this

thanks
unimog

hello? A welcome and well put together argument? against the really stuck grey brigade

Can I ask that we go further and look at wholesale reform of the licences basing it on the arrl life long learning model
or the
the southern irish model 2 exams 30 questions each? full licence (would add the foundation practicals old style )

joe 2M0JHY

Part of the problem is the idea of a ‘club’ in itself.

Years ago a club was the only way you could meet up and learn with others of a similar interest. Some members would be highly committed, serving on Committees and working as Officers. Many put huge amounts of time into the structures, which often led to political manoeuvring and ‘us and them’ cliques. Such problems were often worse the larger the group became. (I recall CB clubs seemed better at the socialising side though!)

In the 3rd decade of the 21st century however, I would argue such a structure is not fit for purpose. Clubs generally are struggling because, as was pointed out in the session, a) there is far more information online than one could get from a club and b) people do not socialise in club formats anymore but more in online communities, which are more instant in appeal and response.

So why do Hams want to meet at all? It’s a solitary hobby in so many ways and yet paradoxically we make many friends through it!?

I suspect online communities are the way forward and perhaps the RSGB could help here by gathering them together more? From that will probably come the ‘bottom up’ movements as and when people want to do things together.

In times past, one successful club activity would have quickly become an annual feature on a club’s calendar, but in future, we have to get used to initiatives ’coming and going’ based on members’ interests and not try to make them permanent fixtures because ‘we’ve always done it this way’...

Online last week, and at the weekend's RSGB Convention, there have been some discussion around the idea of a new entry-level route into the hobby. Last week, there was a posting in an RSGB discussion group outlining

"A Proposal for a Beginner Amateur Licence”

We caught up with the proposal’s author, John Regnault G4SWX, to discuss the idea, and you can take a listen here:



The ten-minute interview is well worth a listen, and with numbers in decline, could a new entry-level into the hobby be the answer? Please have a listen, and share your thoughts!

Pete M0PSX

On Mon, Oct 14, 2019 at 09:33 AM, Pete M0PSX wrote:

Had I time, there were several other talks I would like to have got to, including "why won't it decode",

This talk was a 'tour de force' by Neil Smith G4DBN whose talk first highlighted the TX and RX essentials to ensure that those are not at fault.
Then he went on to explain the detail of why VHF/microwave propagation limits the usefulness of some modes, including FT8 with certain propagation modes.
Neil's slides are available here

and the video of the talk will be available to RSGB members in a month or two.

FT-8 on VHF was also given by Neil G4DBN as Gavin M1BXF was taken ill. Gavin intends to make his talk available on YouTube.
Neil gave an excellent talk on the beginners guide to FT8 explaining what is important in your TX, RX and computer settings and what can go wrong...
Time settings are particularly important and in a previous posting on Neil's blog he explains how to?hack the registry on?Windows time on Win10 to perform as well as add-on time synchronisation programmes.


John G4SWX

Hi John,

Agreed regarding Kamal's talk. For me, it was refreshing to hear someone from RSGB admitting that there was a problem, and identifying some of the reasons. I agree that fixing it's hard, but the first step is to acknowledge there's a problem.

Fair cop regarding 'VHF and Up', although in my defence, the write-up was a summary of my experiences at the convention - As I didn't get to Chris G0FDZ's talk, it was very hard for me to comment on it in my summary! I've learnt from previous Conventions that the trick seems to be to get to the interactive / group sessions in real-time and then watch the specialist presentations on video as they get released. Had I time, there were several other talks I would like to have got to, including "why won't it decode", FT-8 on VHF, Mike's talk on the on Baldock, Noel on EME and Steve Nichols on propagation, plus a couple more ARISS topics. When the vids get released, I'll be watching. That said - I've happy to publish any submissions received to the Essex Ham audience, to give people more of something different ;)

Pete M0PSX

On Sun, Oct 13, 2019 at 04:23 PM, Pete M0PSX wrote:

“Grow, Merge or Disband your Club” session

Although I was chairing my own theme at the RSGB convention, I actually think the title and ethos sets the wrong tone.
I?would comment that even in distant Fuffolk (where the A12 falls over the edge of the known Essex world) in parallel with the traditional radio clubs we have the well supported entities of:
Suffolk Red as mentioned by Pete above
? (viva Sarah!)
and the Codgers breakfast group:


Although I give talks at many traditional radio clubs there is room for loads of different activities. At a traditional radio club I would be unlikely to meet others interested in moonbounce. At the last Saturday breakfasts I meet another 4 or 5 on a regular basis, several driving 50-60 miles each way.

So the actual title should have been 'Developing Amateur Radio Communities'

John G4SWX

On Sun, Oct 13, 2019 at 04:23 PM, Pete M0PSX wrote:

Anyone have any thoughts?

Whilst Kamal has a nice vision I am not sure that amateur radio is in a position to influence and change the current perception of the hobby (anoraks with Morse keys in sheds) unless?a few eggs are broke.
I have no problem with amateurs keeping on doing "more of the same" (words?from Ofcom not me!) but that is not the face of amateur radio that we should show the public, young people in schools and colleges and certainly not professional bodies and the radio regulator Ofcom.
I really don't care what we are called: I would rather it was termed 'hobby radio' but that does not match with the long established international name and?image. Therefore it is best to work on the image rather that spending a lot of time explaining that 'XXXXXX' is really amateur radio rebranded.

Now the?flame:
I was disappointed that Pete did not include some of the talks in my theme 'VHF and Up' in his review of the RSGB Convention. In particular the one entitled '122GHz and Up' as this highly innovative talk featured?some ground-breaking Kent to Essex QSOs. So perhaps Pete wants his audience to only hear 'more of the same'..............

John G4SWX

?

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone here attended the RSGB Convention this week, and in particular, the last session of the day, about clubs?

For those who didn't, here is an extract from my

Probably the highlight of my weekend. Run by the ICQ Podcast team, this was a panel of two ICQ presenters, two RSGB Board members (Ian Shepherd and Kamal Singh), plus Richard G4JJP (author of a controversial article in the June 2019 Radcom suggesting a change to club structures)

To be honest, I’m still digesting the contents of this talk and reviewing four pages of copious notes taken. There’s a lot to be said about this session – far too much for this summary. A few of the points I underlined:

• “Hubs not clubs”
• “Club baggage”
• “Hub” vs “Virtual clubs”
• “Should the RSGB be a hub?”
• To Google: “Disintermediation”, “centre set” “closed set” (bounded set?)
• A mention for the “Brickworks” scheme (that didn’t launch at the Convention)
• Some RSGB regional teams issue a “regional newsletter”
• Top-down vs Bottom-up approach
• Some interesting thoughts on youth access to amateur radio
• Clear divisions between single stand-alone clubs, and those acting as “hubs” to a greater or lesser extent

It was great that the efforts of Essex Ham members was acknowledged, and it was very rewarding that both Richard and the ICQ team highlighted Essex Ham as positive examples of the hub model. Positive mentions too for CambHams and Suffolk RED. RSGB also acknowledged that virtual clubs are “starting to appear”

Any thoughts?

Pete M0PSX

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone here attended the RSGB Convention this week, and in particular, the talk from Kamal M0IOV?

For those who didn't, here is an extract from my

The talk was presented by new RSGB Board member Kamal Singh M0IOV, this offered a refreshing view on the state of amateur radio, and the problems facing it. Surprisingly honest, the presentation outlined the problems, the missed opportunities, and the need for change. Some memorable highlights:

• Once we had many famous amateurs, a high profile and reputation for innovation. “Have we lost the technical edge?” Kamal doesn’t blame the Internet, but our ability to adapt, and that we missed the third Industrial Revolution
• Relevance is our Achilles heel. We’re seen as out-dated, and we didn’t keep up with the tech trends
• Warnings about the danger of limiting our boundaries with statements like “it’s not real radio”, “this isn’t what amateur radio is all about”, “this isn’t how do do things”
• Barriers: Licensing and hardware cost are limiting uptake of amateur radio
• Are we too “insular, niche and aloof”? Do we need to become more “integrated and broad-minded?”
• Key message: “Relevance, Visibility, Appeal”
• Our opportunity is to capitalise on the 4^th Industrial Revolution, which will include automated vehicles, drones, sensors, smart cities and IoT

Comments from the audience included:

• Is the term “radio” outdated? Would “Wireless Communication” be more apt?
• A suggestion that the RSGB rebrand to “The Communication Society of Great Britain”

Some interesting observations from John Regnault, the RSGB’s VHF Manager: We should not keep doing “more of the same”. How are we seen in other people’s eyes? Does CW, voice and vintage military equipment at field days “sell us”. “1-to-1 personal communications without a service provider”.

See also:


Anyone have any thoughts?

Pete M0PSX