44 Comments

Commenting has been turned off for this post
Tom Salzer's avatar

One aspect of amateur radio that many Technician licensees seem to miss is they have full access to modes such as DMR, C4FM, D-STAR, AllStarLink, Echolink, and more. Those modes open up the world for hams with a Technician license in the United States.

I view the hobby of amateur radio as being a bit like golf or bowling. The major limitation is generally the human, not the game. Yes, we compete against each other because that's in our DNA. But improvement in any of these games (amateur radio, golf, bowling) is really about striving to improve one's own ability to understand and to do. These activities are contests within ourselves to become better. That can be one of the deeper benefits of any hobby.

Expand full comment
Paul Elliott's avatar

Steve, are you sure about this? I just read “The Ecosystem of Becoming a Ham” and that "never progress within amateur radio" issue could easily be referring to those who get their ticket (any class) but then lose interest, never participate any any ham activity, and eventually let their license lapse. We know this is an issue, and that's how I read it. Yes, the piece discusses licensing, but that's more in the vein of encouraging new hams, not really about upgrading license class. It also includes phrases like this: "Local clubs are an absolute necessity in helping new hams navigate from getting their ticket to becoming radio active" and "giving new amateurs the inspiration and motivation to get active in one or more areas of the hobby".

So I don't think that tech license holders are being disrespected.

Expand full comment
42 more comments...

No posts