Ham Radio in the UK - all sorts of Government Changes

[securityguy]

You're not a superior operator because you like and or use CW.

[DX-Digger]

You're not a superior operator because you like and or use CW.

Exactly youre only superior if you use FT8

Just kidding of course, always willing to talk to anybody on CB or Ham Bands on any mode at any power level.

[securityguy]

You're not a superior operator because you like and or use CW.

Exactly youre only superior if you use FT8

Just kidding of course, always willing to talk to anybody on CB or Ham Bands on any mode at any power level.

lol, I don't know why people get so worked up about how others enjoy the hobby. Despite the curmudgeonly old so and sos * that try to drag down amateur radio, I still love the hobby and am proud to be licensed.

* because they really are mostly elderly.

Every time I see it or hear it on air, I will challenge the snobbery every single time. It's what we all should be doing to hammer these miserable sods out of existence.

[Otter]

As for changing your call sign now and again I don't know what the benefit of doing that would be, seems pointless and unnecessary to me.

I have a tongue twister of a callsign, so I'm up for changing it. Mind you, I haven't used ham radio for a couple of decades, so maybe not.

[paulears]

When i passed my test in 1980, it cut little slack with the old guys who hated what i was doing with the hobby,
Like sending video. Very unfriendly because it took up nearly all the 10mhz wide 430-440mhz. Now I'm one of the old people who get slagged off. The bad blood is nothing to do with radio, its just change. I read newcomer stuff and cringe, but have to accept every hobby changes. Read ANY hobby forum, this is normal. Fishing, model railways, scrabble even chess groups. Our ageist and changeist problems are not unique. Besides, i know I'm better than everyone younger that me. My free bus pass and age induced grumpiness prove it!

[securityguy]

When i passed my test in 1980, it cut little slack with the old guys who hated what i was doing with the hobby,
Like sending video. Very unfriendly because it took up nearly all the 10mhz wide 430-440mhz. Now I'm one of the old people who get slagged off. The bad blood is nothing to do with radio, its just change. I read newcomer stuff and cringe, but have to accept every hobby changes. Read ANY hobby forum, this is normal. Fishing, model railways, scrabble even chess groups. Our ageist and changeist problems are not unique. Besides, i know I'm better than everyone younger that me. My free bus pass and age induced grumpiness prove it!

And yet there are some elderly operators who are charming, friendly and welcoming.

[dc260]

The license should be made easier to obtain, this will attract newcomers to the hobby. The only pushback against the new changes have been from bitter old-timers who seem to want to keep amateur radio as an elite club rather than open to all.
The demographics of amateur radio in the UK are Shocking.

[Whisky1]

The license should be made easier to obtain, this will attract newcomers to the hobby. The only pushback against the new changes have been from bitter old-timers who seem to want to keep amateur radio as an elite club rather than open to all.
The demographics of amateur radio in the UK are Shocking.

Civil question, how easy would you like it?

[dc260]

The license should be made easier to obtain, this will attract newcomers to the hobby. The only pushback against the new changes have been from bitter old-timers who seem to want to keep amateur radio as an elite club rather than open to all.
The demographics of amateur radio in the UK are Shocking.

Civil question, how easy would you like it?

It should be akin to obtaining a UK General License, where you pay a fee and you receive a license alongside a small guide on how to minimize interference, no test at all.
The liability of potential interference should be put upon the license holder.

[Mitch]

The license should be made easier to obtain, this will attract newcomers to the hobby. The only pushback against the new changes have been from bitter old-timers who seem to want to keep amateur radio as an elite club rather than open to all.
The demographics of amateur radio in the UK are Shocking.

Civil question, how easy would you like it?

It should be akin to obtaining a UK General License, where you pay a fee and you receive a license alongside a small guide on how to minimize interference, no test at all.
The liability of potential interference should be put upon the license holder.

When I first passed my foundation licence I used to speak to a young lad on the local repeater, he was 10 years old. The rsgb site posted about an 8 year old girl passing her foundation licence recently. How easy does it need to be?

There needs to be an interest in it for anyone that wants to have a go at ham radio, CB got a lot of folks hooked on radios in the eighties and a corresponding jump in amateur licences was the result. We've got a couple of lads that do our lawn every few weeks and they've got the 446 walkie talkies but their main comms are their phones, radios are a novelty to them, kids toys, if ham radio 'did more' maybe there'd be more uptake. I know it can do a lot more than just talking to others but no one ever sees it doing anything else so it's perceived as boring to most people, something for the old folks to do.

[Whisky1]

The license should be made easier to obtain, this will attract newcomers to the hobby. The only pushback against the new changes have been from bitter old-timers who seem to want to keep amateur radio as an elite club rather than open to all.
The demographics of amateur radio in the UK are Shocking.

Civil question, how easy would you like it?

It should be akin to obtaining a UK General License, where you pay a fee and you receive a license alongside a small guide on how to minimize interference, no test at all.
The liability of potential interference should be put upon the license holder.

Ok keep dreaming I guess

[Agent 48]

Its strange how things are these days... we get more power and foundation licensees can now build there own stuff and use it on air or use modified radios 25watts instead of 10 watts... I got a feeling that foundation license holders didn't actually stick to 10 watts tho... Intermediate license holders get to use 100 watts and full license holders get to use 1000 watts... the VHF/UHF bands die... less people on air that includes DMR. I spoke to a chap the other day on 70cms who says there giving up because nobody was using the bands. That was on 70cms simplex. I hope two meters stays alive for at least another 5 years tho. I'm putting a lot of work into my 2 meter station setup.

Its good to see people getting back in to CB & PMR446 so at least if the ham bands are completely dead there is always CB & PMR446 to fall back on. I expect people are only interested in HF now.

I must admit I haven't heard many M3/M6/M7 call signs on HF... maybe foundation licenses holders give up after a few months. There are plenty of people taking the exams but then they are never heard on radio.

[Transwarp]

Be a mixture regarding FLH's. Some will have progressed to another licence level maybe, some giving it a break, some packing it in.

I've been in the hobby for many years but hardly active on the band's for quite a while as l have other interests, however the bug will bite again at some point and I'll then blow the dust off the gear and fire it all up.

[KILLERPARSNIP]

That is quite frankly an awful attitude, why is making the license more open to those who may not thrive in a traditional academic sense detrimental ?

I have no problem with anyone being able to enter the hobby , There was no option when I passed mine in the 1990 other than to pass the RAE which allowed you to use VHF only after a number of years I decided to learn morse and really struggled with it but got there in the end giving me the M0 A class licence( I used HF for a bit but it was just not my thing) I certainly don't thrive in a traditional academic situations but again as I was really interested I made the effort having to learn it all from books as there was no course near me. What I do think is the basic licence should be very restrictive which would encourage people to learn and move up the licence classes.

[dc260]

That is quite frankly an awful attitude, why is making the license more open to those who may not thrive in a traditional academic sense detrimental ?

I have no problem with anyone being able to enter the hobby , There was no option when I passed mine in the 1990 other than to pass the RAE which allowed you to use VHF only after a number of years I decided to learn morse and really struggled with it but got there in the end giving me the M0 A class licence( I used HF for a bit but it was just not my thing) I certainly don't thrive in a traditional academic situations but again as I was really interested I made the effort having to learn it all from books as there was no course near me. What I do think is the basic licence should be very restrictive which would encourage people to learn and move up the licence classes.

I understand your point and I think it is commendable that you did pass the test despite not being traditional academic, but I feel like I just have a different perspective, and please do keep an open mind when I say this - I don't think that knowledge in certain areas should restrict band usage, if it's not for the purpose for safety and minimizing interference, it's all optional.

People shouldn't be "encouraged to learn", if their interest is there in that particular topic, they will learn it themselves after being licensed (Or perhaps even before !), forcing someone to learn something for proving knowledge sake isn't a great incentive...

Amateur radio has many different areas as you already know, and people can dedicate their entire hobby and interest to just one aspect of it, from EME satellites to QRP CW, and each of these areas require vastly different types of knowledge, and it's always expanding and evolving. Software is another huge aspect for some in radio, something that I enjoy and have an interest in, programming software for SDR radios ect. Should we require testing and evaluation for each of these topics ? I think if we did, the test would be over 1000 questions at the very least even if you dilute each section to only cover the fundamentals/basics. Morse code is just one area of the hobby, that some dedicate their entire time too, others don't see an interest so they don't feel the need to learn it, who sets these arbitrary topics ? On what basic should something be covered or not ?

My concern is what areas should be covered? Who decides what is essential ? Especially as the hobby evolves with new technology, should you be for example required to learn FPGA firmware chip programming basics, as that ais a part of the ham radio test now. Or learn a basic course in python because some areas of the hobby are now using this programming language for radio utilities?, Should we learn about EME antenna arrays ? I certainly don't think so, because for many this won't mean anything to them and they won't ever pursuer it, so the same logic applies for Morse Code.. the list is endless in scope and I genuinely don't see why knowledge in part of the hobby should be proven in exchange for a license.

Additionally, it doesn't stop YOU yourself learning and discussing these topics with others, I keep seeing the phrase "glorified cb radio" thrown around but by also others who share similar views) now, but why does it really matter ? Especially as given how inappropriate the real CB/11m now is for the average person due to QRM, Antenna restrictions, quiet areas ect, and if you do dare to deviate from the 4 watts am/fm (12w ssb) due to areas being very quiet, or use 446 as a ad-hoc modern CB the same amateurs will complain that you break type-approval , so it's a total catch 22 scenario for outsiders.

I don't see anything wrong if an elderly, alone "John smith" wants to talk to his friends about total non technical subjects like Tomato Plants on 80 meters, it brings someone joy and it doesn't n negatively affect others and it certainly does not stop ME from talking about eg creating a DMR decoder in C++ to like minded people about it , It shouldn't matter. We all have our own interests, let's pursue them !

Especially in this day where many people including elderly/vulnerable people are suffering from loneliness, no family, ect it's obvious that ham radio for them is their only contact to the world, to be social, to thrive. I wouldn't want to take that away from them just because they don't share the same amount of RF knowledge as others, it's immoral, and stinks of intellectual elitism.

My opinions have evolved since my previous post, I DO think a license should still be required HOWEVER I think that the only thing that should be tested for, is safety. - Can someone operate the apparatus safely without causing RF interference, or electrical danger to themselves or/others ? That's the most important aspect and anything else is just something that , I just don't see why a transactional exchange of proof of knowledge in something that someone might not even participate it for the reward of a license is something that is necessary.

A stripped down test, that only cares that the pupil has the knowledge to operate would be ideal for this, if someone can operate on the given band safely, without causing QRM.. And basic operator etiquette. that's all that matters.

I don't see the license as something to be "earned", it should just be to prove you can operate safely, if someone wants to pursue a particular interest of the hobby, they can do so after they have passed, of their own accord. I don't think restricting bands because you don't have knowledge in a certain topic that doesn't even relate to the safe operation to be appropriate.