Yesterday, a reader asked:
Why do most people have a Technician license and not a General or Extra? Is it simply not interesting enough to get more privileges?
I just replied:
I think there are several issues at play here. In no particular order:
- It’s pretty easy to get a Tech license, so a lot of people get them just for the challenge, but really never intend to use the license.
- Some people get a Tech license, but then find out that amateur radio isn’t what they thought it was going to be. They have no reason to upgrade to General.
- Some people get a Tech license, then can’t find an Elmer to help them. They lose interest and give up on ham radio.
- Some people get a Tech license, buy an HT, and think that’s all there is to amateur radio. They quickly lose interest in amateur radio, because talking on the repeaters just isn’t all that interesting.
- Some people get licenses to participate in local emergency communications or CERT organizations. There’s no need for them to get anything more than a Tech license.
- Since it’s so easy to get a Tech license, even those that aren’t technically inclined get them. Getting a General Class license requires too much study for them.
- Some people are just lazy.
Do you have any other ideas for him?
Walter Underwood K6WRU says
HF equipment is more expensive and more fuss. At least 10X the cost of a Baofeng HT and maybe 10X more complicated with an outdoor antenna, understanding propagation, and so on.
The Foundation Licence in Australia is a nice model. The test is about as difficult as FCC Technician, but you get some HF bands (80, 40, 15, and 10) with 10 W, voice and CW.
Kenneth Finnegan, W6KWF says
The only thing General/Advanced gets you is HF, which is becoming an increasingly small fraction of the possibilities of the amateur hobby. Amateurs could easily spend their whole lives moving from FM repeaters to microwave to VHF packet to EME to CERT/event support, etc, etc, without having any interest to explore what few facets of the hobby need HF privileges.
Your point 5 could also be greatly expanded to “Those using amateur radio as a solution for something else”. I know of RC guys who get licensed for improved 5GHz video, while in college we got a big enough circle of friends on our repeater that others were motivated to get on the air just to know what we were planning on doing that night, etc.
Todd KD0TLS says
I agree completely. I used to know a few people who got their Tech licence for (infrequent) APRS tracking only.
You could also add an eighth point: some people got pressured in to getting their licence by relatives, and never saw much value in it to begin with.
No matter how you break it down, this odd notion that everyone who walks the Earth has some deep desire to operate on HF is just something that hams invented to make themselves feel superior to mere mortals.
Dan KB6NU says
I was going to mention the idea that some people got a license to please friends and relatives. I do see that a lot in my classes. I think you’re being a little too cynical, though, in your comment about some hams needing to feel “superior to mere mortals.”
Incentive licensing was put into place in the late 1960s. At that point, you had to pass the General Class written exam to get a Tech license. Now, the Tech exam is more like the Novice Class exam was back then. While I’m not suggesting that we should make the Tech test more difficult, I think a case could be made that it should be harder given all the priveledges that Techs do have.
Dave WX2CIB says
Some folks are preppers and want to be able to communicate when SHTF.
Bob K0NR says
Good list. On item #1, I am always surprised when people just want to check the box on another “certification.” We see that frequently in our Tech class.
Mike says
I agree with everything W6KWF says. I have had HF since I got licensed in ’77. I’ll putz with it some from time to time. But most of my interest is 2M and above. Local ragchew with people I know or will meet at a swap. Playing with the digital networking modes. I think it’s safe to say 95% of the hams I know, their primary interest is one or more of the activities Ken listed.
John Marra K2JLM says
More and more Hams live in HOA and CC&R controlled communities making it difficult to put up effective HF antenna’s for pricey HF equipment. That’s whats holding me back although I’m a General. Another thing is DMR and IRLP make is possible to talk across the country or around the world with inexpensive UHF radios.
geri says
I am stationed overseas (Korea) and the problem I am finding is that it is difficult to coordinate to take the General exam. Having 3 examiners in one place is not that easy.
Yohei, N8YQX says
Isn’t this how incentive licensing is supposed to work? Reward those with higher knowledge and dedication with higher class license. If there were more Extras than Techs, some people will complain that Extra license is too easy.
Dan KB6NU says
Perhaps, but I think that what K6KWF and KD0TLS point out is that the incentives aren’t really that great anymore. HF isn’t the “holy grail” that it used to be. That being the case, the incentives aren’t really “incentivizing” people to upgrade.
Dave New, N8SBE says
I’ve mentored folks at work to get a license (and at least a couple I know of attended your one-day Tech class and of course I sent them to your web site to download your Tech book). One guy bought a Baofeng HT but had never used it. Microphone shy, in that he didn’t have any friends he knew on the local repeaters, and couldn’t think of any way of starting a conversation. I got him to bring his HT to work, and during lunch break, we went out and had a ‘first contact’ over a local repeater. After that was over, someone on the repeater called him and they had a short chat. A couple of weeks later, he took a job in west Michigan, and I’ve lost contact with him.
A lot of the current young crop of engineers live in apartments and condos, and have no real interest in trying to figure out how to put together an HF station in those circumstances.
Since I work with engineers in a sub-GHz wireless group here at work, I try to convince them they should have a license, if for no other reason than to have some practical on-air experience, to hear what multi-path and fading sounds like on VHF/UHF paths, and similar practical radio matters, like how far a watt can carry.
I’m still amazed at the number of RF engineers I encounter that have never used a receiver in their work, to just listen to what their signals sound like. They rely too much on sophisticated spectrum analyzers and GHz scopes. Of course, that equipment has its place, but there’s no substitute for being able to sort out your signal by ear from all the other hash that may be on the band of interest.
Eric says
I have a couple of thoughts on your list.
I’m over fifty and I am working my way up the licenses. I have my general now and don’t plan on getting the advanced for at least another 5 years. That was my plan when I started. I have other family and work commitments. I’m not sure if that makes me lazy, but it isn’t my highest priority. Is there a good number of years between licenses?
I’ve also heard people complain about the “know it alls.” While they may be few, they can take a lot of joy out a hobby. Those people who tell you it can only be done a certain way or belittle others who don’t buy their brand or have a fancy shack. In this way it can seem like a very closed hobby.
Dan, you definitely are not one of those guys!
Don’t worry, I’ll have by advanced by the time I’m 60 and I keep doing what I like to do with radio!
Michael,KB5ZCS says
What i have come along the most in the 28 years of being a ham the reason some dont upgrade is because they really dont have the money to do so radios for HF are a lot of money…..