On Tuesday 15 December 2009 12:55:14 Gary wrote: > I thought I'd run something up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes: > > With the currently extended low sunspot cycle reducing the occurrence of 10 > meter openings to near zero, there is little to offer new hams for radio > operating opportunities besides VHF FM. Many of the people who attend our > Technician license classes are interested in doing much more than chatting > with the local guys on a local repeater. Sure, VHF SSB is a possibility but > for us rural folks, even that provides slim pickings for distant contacts. > > We are seeing a very low percentage of newly licensed people ever buying a > transceiver and getting on the air. We are estimating that number to be less > than 10%. Other clubs in our area are experiencing the same problem: good > turn out for classes and lots of licenses issued but few new hams getting on > the air. It may be that VHF FM is not a viable stepping stone to getting > very many new folks active in Amateur Radio. > > Being an old fart, I naturally began as a novice operating CW on the HF > bands. Finding other stations to make contact with was never a problem as > there was always activity on either 40 or 80 meters, depending upon the time > of day. Making contact with other stations hundreds of miles away was > common. While that same opportunity is available today, at least > theoretically, CW operation is not part of a new ham's skill set. > > So... Here is the idea. Would you be amenable to allowing Technician Class > licensees to operate digital modes in the Technician CW bands and do you > think that would be of interest to new hams? > > I would imagine, the license limitations would have to state something like a > maximum of 300 baud and 500 Hz bandwidth with a 200 watt power limit. There > may be other limitations that might be nice to toss into the mix but this is > a starting point for discussion. > > Your thoughts? > > Gary - N0GW > > > >
Correct me if I am wrong here, but Technicians have digital privliges on 10 meters from 28.000MHz to 28.500MHz already. As for 15, 40 and 80 meters, they have CW only for about 100khz range on each band. I have never had a problem finding someone to chat on 10 meters for the past year even with the sunspots as low as they are. I have even heard activity in PSK and other modes not counting the Propnet group. Granted, I only get a chance to play below 30MHz right now about three times a month from a club station about thirty miles away from my home. But i seem to be listening or calling CQ at the right time also...:) If this is to discuss about 'amending' Part 97, I would be for it. I would like to see a portion of 160 meters added also. I usually hear about ten to fifteen stations operating there during the week and plenty more during contests to get away from the congestion. As for power restrictions, I would say max about 200 watts. Baud rate I would not even consider unless your doing Packet which already has a limit set for HF usage. Another suggestion here is to introduce the newly licensed operater to interfacing a computer to an HF radio and doing CW that way. I have had a few very nice QSOs with other operators that way. Thats my way of seeing if I have my interface and computer hooked up correctly. James W8ISS
