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How to Fix the Technician License
5 July 2026 | by Once again, I am in the middle of teaching a Technician license class and I notice that some of the exam questions seem off target. I look at the exam through the lens of “what does a licensee need to know to get started at the Technician level?” My approach is more pragmatic than purist. ... Read more
The post How to Fix the Technician License appeared first on Above Average Terrain.
2 Responses to “How to Fix the Technician License”
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Very well done, Bob. Most do not know that the FCC did not envision two way communications between Technician class operators. As you stated, it was created to encourage development of techniques for use in the very high frequencies and above.
Unfortunately, thousands of new amateurs chose not to qualify for the General class license due to the 13 word per minute code exam. At least a third of the new amateurs in my county never progressed beyond the Tech license. At the old age of 13, I could see that the Technician license was a dead end. It was scary, setting in front of an FCC examiner who I was sure did not want some kid to have a license, let alone a General class license. When HPM was in charge at the ARRL, competency was the coin of the realm, today we celebrate 7 year old children passing our exams. Times have changed. Thanks for your post.
The idea behind the advanced and extra class licenses in 1976 when I was licensed was added privileges would encourage people upgrade.. I agree that allowing tech a bit of space in the voice segments of roof the HF bands would do the same. . Thanks for raising the issue.