Intro to 10GHz Operation
Our Two idea Title is joined at the hip. Does anyone really know the real reason for establishing the Technician Class license. Well, it all had to do with encouraging experimentation at the higher frequencies, beyond HF. To not encumber these adventurers the original test requirements were the Novice Code test (5 WPM) and the General Class Theory and Regulations. The starting spectrum was 6 Meters.
At one time you could hold both the Novice and Technician Class Licenses simultaneously. (I did and was issued KN3IXU and K3IXU simultaneously).
Almost exactly 1/2 of the total US Ham population are Technician Class. It is doubtful that any significant percentage of those 375K US hams know anything technical. Sure, they can probably program their Baofeng UV35R but that is not really technical. Their license is the lane of 10 GHz experimentation as was the intent of this class of license.
Today on 40M, I was reading the mail on a net where many of those participating also spend a lot of time on 10 GHz where antennas are less than 1M in diameter and have 30 dB gain. That is equivalent to having a 2-watt input signal produce 2KW from an amp. (10*log(2000/2) = 30 dB).
Don't get a bulge in your shorts just yet. The antenna does not add power but concentrates power. Thus, it is a very narrow beam that when received at a location looking at your beam it would appear like a 2KW signal from say a dipole. The high gain antennas leverage 1 watt at 10 GHz into a readable signal at great distances (> 100 feet).
The company Down East Microwave produces a lot of hardware using transverter techniques to convert a 70cm signal to 10 GHz (10.368 GHz). The jewel in the crown is that good quality used 70cm SSB/CW gear can be found on eBay, like Kenwood and Icom, real cheap. With some additional hardware add a bit of homebrewing an antenna and you are there. The other cool part is the EME (Earth Moon Earth) Moon Bounce.
That sure would be a lot more fun than shouting CQ POTA and/or Park to Park. A focus on 10 GHz would do much to upgrade the skills of US Hams.
As I write this, I was thinking of friend N2CQR who frequently visits HI7 land and KP4 land (Puerto Rico) is but 100 miles away. Not exactly line of sight for 10 GHz, but possibilities for tropospheric scattering or ducting.
License Restructuring Proposal
So, the other piece is fixing the ham license mess. We are stuck with 3 classes of license, but we can rearrange the deck chairs.
Step 1 is to revamp the test for Technician to provide a greater focus on the technical chops to work VHF and beyond. We didn't do anything about adding CW.
For the General Class License, the process is such that you have to spend at least one year as General before you can apply to take the Extra Class License. You do not have to take a code test, and you still can yell CQ POTA and Park to Park. Nothing says you have to become an Extra but to become one you need a year in the trenches. That same criteria would apply for a upgrade to Extra from the Technician Class
An upgraded Extra Class exam would focus on the technical aspects of the hobby such as SDR and evaluating how signals are generated and signal quality.
Before the great dumbing down, being an Extra signified a gravitas. Now we have 45-minute wonders holding a license that once had status as truly being something "extra".
So, what do you do with the mess we have. Start by making the changes effective July 4, 2026, and authorize no new rapid rise to Extra effective April 15, 2026. In time the "lookie lou's" will get the message. The fetid swamp will eventually be drained!
The hobby will have a regurgitation but those who do get licensed will be an upgrade from where we are.
Them that know can make things go.
Once again are you still sure you want to subscribe to QST. Don't ever forget the ARRL incentive licensing disaster and the ill-fated Advanced Class License that has now went away. The Nerds in Newington... (finish how you like).
MORE INFO on 10 GHZ operation from the San Bernardino Microwave Society
73's
Pete N6QW