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> At my license exam, I was the only one under 40 there. If they want more young blood, ham activist should seriously lobby to abolish the licensing requiremen

• TrevorJ 10y ago
  That may or may not be true (CB radio isn't licensed and there's still not much interest in it), but I think the cons far outweigh the pros there.
• grandalf 10y ago
  The licensing requirements in the US are largely guided by the American Radio Relay League, which is Amateur Radio's lobbying group. The requirements are quite minimal. I was licensed as a pre-teen with no trouble, and many on HN describe passing after studying for a few hours. The important thing about the license is that it is a knowledge-based test. Even though you can memorize the answers to the questions, you learn that there is theory behind it and it's not just magical technology. There are also a lot of questions about band plans and operating procedure, which help keep things civil and organized (though we could use more FCC enforcement).