RadioBanter - View Single Post - Element 1, Code vs. No-code, and Dad

October 24th 03, 02:59 AM

In article ,
(Bert Craig) writes:

Funny thing happened the other day. My father asked me what all the
hubbub was about re. the code. (Apparently, I had left my QST in the
car and he decided to peruse away.) I explained that some folks
consider Morse code antiquated and feel that there are better, more
modern, modes in use today. I went on to include that some also feel
that it's unfair to make newcomers "jump through hoops" to become
ARO's, thus constituting a "barrier" to some, otherwise qualified,
potential hams.

So Dad pondered for a moment and furled his 77 yr. old eyebrows and
said. "They're right, Morse code IS antiquated." My jaw dropped, "say
it ain't so!" (E tu Brute?!) He then asked me about the licensing
structure and I explained the three-tier system presently in place.
"You've gotta keep the code test in place though." Ok, now I'm a tad
confused. "Why, if it's antiquated?" I asked.

Gosh, what a heartwarming story, Egbert.

I wish I could come up with such a nine story...but my father died
in 1975. He was born in 1900, the same year as my father-in-law.
Father-in-law passed on in 1977, retired after a career as a polymer
chemist. My Dad was not a college graduate, got most of his
public schooling equivalent in the Swedish Army, was also an Army
taught musician. Back in 1918 the Swedish Army still used trumpet
signals in the field so he would have been a part-time "signalman."
Both gentlemen were interested in technology as a pastime, my
father-in-law specifically on photography, my father on time-keeping
and clocks. My Dad would check the accuracy of his clock
collection against WWV time signals back in the 1960s...no radio
clocks for less than $30 then. Dad was much impressed by the
General Radio Standard at Ramo-Wooldridge where I worked in
1960 and understood about quartz crystals and oscillators from my
explanations. He was fascinated by mechanical clock movements
but at the same time loved radio and broadcasts from faraway places
like London during the WW2 blitz. Both genetlemen kept up to date
on science and technology from periodicals. Both watched the ffirst
human beings set foot on the moon in real-time television from a
quarter million miles away, each at his respective living room. That
was something astounding since both were born a year before the
first radio signals crossed the Atlantic and three years before two
bicycle mechanics made the first heavier-than-air flight.

It would be trite and cliched to say that "my Dad can beat up your
dad" but I'll lay odds that either my father or my father-in-law could
argue your father's points. Remember that they came from older
times than your father, much more conservative in upbringing and
social values, from an era when technology was just beginning to
develop and an industrial revolution had just begun.

So, I'll just have to imagine what they would say, knowing enough
about both to be reasonably accurate -

"Values, my boy…values. Just ask yourself if this is what you want to
teach your own children? Should they apply this logic to other aspects
of their lives as they grow up?

So far, no real disagreement, by my father would probably look at my
father-in-law as if to say "whatinhell is he talking about?"

How about an aspiring Engineer, why should s/he be forced to learn history?

Why not, from a socio-economic standpoint, that is logical. But,
despite thoughts common to all, the federal government does NOT
specify or regulate any college or university curriculum in the USA.

How about an aspiring history teacher, why should s/he learn physics?

My father-in-law also had a pastime of US civil war history and that
whole period...AFTER getting a degree in chemistry. Again, there
is no USA federal law controlling curricula in colleges or universities.

There's a bunch of different
analogies than can be applied, some good and some not so good, but
there's one common thread…values. Knowledge is NEVER wasted and
"requiring" one to attain a "reasonable" level of knowledge to enjoy
increased privileges…whether it be in the ARS, the workplace, or life
in general is fundamental to nurturing a sense of values.

Amateur radio is de facto a HOBBY, an avocation. It was never
otherwise despite the steady propaganda of the ARS membership
organizations. A "workplace" it is NOT.

Let that
decay and the result will be obvious…like the recent Regents exam
fiasco.

Both of my dads would agree the above analogy is trying to make a
fruit salad out of potatoes and pistachios. Wholesome ingredients
but the mixture is wrong.

Don't lower the bar across the board; help raise the
individual's standards. It appears to me that there already exists a
no-code exam and 5-wpm seems quite reasonable…so what's all the hubbub
about?"

When your father was about 27 I was already assigned to Army radio
station ADA, in communications all over the Pacific, and without ever
using, or having to use magnificent morse code or get into some kind
of pseudo "family values" that "must be forever a part of a Hobby."

The United States Army, like all the major U. S. military branches is
far older than radio, older than telegraphy, and is very mindful of
tradition and honor and service...rightfully so considering their history.
While all branches retain traditions, they do NOT let any of that
intefere with doing the job, getting it done by the best way they can
think of. The USN doesn't have wooden sailing vessels as warcraft,
the USAF doesn't fly spruce-wire-fabric biplanes, and the USA doesn't
use muskets or wear tri-cornered hats in battle. They all adapted to
the times, advanced, were not mired in old ways just because some
much-longer-ago old men said "they had to keep old values...
because that's the only values those old men knew."

Amateur radio isn't the military. It isn't a workplace. It isn't a guild
or craft or union or association of professionals. It's a HOBBY.
My fathers would try to point that out to your father, I'm sure, but
mine would add some harsh cuss words in Swedish if not English
(he could speak, read, and write in either quite well). I've not seen
any "Dr. Phil" program or other psemi-pseudo-pscientific group
emphasize olde-tyme ham radio or morse code as a "family values"
attribute or that it should be passed down through the ages... :-)

Change happens. It must. One must learn to separate tradiiton
from reality. Radio is still evolving 107 years after it was "born."

Okay, if your father insists that morse code testing has to stay
then I'll bet MY fathers are having a high old time guffawing at those
reasons, looking down at the adamant status quo insistence of
the still-living old-farts down here. :-)

Give my regards to Gisella. You might point out that her written
comments on the RMs would be better if she copied Kippi Speroni's
comments, not yours.

Happy status quo maintenance. Ciao.

LHA