"Bert Craig" wrote in
:

"Alun" wrote in message
...
"Bert Craig" wrote in
et:


"Alun" wrote in message
...
What is annoying is that a skill test is foisted on those who don't
have the desire to use the skill.

Alan, I'm gonna let you in on a secret...although I know that you're
already aware of it. Preparing for and passing the 5-wpm Elemnt 1
test does NOT leave one ready to use the skill OTA. It only gives
one a taste so that one may make an educated choice as to whether or
not they wish to persue CW any further.


5 wpm is certainly too slow to prove much, but it only still exists at
that level as a residual requirement to meet the old s25.5, which has
since been changed so that no code test is required atall. If the FCC
truly thought that a CW test was necessary, the speed would be higher.

Agreed, I was pointing out a very beneficial secondary benefit. It
"requires" one to place themselves in a position from which to make an
educated decision.

As I mentioned in another post, the mode is really not the
issue...the having to really learn it is. Do away with the published
Q&A pools and watch the whining escalate.

Well, I think that the real issue is that it's a different kind of
test.

Exactly.

Also, if
I hear CW on my frequency I may be able to read it with some
difficulty, but if I hear RTTY or PSK31 there is no chance.

You may have just touched on a selling point for CW.

73 de Bert
WA2SI

Whilst that is true, the point I was making is actually that since I
can't read RTTY or PSK by ear, and they are legal modes, it doesn't
help all that much that I can read CW (albeit not terribly well, since
I never use it).

73 de Alun, N3KIP

I understand the point you were making. If I could just ask you why you
bothered to take the code test(s)?

73 de Bert
WA2SI




To get all the _phone_ frequencies