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

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


"Alun" wrote in message
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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

Ah, good...for increased privileges. Obviously, noted by your class of
license, you did NOT find this to be an insurmountable hurdle. After all,
nobody forced you to either upgrade your ticket or aim for the General or
Extra right from the starting gate. You *wanted* more *privileges* and these
were a sufficient *incentive* for you to decide to make the effort to *earn*
them. That's not being forced to do anything, Alun. Them's good
old-fashioned values...and the basis for a principle that I'd be glad to see
my kids apply to ALL of their endeavors in life.

This whole issue is not really over the Morse code test. It's about ANY
requirement that causes an applicant to really have to expend some mental
elbow grease and/or impede his/her path toward instant gratification. Like I
said before, pull those published Q&A pools and make 'em learn the subject
matter and actually apply the principles and theory to pass the
writtens...and witness the whine factor grow. Preparing to pass the 5-wpm
Exam cannot even be called cerebral, it's rote memorization. The faster
speeds become purely reflex oriented. Nobody's thinkin' when they copy
hi-speed Morse.

So all this blather about "jumping through hoops" and "barriers" is a bunch
of hot air. Folks have just figured out a way to gain a *privilege* in a
perceived easier fashion, collectively whine. It stands a great chance
too. After all, the Gov't. agency they must cajole shares their goal, less
work. So with great glee, their proponents espouse "the FCC doesn't agree
that Morse is necessary." The "regulatory" angle is just that, an angle. If
you ignore the angle, you realise that it was never about Element 1 in the
first place.

Why must our beloved hobby/service be reduced to the lowest common
denominator?

73 de Bert
WA2SI