"Larry Roll K3LT" wrote in message
...
In article , "Carl R. Stevenson"
writes:

Carl:

That's right. They did. And a lot of them kept the key on the top of
the
operating table and continued to use it. Now, in the absence of a code
testing requirement as part of the licensing procedure, how many new
hams
will even bother to own a telegraph key?

Frankly, I don't care one iota

Carl:

Well, you've spent years making THAT perfectly clear! Fortunately there
are
those of us who do care about whether or not a useful communications skill
continues to be practiced in the ARS.

Then do your own "recruiting" from those who are interested/willing,
don't rely on the govt. to be your "recruiting agency" by making everyone
pass a Morse test so that you can skim off those who decide to keep the
key instead of tossing it.

Could *I* become proficient at 20 wpm ... certainly, with enough use
and
practice. Do I *care* to? The answer is obviously "No."

Well, at least you were exposed to the code and learned it well enough
to
make that choice from a vantage point of actual personal experience.
In
the
future, a lot of hams who may have decided to become active CW users
will
no longer get that opportunity, due to the elimination of the code
testing
requirement.

Having had to submit to "hazing by Morse" in the past, and even having used
it (and then discarded it), does NOT define how good a ham I may be ...
and it certainly doesn't make me a "better ham" than someone who's never
taken a Morse test or used Morse.


Again, it's up to the current crop of Morse enthusiasts to do any
recruiting.

I don't believe that the use of Morse code is something that is
"recruitable,"
if there is such a word. My own personal experience would lead me to
believe that the only thing that will get someone to try it is some kind
of
overwhelming incentive.

Translation: "I've either never put forth the effort to 'recruit' new Morse
ops,
or I'm so frustrated with my inability to gain converts that I feel I must
rely
on govt. mandates to do the work for me."

We used to have that incentive in the Pre-Restructuring Era. Now that it
is
gone, to rely simply on enticing people to Morse/CW with the promise of
better operating capability will probably not resonate very well with the
majority of newcomers

As above, with the added factor that you're admitting that your "product"
is unattractive, and therefore "hard to sell."

who, basically, are going to be refugees from
the Citizen's Band, who just want a louder, more frequency-agile box to
plug
their microphone into.

I knew if I read far enough, I'd get to your obligatory derrogation of
newcomers.

... folks can be intelligent enough that, with
a modest exposure to Morse through personal contact with other hams,
seeing others using the mode, etc., they can make a choice as to whether
they are interested in purusing the mode or not.

That's not the same thing, Carl. I was referring to their "opinions," or
subjective impressions, of the Morse code. The decision-making process
they apply to decide whether or not to attempt to learn it is a much more
objective process.

Face it Larry, your product is unattractive to most and hard to sell.
That's not
a reason for a govt. life support system that does your recruiting work for
you.

If you can sell your "product" to enough people, fine ... if not, and you
"go out
of business," that's fine with me, too ... just remember, I am NOT trying to
"board
up your storefront and confiscate your assets," but it's ALSO not my job
(or the
FCC's) to help you "prop up a poor business model, based on an unattractive
product, with govt. subsidies."

Carl - wk3c