"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.

Do YOU care enough to be a positive spokesperson/recruiter
for CW to new hams?

... I see that as a totally unimportant issue in he grand scheme of things
....
it is up to Morse enthusiasts to recruit new
Morse ops ... and talking down to those who are not interested will not
help
that cause.

Especially since those who are not interested have finally gotten their
way!

Sounds like a personal problem.

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.

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. 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 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.

Defeatist attitude as I see it.

There is essentially nothing that could make me interested in becoming
"a
regular CW operator with 20 wpm proficiency."

Does this make me a "lesser/2nd class ham?"

Since you tried it and gave it a fair evaluation, I'd have to say that
it
does
not. Again, future hams will not have had your experience. That is
the
difference. Not having "been there, done that" disqualifies them from
making any judgment on the "code" issue whatsoever.

I don't buy that argument

Which doesn't make it any less true.

Nor does it change the fact that your statement
is only an opinion.

... 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.

So work te process, be a recruiter for morse.

Cheers,
Bill K2UNK