In article , "Clint" rattlehead at
computron dot net writes:

When a standard must maintained, whether it be a ham license, or a pilots
license, then a test is required. Otherwise the quality goes down.

only if the maintained standard is directly relavent to the operation of
what is being spoken of.

Adherence to the rules, paying attention to "gentleman's agreements", and
following all the rules and regulations are not mutually inclusive with that
of morse code skill.

See below.

If THAT was the fact, the overwhelming number of violaters on the 40 and
75m bands (who were legally licensed, with 13 and 20 wmp code testing)
would NOT have done what they did; it sounded like channel 19
cb for many years before hollingsworth helped to clean it up (more proof
that code testing is NOT a "yahoo filter")

How many violators are you talking about, versus how many licensed hams? Maybe
30 violators out of 300,000? That's 1 in 10,000 - .01%

Note also that ALL hams have taken written tests on the regulations and
operating practices, yet there are still violators.

No "filter" is perfect.

Note this plain, simple fact:

The vast majority of hams cited by FCC for operating violations are/were using
voice modes. Enforcement actions against hams using CW/Morse are almost
nonexistent. The ratio is far beyond what the relative popularity of the modes
would predict.

So maybe it's not the TEST but the USE of the mode that is the key. (bad pun
intended).

CW is a tradition in the ARS.

as is FM, ssb, AM, etc.....

It is a valuble mode of communications.]

as is FM, ssb, AM, etc...

However, it requires a certain amount of dedication and desire to maintain
your ability to work the mode.

as is FM, ssb, AM, etc...


In otherwords advocating freedom of choice has nothing to do with getting
a
ham license.

I was saying that in response to the accusation that I was forceing an idea
on
somebody; I was doing just the opposite... advocating a greater range
of freedom of choice.

You're forcing the idea that the standards for a license must be changed.

People SHOULD NOT be able to force a change on the licensing
authorities, based mainly on being too lazy to try to meet the standard.

it's a representative republic; the very cornerstone of democracy is that
the people are able to effect change when they feel it necessary for
whatever reason THEY feel.

Up to a point, that's true. However, the idea that "the people" can force
whatever they want is limited. For example, even if a majority of people think
that OJ was guilty, it is not within the government's power to imprison or
excecute him based solely on what "the people" think. Nor should it be.

The idea that it's because they're "too lazy
to try to meet the standard" is simply your spin & rhetoric.

The same can be said for someone who says the only reason anyone is procodetest
is because they think "I did it, so everybody should have to be forced to do
it!!!!!"

Why should those of us that have the dedication have to be forced to have
our privlidges reduced by those among us that are too lazy to bother to
meet
the standards we did?

I wasn't aware that the NCTA crowd was advocating reducing your frequency
priviledges. Or, is that more spin? As far as I know, you and other
licensees
were going to retain all the priviledges they had before the testing reform.

Look again. There are those who not only advocate code test elimination, but
also the reduction or elimination of the CW/data subbands.

We know that is what you SAY. The reality of the situation is based on
the simple knowledge that human beings will take the easy way. Once CW
testing
is elliminated, CW use will eventually dissapear. Folks simply will not
bother to learn it.

I don't believe that.

OH! so you admit the OTHER half of the AWEFUL truth! it comes down to
you want to FORCE people to do something they don't want to do necessarily
of thier own free will!

Not really. Nobody is required to get a ham license. It's all voluntary.

Why do the schools bother to teach basic arithmetic and math to children these
days? Calculators are everywhere. Why not let the kids decide what they want to
learn instead of FORCING old-fashioned manual arithmetic on them?

well, the thing that made america so powerful, such
that
in 200 years +, we have surpassed nations in economic power that have been
on the planet for THOUSANDS of years, was that the free market forces were
allowed to decide what course the market would take... and low and behold,
the united states economic output is one third that of the total of the
ENTIRE
world..... that is, a nation with only 4.5% of the population has an
economic
value of 33% (about 11 trillion out of 34 trillion dollars) that of ALL
nations
combined....

Things also cost a lot more here, too.

...if people worked morse code ONLY because they were forced to, then
I doubt they would use it at all... that is to say, these same people would
only pass the code test and then not use CW if they really didn't have thier
hearts into it. If that was the ONLY thing keeping CW alive, it would
have died a long time ago. But the bands are full of CW operators that
are using it of thier own free will.

Absolute fact.

If the free market determines that it no longer wants it, than keeping it
around is tantamount to nothing more than subsidizing a mode of
communications. You will certainly NOT make any more fans or
lovers of the code by MAKING them do it.

Actually, all the test does is require entry-level skills.

I honestly don't think that 5 words per minute is asking too much to gain
access to a large part of the spectrum. I can see your bitch about 20 and
maybe even 13. But for GAWDS sake....5wpm....ANYONE can do that.
Especially with the multiple guess test. Give it a rest. Pay your dues.
Even if it is only half price...or less.

nah, better to work toward removing it, which is inevitable eventually.

Then what will you say to those who would use the same argument against the
General and Extra written tests? After all, FCC thinks a single 35 question
multiple choice test is good enough to allow Techs to use any authorized mode,
frequency or power above 30 MHz. Is operating a transmitter on 14 MHz that
different from operating one on 144 MHz that another couple of tests are
required? Or is it just a "hoop jump" to FORCE theory on hams, amny of whom
don't want it?